[TV MAN]

I just received an ultrasonic parts cleaner big enough to clean a tuner or carburetor. I have the manual that tells me a whole lota nothing. I would like to clean a tuner and I don't know if I should use tap water, distilled water, dish soap or what, and how long to run a cycle. Ok, it is a 40khz 180w, heated, 6.5L. It has a timer and temp control. I am sure there are some that have already used these for cleaning tuners and such. Any tips on using would be greatly appreciated.

[morzh]

Tuner meaning cap?
Just toss it in and run the cycle.

[gregb]

I use CLR in mine and I mix the CLR 1 part CLR to 5 parts water. I let the solution warm up for five minutes before putting the tuner in. Keep a close eye on it as the CLR can damage plated surfaces if left to long. I also hang on to it with pliers and swish it around while its in there and I go for 15 to 30 seconds and then rinse in fresh water. Blow the water off with some compressed air after and you will be good to go.

Gregb

[TV MAN]

Thanks for the advice. Ill give that a try. Your tuner cap looks good. I have never used one of these before.

[Mondial]

You might want to remove the mica insulators from the trimmer caps before washing. Water will take a long time to dry under the mica and can cause corrosion.

[Eliot Ness]

Robert Lozier has a good write-up on using one of those cleaners:

http://kd4hsh.homestead.com/Ultrasonic_cleaning.html

On the 2nd page he also has photos and a link to a Power Point presentation he did on the same subject for the AWA.

[John Bartley]

I use mine mostly for cleaning carburetors off small engines (my trade). I have also used it for cleaning tuning capacitors. I use a mix of water with a very small amount of commercial cleaning fluid concentrate. I run it at about 120'F and rinse the components well in hot water when the wash is finished. I always remove the trimmer micas (carefully) before I wash the caps.

[morzh]

When I wash my tuning caps in hot water/dish detergent (so, still has water) - I dump it in as a whole. After that I take it out and let it dry. Then install and do the alignment.

So far I haven't seen anything bad to have happened to the trimmers: yes the water goes under the mica but somehow it always dries with no ill effects and if there were any left I would likely noticed that during the alignment as it would screw it big time.

Now as for the corrosion, the trimmers are made of copper and copper is fine with water - we have copper pipes in houses for both hot and cold, and unless your water is specifically acidic etc, they are fine. Now if you have well water and you know that it corrodes copper pipes in your house, then sure. But in this case you still could use distilled water which is cheap.

In any case, peace of mind is what matter most so if unsure, remove them by all means.

[Jim Dutridge]

My ultrasonic cleaner is much smaller than yours. I place the parts I want cleaned in a glass bowl filled with Simple Green and place that into the tub. I just fill the tub with tap water. Seems to work for me.

[TV MAN]

Thanks for the tips and link. It seems there are a number of different detergents I can use in this machine. It looks like cleaning time should be short for a tuner cap and most items, about 15-30 seconds. John, have you tried cleaning any of the new plastic Briggs carbs in your cleaner, or the troublesome 2 barrel carb from the Briggs "V" engine? How long do you run the cycle?

I'll probably give the cleaner a test run this weekend on my 610 tuner. Greg, did you put the CLR solution directly in your cleaner or did you fill with water and put the solution in something else?

[gregb]

I experimented with the mixture and settled on the one in five. Straight CLR will remove the plating before you can blink an eye, ask me how I know. I ended up mixing it in a bucket with a lid for storage and change it after a dozen or so tuners as it gets really dirty really fast.

Gregb

[John Bartley]

John, have you tried cleaning any of the new plastic Briggs carbs in your cleaner, or the troublesome 2 barrel carb from the Briggs "V" engine? How long do you run the cycle?

Because we don't have a long hot summer here we typically don't have the lawnmower carb problems that I used to get when I lived four hours further south. Most of my cleaning work is carbs from chainsaws (intermittent use) and snowblowers (sit all summer with fuel in them). String trimmer carbs are so cheap now that we just change the carbs if the trimmers are worth it. The cheapy trimmers ($149) we don't even fix ... at a shop rate of $1/minute it's just not worth it to the customer. Most carb cleaning is done in a blend of about 2L of water with 1/3 cup green concentrated detergent - almost any detergent will work. I leave chainsaw and snowblower carbs in for about 15 minutes at about 120'F. I have yet to have to clean either of the carbs you mention. I have replaced a few of the plastic carbs on lawnmowers because it's cheaper to do that than to kit them, and the Intek/Vanguard twins haven't given me any troubles up here yet .... we just don't get that hot, hot weather that makes fuel go bad so fast.

cheers

John

[TV MAN]

Ok, I gave it a try this evening. Here are my results.
Tuner before:
   
After 30 seconds:
   

Here are a few other parts I took a crack at:
Before:
   
After:
   
It seems to do a good job, but is one of the noisiest things I think I have ever heard. I used my earplugs. I used the 1 CLR to 5 Water formula. I could see the dirt flying off that tuner the minute I stuck it in the cleaner. Almost wish I could just stick the whole chassis in there!

[Kestas]

Consider using Micro 90 mixed in water to ultra sonically clean tuners. This is what we use in our lab to clean metal. If it was rusty I'd recommend 10% citric acid in water.

I use mineral spirits or alcohol for carbs.

[Chris h]

I have been using an ultrasonic cleaner for several years to clean up the tuning capacitors, tube shields, and other metal parts. I use Simple Green diluted with warm water. My Harbor Freight cleaner has a heating element which I use. I was able to get the large tuning cap from my Philco 95 into the cleaner with several shots to clean the entire tuner. I just leave it in as many cycles as required to get them clean. You do have to watch the heating element to prevent it from getting too hot, though.

I, just recently, started using it to clean up the Bakelite blocks. After removing most of the potting wax/tar with a screw driver, I place them in the cleaner with the same solution of Simple Green and water and run till clean. It will remove all the left over potting from the terminals and rivets for making a clean solder connection. Works great!

Using the cleaner to remove corrosion is new to me. I will have to give this a try.

While I have used the cleaner on some car parts, I have never used it on carburetors! Sounds interesting! I wonder how it would work on the cast iron Zenith carburetor on my Model A Ford? I may have to give that a try!