As a diesel mechanic of 40 plus years, Cascade powder has been used to clean oil and sludge from engine cooling systems after oil cooler failures. Flushing with plain water to get as much out as possible then adding Cascade powder and running the engine for half an hour at fast idle usually completely cleans the system. Neen doing this as long as I can remember.
Around 30 years ago I worked at a machine shop that did precision grinding and polishing from GM fuel injection and ride control products to Rolls Royce jet engine parts. We had very large ultrasonic cleaning and rinsing tanks - about the size of a washing machine for each tank. The manufacturer of one of our systems recommended Tide laundry detergent. It worked very well and even cleaned the polishing slurry from the ceramic filter/separators. I don't remember the detergent-to-water ratio but it's cheap enough to experiment. And, as someone mentioned before, to save on cleaning solutions in larger ultrasonic tanks you can do tank-within-a-tank and only use what you need for cleaning smaller parts.
Any soaps or say detergents will almost certainly be basic (base) on the ph scale. Say for example soap has caustic soda which is very basic and will chew through aluminium but ny god does it clean well. I use borax plus dish soap in my mixes. Once you add heat it takes the reactions on metals up a biiig notch so wasnt surprised at the discoloured aluminium
Just a heads up those machines aren't as effective if you don't fill your solution to the creased fill line. The transducers need a certain volume to correctly propagate the waves and at a minimum need to have water at least above the top of transducer mounting location.
I fear for someone with hearing aid’s buying one of these and blowing their ears out. I don’t know if it would, but it’s a terrible noise in microphones.
Tip: Save cleaning material and skip scrubbing out the U/S tank every time. Fill the tank with water. Put the parts to be cleaned and the cleaning solution in a plastic freezer bag. You can even use a plastic jar. The Sound travels right through the water and plastic and does its job. I've been using mineral spirits for nasty grease like bike chains and such. Bagging it means I don't have a giant fire hazard. May try the Cascade for the greasy stuff after seeing your results.
Awesome video. I've been using krud Kutter, and I like it, but I always seem to leave it in the cleaner too long because I don't want to waste it. I will be switching to cascade pods so I can have a clean tank each time. I would love to see a follow up video with cascade regular detergent to see if there is any benefit and to see what ratio is best. I love what that salt one did for the rust, I will probably keep some of that on stand by for super rusty stuff. Thanks for spending the money and time on this so we don't have to!
I will be doing a follow up soon. I’m actually very curious if a much more diluted salts gone would be just as effective. Also I just got some liquid dishwasher detergent to try too.
A tip for anyone interested in using the Zep 505: Zep 505 is simply their Industrial Purple Degreaser diluted 5:1 with water. This was informed to us at work by a Zep representative when we asked about purchasing 505 by the drum.
I found from ultrasonic cleaning ammunition brass that the citrus acid cleaners are okay for short term cleaning, that is less than 20 minutes. Brass and copper alloys usually have some zinc mixed in. The citrus acid will dissolve and leach out the zinc weakening the brass and making it look almost pink. I rely on mechanical wet tumbling with Dawn and stainless steel pins, beads and chips to do the majority of my cleaning.
Great info! Check down in the comments, another viewer posted a formula for brass that he says works really well that you may want to play with. It was a few ingredients and I don’t recall the ratios off the top of my head.
EDIT - I misspoke about Pine Sol - it discolors steel, not aluminum as stated below. Thanks for this test - it’s definitely needed. In the small engine community on TH-cam this subject is discussed very often. Harbor Freight’s cleaner recently was changed chemically and there’s a warning on the container so you might want to skip that one for now because it’ll be apples to oranges due to most people assuming that cleaner is still the same product. I agree with another commenter who said you didn’t give Dawn a fair chance (at reaching its full potential). I understand your hesitance to use too much due to the foam it produces, but there seemed to be little foam in the test so I think you can increase the ratio somewhat. Dawn seems to largely be a surfactant, as are most products in that category, which is why it is renowned as a degreaser and probably why it foams so much - that’s how it works. I’ve been using it in my ultrasonic most recently and it does a good job without adversely affecting metals, plus I didn’t experience any foam at all. The Cascade pods I use in my dishwasher (the Complete version) feature Dawn right on the container as one of the constituents. I stopped using Pine Sol because it discolored aluminum, although I did note that one carb had a brass part that came out looking like new. I’ll be trying the Cascade pods to study their effectiveness. FYI, I rinse all parts off well when they come out of the ultrasonic and then spray with WD-40 since the first time I experienced flash rust on some of the fasteners.
