Ultra-Sonic Cleaning of Assembled Parts

Four possibilities come to mind.

• Proprietary dry-cleaning machine fluid (non-flammable)
• Methylated spirit diluted with distilled water 1:3 (do it outdoors!)
• White spirit (do it outdoors!)
• Tetrachloroethane (non-flammable)

Parafin, diesel?

Clock/Watch solvent/oil

Engine flushing oil?

Vole sweat?

Soap and water , followed by whatever lubricant you like

Wisk laundry detergent works well, I cleaned customers filthy jewelry with it for years. something called decavitation happens with the detergent to help the ultrasonic work well.

Ultrasonics can produce aerosols. Run for more than a few minutes Untrasonics produce heat. Ours warms water to 130 F in 30 minutes. I like the soap and water cleaning solution followed by either an ultrasonic run in your lubricating oil, or, a run in Surgical Milk - an emulsion of oils in water. That should be allowed to dry on the part(s). SM can be autoclaved.

Bobguz

I'm with you on that!!

• Let soak in a mix of 1/2 kerosene, 1/2 gasoline. Don't do this in the ultrasonic. Use a toothbrush to get through some of the heavy stuff.
• Add Alconox powder to the ultrasonic water. It is made for ultrasonic use. Run parts through a half hour cycle and inspect cleaning action.
• If some heavy grease remains, soak in kero/gas and brush again. Back into the ultrasonic. Repeat as necessary.

When acceptably clean, if the assembled parts are tiny, a short oil cycle in the ultrasonic would be great. If the parts aren't going to be used soon, spray with silicone spray and wrap in paper, or coat with oil or grease, whichever is appropriate.

A little trick I stumbled on years ago when clean an automatic transmission valve body and the cleaning tank left grease and when the grease was removed rusted. Water, Simple Green (available at most hardware stores) and Alconox (a laboratory glass cleaner) http://www.alconox.com/static/section_top/gen_catalog.asp. Use about a gallon of H20, 1-2 pints of Simple green and 2-3 1/2 oz. packets of the Aloconox. This will clean the grease off and strip any rust off in the process. This is quick and the chemicals used are relatively benign (what you are removing may not be though).

I am not smart enough to what I can't do!

I'm not sure about stripping rust, but getting oil and grease, I recommend using PowerGreens H2Pro Cleaner/Degreaser. It's a green cleaner that actually breaks down grease and oils into their base fatty acids and allows for a better cleaning with no residue. Place parts in aqueous solution, agitate or scrub, then rinse clean. I would also recommend blowing off the part to remove all excess water. This will get oils and grease off in a safe manner without the worry of solvents, voc's or other toxic chemicals in the mix. Check it out at www.thepowergreen.com

My machines are too large to use ultrasonic so I am of no help there. Maybe the system I use, below, will be helpful if used prior to ultrasonic.

I must clean some very dirty machines to do preventive maintenance and the best thing I have found for cleaning is WD-40 for oil soluble grime and dust mixed in with it.

If the mess is a water soluble one I use glass cleaner and after the grime is removed I go back over the area with WD-40 to displace any water based cleaner in order to reduce the possibility of corrosion.

Hola S squared

You see a bunch of posts saying don't use flammables in a U . S. cleaner. And I've found the so called safe cleaners to be useless. I clean SCUBA regulator parts in mine. But, I use BREKs boiler cleaning acid diluted 5:1.

U. S. cleaners are not rated for Class I, Group D, Div. 2 (Zone 2) operation and as such the spark from the circuits can blow you and your cleaner up with flammables utilised inside.

The best best best best cleaner I have ever used to de-gunk-i-fy anything is starting fluid (ether). Wal-Mart, auto section, $1.80 or so per can near the brake parts cleaner. Brake parts cleaner is the number 2 stuff I use to clean anything, but get the non-environmentally safe stuff as the 'green' brake cleaner is wimpy.

Use all this outdoor, respirator and safety goggles (not safety glasses, but full coverage goggles, Pep Boys has nice ones). I use the bottom of a lube oil quart bottle as my 'tray' for small parts and spray the stuff all over inside this 'tray' (watch for back splash), let soak, and it air dries in 10 seconds when you lift 'em out.

If you use the ether, be sure the little arrow is not pointing at you face unless you are wearing your jammies . . . cuz it's lights out for 'ole Stan for 10 minutes otherwise. You may be wondering how I know this . . . . . .

I certainly agree with the "good" brake cleaner in a small can or jar (be careful of breakage please). It's the ONLY way I clean wheel bearings after the kero/gas wash. All those tiny particles just fall off the part. Closest thing I've found to freon or trichloroethane 1,1,1 (or is it ethelene, Doesn't matter, I think they finally outlawed both) that is readily available. I've used mek in a pinch as well as acetone but not on aluminum or plastics. Naphtha has some limitations, but they use it for final prep when painting cars and automotive paint is pretty fussy.

No, I don't have all of this stuff laying around, well not some of it... and I am running out of the trichlor.

I am concerned why anyone would recommend gas - (or Kero ) don't really know what kero is. But I have a very good friend who used gas -- (if gasoline is what you mean) He is burned over 65% of his body while cleaning motorcycle parts during a rebuild.

If anyone is recommending gasoline (gas???) this is really a STUPID move. Not only is it a poor solvent AND it is EXTREMELY flammable and possibly explosive.

There are safe solvents available. I know OSHA is overboard in many cases but gasoline as a solvent is a COMMON SENSE NO NO> it's your skin ---YOU CHOOSE.

Yup..