Great info! Thanks. I think I may do dawn more concentrated on round 2 (soon). I also was told a few times that wasn’t the good dawn to use either. It definitely doesn’t seem to be as good. It was the “platinum “ from Costco.
Funny thing about Pine Sol is it no longer contains pine oil. You can order the original formula direct for too much money, or believe it or not you can buy off brand stuff that still uses it. And as you mentioned it flat out works on aluminum, especially with heat (I use an old crock pot). You can leave aluminum and brass in as long as you want, but it's not compatible with most types of natural or synthetic rubber, pvc, silicone, etc. and it will eventually eat away cast iron and steel even faster. It will also strip paint rather quickly. The other option with aluminum or brass is kerosene, but I don't think it works as well and I'd rather not burn the garage down anyway.
@@DeathTollRacing The dawn will hardly put a dent in carbon deposits... dish soap and dishwasher soap are nothing alike because the latter is surprisingly caustic stuff. It's also a lot less effective now since they went phosphate free 15 years ago or whenever it was. You can still get it and add it yourself though. Also, don't quote me but I'm pretty sure all the stuff you tested is probably caustic, not acidic.
This was an excellent test! You mentioned that these cleaners were acidic but chances are that a number of these were alkaline. Automatic dishwasher detergent is definitely alkaline.
@@DeathTollRacing Hi again 😉 If I remember correctly from my high school chemistry (a really long time ago) metals will only corrode in an acidic environment. The aluminium should not corrode from the dishwasher pads alone but maybe the combination of iron and aluminium caused corrosion. I’ve noticed that my aluminium garlic press corrodes in the dishwasher. Greetings from the Netherlands!
@@Conservator. you are probably correct! I don’t remember much from high school. 😂 I do know that I was wrong to be calling things acidic though. I should have stuck to the results and not speculated on that aspect.
@@Conservator.alkaline solutions will corrode aluminum. like caustic soda (lye) will make aluminum disappear in short order. and it is not acidic at all its a very strong alkaline solution
Alkaline Duracell batteries will destroy an Aluminum Maglite. Back in 1993 I bought a 3 D cell Maglite and put it in my car. Perhaps a year later I tried to use it and it was dead. Middle cell had corroded the inside of the flashlight while both of the other cells still measured 1.5 volts. I now use Panasonic Eneloop cells because they are rechargeable with an extremely long shelf life, 70% of charge at 10 years and never seen one corrode. Low Self Discharge NiMh for me. I just got the 6 liter ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and will now be purchasing a box of Cascade powder. Funny thing is that I don't have or want a dishwasher.
I have taken hot coffee or iced tea to work in stainless growlers for years. Even with an evening rinse over time they stain. Long ago I discovered that a Cascade pod dropped into the growler full of hot water and left overnight would leave the stainless looking brand new. I didn't make the connection until I saw this vid. Saves me big bucks.
Great video! I use my ultrasonic cleaners daily and I’ve tried most of these but actually use 2 other products that won my own testing. Simple Green Purple Pro & Simple Green Aircraft when I need to be very gentle on prized aluminum. 👍 I’m going to try the cascade pods though, never even thought to test them! Just an FYI, your hot 80C temp is discolouring aluminum (in addition to some acidic & very basic cleaners). I did testing and found anythjng over 38C dulls certain aluminum compositions. Most typical 6061 aluminum can handle 50C however.
Excellent! On my next test I’m going to do the same thing, but I’m going to add anodized parts too. I’m going to stick with the temp though for consistency, so as you say, it may affect the aluminum negatively.
Worth noting that fumes from some of these cleaners are likely considered acutely toxic. Definitely check the material safety sheets before using them without proper PPE. I was using Purple Power in my heated parts washer, but it gave me a sore throat, and then I looked it up and I was breathing toxic fumes! My favorite cleaner and degreaser is Oil Eater! I have found it works fantastic for pretty much everything, it is water-based, non-toxic, non-corrosive, and smells kind of like sugar cookies. Works well diluted or full strength. Definitely hope you will try it if you do more testing. I have also found super clean to be pretty effective, but also that it discolors aluminum as you saw.
I suspect the aluminum coloration is caused by alkaline rather than acid and may be aluminum oxide. You can get test strips at chemical supply places or online that turn colors depending on the ph it is dipped in. Very informative session. Sodium hydroxide (lye) can be used as a cleaner but is a dangerous chemical and must be treated as such and must be thinned a great amount. The power of the chemicals shone is evident and gloves and goggles may be wise. I just bought a small cleaner to clean watch parts and this info is very useful! Thanks..
The cascade pods makes sense. They're meant for plates and pots covered in food; food is oily and carbon based, and engine parts are oily and covered with carbon, so not a big surprise.
Good stuff! I can’t wait to try some of these out! I started out using super expensive Lyman ultrasonic cleaner concentrate for gun parts. Then switched to simple green and it works ok not great but it’s cheap nontoxic nonsmelly and doesn’t ruin anything. Lately I’ve been using Evaporust as the solution and wow does that work well for rusted parts. It gets gross but works over and over and over again. 5 gallon bucket is the way to buy that stuff. But grease and carbon are a challenge so apparently I am buying dishwasher detergent next time! Thanks for the vidya!
No problem! I may have to do another round. I'm getting all sorts of ideas for others. I'll have to find another gross motor with tons of buildup. Or maybe take the best ones and add some others on something different.
wheni i did vintage carb rebuilds. i learned fast that you should rinse your parts in warm water right away and not let then dry till you get them fully rinsed
You should do a dive down on one detergent at a time with different concentrations. Otherwise, you dont know how much money you wasted or saved. With powders, mix until unable to dissolve more gets you to 100% solution. Maybe sample at 1:0,1:1,1:3,1:4,1:7, 1:9 as your control and fine tune ratios a few more stages when you see a significant change in outcome. There may also be different ratios depending on surface finish from smooth to coarse and whether there is any porosity present.
That's a good idea. Especially on the salts gone. I am 99% sure that I didn't need it nearly as concentrated as I had it. I am doing a round 2 next focusing on mostly inexpensive options, then I may find what had some promising results and tune it in like you suggested.
Another thought I have on this is that different stages may demand different ratios to closely match bubble size to gap size or surface wettability. Bubble size MIIIIIIIIIIGHT be loosely associated to grit count on sandpaper.
Thanks for a very interesting video. Many of the cleaners are highly alkaline, not acidic. This is why the cleaners lile Super Clean stained the aluminum. Acidic cleaners would actually brighten the aluminum if the ph is right.
@@DeathTollRacing The alkaline cleaners have a ph that is very high, above 12. That breaks the bond oil and grime have on the surface, but it also attacks aluminum and bearings. Dawn has a more neutral ph, around 7 to 7.5 I think, like plain water. As a soap it requires some action to lift soils from the parts, which you get from the sound waves but you probably need a lot more Dawn to do the job. Acidic cleaners have ph levels often well below 6, which is great for aluminum. These results are pretty interesting. I suspect you might get different results with different metals, like a zinc casting for a carburetor.
I can't believe how well it worked. I now wonder if I were to put more in if it would be even better, or maybe less would be less corrosive yet still cut the grease and carbon?
I restore vintage chainsaws, three or four Cascade pods with purple clean, Oxiclean and Mr Clean, at room temperature, cuts thru the crap every time. I was using a solvent tank and brush washed the parts, quit that and use the water based detergents and degreasers. Some tough grease and burnt on carbon will take some soaking, sometimes 24 hours, but the solution is safe, leaves the aluminum bright. This solution blows the carbon off piston tops real well, I had tried trans fluid and acetone and other suggested solvents to no success.