Just trying to clarify what some stuff is... in UK we have parafin, (goes in el cheapo heaters and pens a bit (pen and ink...stink). it's pretty low flamability). Is that what you guys call kerosene? Or is kerosene=gas=petrol?

Methylated spirit is pretty good (Stinky Pete should be able to confirm this ) It's v good on old furniture to remove that thick hideous brown varnish that people used to dollop over perfectly good wood.

... like you say, don't go up in flames guys.

Every man is his own safety officer.

In the US:

Paraffin (spelled with two 'f's here) is a nearly transparent colorless wax used for candles and sealing jars of canned food.

Kerosene is what you use in el cheapo heaters and, in days past, in kerosene lanterns. It's very similar to diesel, both in viscosity and flash point. (Never heard of it being used in ink; I believe the inks used in our fountain pens were all water-based. Oil-based inks are used in our ball-point pens, but they don't smell like kerosene, at least to me)

Gas is used both as the short form of gasoline (=petrol, I believe), used in the majority of cars and other small vehicles here, and for the true gases, as natural gas, butane, propane, LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), etc.

Right ..got it..yes we have paraffin wax too ...we call it...'paraffin wax'...

So 'Kerosene' is 'paraffin' at least we've established something!

The ink thing is me be silly...

Cockney rhyming slang... if something is smelly you say it 'pens' from the rhyme 'pen and ink' with 'stink' like 'apples' means 'stairs'

Apples & pears ..... stairs

Oh never mind! Ask Dick Van Dyke ..'Gawd bess ya Mary Poppins' ...

Del

Gotcha!

Kerosene does have a distinct smell. I remember it well. I spent a couple of years in Chile back in the '60s, and there they dusted the floors with a dust mop moistened with kerosene, so the smell was ubiquitous!

Dick

Kero? Maybe that is something like Karo syrup my grandma used to put on pumpkin pie with pecans.

Please refer to posting #8. I just used kero/gas as an abbreviation for a mixture of 1/2 kerosene and 1/2 gasoline. Sorry for the confusion factor.

As Del stated, kerosene has a higher flash point and when mixed with gasoline the flash point of the gasoline is probably raised somewhat, but I'm not a chemical engineer so...

We all deal with open flammable liquids and their fumes every day. You don't often hear of gas station fires. CNN would certainly have news coverage and I haven't seen any lately. The prudent person knows enough not to smoke or weld or use a cutting torch around open flammable liquids or their fumes. You can place a pan of gasoline on hot asphalt in the noon day sun in the middle of summer and it will evaporate, not explode. It takes the human element, or lightning, to provide the source of ignition.

If you are not comfortable handling gasoline/kerosene, use mineral spirits.

My friend was in the garage sitting on the floor with a small pan of gasoline cleaning his parts, as I said in my orevious post. He does not smoke, was not welding, and had no external source of ignition to his knowledge. It was a hot summer day and as gasoline vapors accumulate near the floor (this is normal) he was sitting right in the fumes. When the gas vapors ignited he jumped out of the way kicking the small pan of gas and the result is still disasterous. After 25 years his skin (now scar tissue) peels off if he bumps into anything.

"It takes the human element, or lightning, to provide the source of ignition."

Yes, it does take an ignition source intentional or otherwise. Gasoline, even if it mixed with kerosene, under the exact right temperature, air mixture, and being in vapor form is very unpredictable and can ignite even with the smallest release of static elecricity, even a polyester shirt could be enough to ignite gasoline if it has a static charge which polyester usually does.

There are many sources of static everywhere around us making ignition sources possible practically everywhere -- it doesn't take a welding torch or match..

As I said before Gasoline is not only a POOR solvent it is VERY DANGEROUS-- there are safer and better ways to go. It is not a matter of being comfortable using it as you said -- obviously my friend was completely within his comfort zone -- and paid the price for his over-confidence.

I hope it never happens to you or anyone else, it's really ugly..

I've found methylated spirit very 'pickie' about what it will and will not 'solve'. I've usually found petrol (alright 'gas' then) good but acetone much better.

On the subject of petrol, I was carrying the cleaning bosh full of petrol across the workshop in our garage as a youngster when one of the other mechanics flicked his fag butt (cigarette end, thanks you) into it. It hissed and went out.

You were just very, very lucky, no more no less, probably because you were leaving the heavy vapour behind you, which is what actually catches fire, not the liquid itself!!!.

In a test situation, how many times would you think from 10 would it just go out, and how many times would it catch fire? Would you carry it again? I bet not!!!

Many have lucky esacapes some not!!

Did you look at the YouTube film???

in our garage as a youngster --

--- Youngsters do many foolish things -- as we get older wisdom takes the place of youthful exuberance.

It didn't burn because the liquid gasoline does not ignite and, apparently, no sparking from the source occurred before it entered the liquid fuel -- if the fuel vapors and air conditions were correct you could have had a major problem, and maybe carry the evidence of your error for the rest of your life.

You were very lucky, and your mechanic was a fool, as you were the one carrying the stuff. If you really believe it is safe to fool around with gasoline -- good luck to you.

Personally I wouldn't push my luck too far!!!! If you will notice gasoline is called FUEL not SOLVENT or CLEANER.

Acetone is just as deadly and very volatile, it can self ignite easily as all the other flammable substances recommended can.

Remember a Flash Point is where combustable vapours are given off, and Ignition Point is where the substance will self ignite. In a vapour rich atmosphere all you need is a spark from a light switch or fridge cutting in/out to cause an explosion (rapid burning of gases), as none of these are 'Ex' rated - not intrinsically safe.

Stick to washing machine detergent, de-ionised water (for electronic boards) and good old WD40 for the metal bits, before and after washing!