Awesome! I have a saw I’m going to restore someday. It was my grandfather’s David Bradley. It’s in good shape, but I need a chain for it before I start on it. As far as I can tell, used is the only option.
@@DeathTollRacing interesting I haven't seen that Issue I been using the Hf degreaser In my parts machine for years never noticed it not work as good as it once was always works the same for me maybe people aren't using it right 🤔
Thank you, dish washing powder it is then. I Guess if you rinse and throughly dry parts after and lubricaste where necessary it will also help. This is going to save me a lot of money going forward.
Yes! It’s all I use now. But sometimes I use the leftover salts gone from the testing. But I probably won’t replace it. I’m doing a round 2 to try 8 more options, so stay tuned!
This was a good video, thanks for taking the time to put it all together. Ive had good luck with Purple Power, its gentle on rubber and plastic also for heavy carbon areas i use a fairly stiff nylon brush 1 or two times while its in the tank. I started using Purple Power in a big soup pot on a turkey fryer burner but the ultra sonic cleaner is a big step up. On the burner (metal parts) i try to keep the temp about 140-150. Thanks again
Purple power will melt whatever BMW uses for sliding/friction areas in their VANOS units. Completely ate away all the shiny area and started eating the aluminum housing as well. Tested on Dual VANOS unit from a 2005 BMW E46 325ci (M54B25).
Thanks. I'm cheap and I've been using hand dish soap... and being disappointed. I am happy to see how good a job dishwasher detergent is and will be changing. BTW, the corrosion is not because the detergents are acidic; they are caustic (high pH). As an example, the pH of the Cascade solution is going to be somewhere around 10.
Haha. Yes, I kept meaning to say corrosive. My brain mouth coordination sucks. I spent all day yesterday on “round 2” with different alternatives but this time I am ph testing all the solutions!
Probably most effective but most expensive would be Chem-dip carburetor cleaner. Soaking a piston in the stuff cleans it pretty well. The ultrasonic should speed up the process. Dishwasher detergent is know for discoloring aluminum and many of the cleaners you can buy off the shelf state on the label whether they discolor aluminum.
I'm pretty excited about that. Just being able to run loads of nasty crap and not worry about shortening the life of the fluid that your using is a huge perk.
Thanks for taking the time to do this. At first I thought that this was a cheap vs. expensive ultrasonic cleaner showdown. I'm trying to decide between settling for the Vevor ($113) or busting out with the Crest ($1,300). Also, I'm confused by your statement at 20:20 that SuperClean is too acidic for you. SuperClean is a super high pH cleaner (12.5-13.8). That's about as basic (read: not acid) as you can get. The pH scale only goes up to 14.
Haha. Yes I said that backwards and never caught it. I was trying to keep it simple and just say corrosive and ended up making it confusing and also incorrect.
Surprised you didn't try CLR ... Works great on rust ... Not sure about dirt and grime. Also, Harbor Freight sells a relatively cheap degreaser that works way better diluted than straight ... Not sure what that's about, but I'd like to see how it would do in an Ultrasonic cleaner.
Thanks for your test!! I have a piston from an airplane engine with really heavy carbon on it, I tried different ways but nothing worked. Used Ultra Clean Solution 1/5 didn't help after your video rushed to buy Zep 505 and on 3rd 30 min attempt, it cleaned pretty well.
The best setup I have found is a 1 to 1 mix of Simple Green Pro Purple and distilled water. Doesn't harm aluminum and cleans better than anything else I've tried.
Agree! Dawn has always never worked for anything. Have used Joy dish soap for 30 plus years now. Teardown a PenZpoison engine without any hand protection and just a little joy dish soap at the end to clean up of my hands. No grease found!
I have had amazing success with purple Power and Zep Citrius Foaming Degreaser Purple power works amazing on getting oil and grease out of automotive Upholstery
I use the dawn platinum concentrated liquid. It's meant to refill the foaming dispensers, but a cap full of that cut with water in my little 2.5L harbor freight sonic cleaner works a treat for cleaning BCGs.
A cheaper way for smaller parts to use less solution is you can put them in a ziplock bag filled with solution or a jar and just put water in the ultrasonic cleaner
i use dishwasher liquid and cirtic acid powder. Dishwasher liquid makes the clean more gentle to the parts cleaned and increases effectiveness of the citric acid.
I bet that would work amazing. I am reluctant to try it in a video now for liability reasons in case someone has an accident and can't take responsibility for themselves.
I'd suggest doing a PH strip on them if possible or just checking the SDS, it's likely that they are alkaline rather than acidic. Aluminium, lead and chromium are amphoteric meaning that both acids and bases will react with them, which is likely why you saw differences in the rates that discoloration occured between them.
Yes. I said that multiple times and meant to say acidic. On the round 2 video I ph tested every solution as used. The trends of corrosion are just like your thoughts.
By far my favorite cleaner is the harbor freight heavy duty degreaser. Plenty strong at 3:1 and it's not as hard on aluminum as many of the other degreasers.
I’ve had a few people tell me that. They also said that as of recently it’s been reformed and is not as good as it used to be. I’m going to include it in round 2 testing. Thanks for the input!
I have not tried it in mine but I watched a guy put rusty screws & bolts in a ziplock bag with blasting media. Might be worth a try. Vinegar works on rusty stuff too.
Round 2 has vinegar. That’s an interesting idea with the blast media. My instinct says that won’t work. So now I’m extra curious since I think it won’t work. 😂
I’ve only tested these 2 vevors. They work, but I’m going to assume there are better ones out there, but for the money, they are tough to beat. I have had to change out the main switch on one so far.
Aluminum is an alkali metal and as such will be aggressively attacked by any basic or alkaline cleaning solution. Iron on the other hand is typically much less reactive with alkaline solutions and more reactive with acidic solutions. If you have two cleaner tanks it would be a great idea to keep a more alkaline solution in one for cleaning ferrous and other non alkaline parts and one that is slightly more acidic for cleaning alkali metals like aluminum, zinc and magnesium. It would also be neat to see how borax, washing soda and tide and clorox2 would do.
@@DeathTollRacing that would actually be a great video removing the concentration level multiple times in multiple test to see were the solution becomes to the point the dilution isn't useful
It doesn’t seem to make a difference. Glass jars work in it too if you want to put them into a higher concentration of cleaner. The glass transfers the “sound” really well.
I use cascade platinum pods in my diy hot washer cabinet. About 12 pods per the 45 gallons it holds seems to be plenty @ 90c. They work great completely stripping all grease and oil, but doesn't cut the carbon like i want. (I'll be buying an ultrasonic soon to help with this) It will turn any aluminum a dull grey color especially machined surfaces, andneed to make sure to pull the parts out immediately after it's done or it will leave some nasty mineral deposits that can only be removed mechanically. Nice thing with the heat is the parts evaporate off in seconds when removed so no need for blow drying. There's a video on my channel if you care to check it out my contraption.
@@HsPerformanceWi Lol. I don't have any of those. hahaha. actually even one's I thought were good a year ago suck. I'm sure in another year, I'll look back at these the same way.
Have you, or could you, measure the actual Wattage of your ultrasonic cleaner. My cleaner is listed as 180 watts for the ultrasonic transducers. When I measure it with a Kill-a-Watt meter using only the ultrasonic function of the cleaner, it measures between 110 and 135 watts. I would be interested in knowing what your model is rated as and the actual power consumption. You posted a great video and I appreciate the information you provided.
I haven’t, but I will. I’m going to doing a round 2 video to try out 8 more ideas very soon (most requests from viewers). I’m waiting on a couple products yet.
It did feel that way. I’m going to pay more attention to that on round 2. Normally you would separate the piston and rod before, but I suppose there are situations where that’s not practical to do. Great observation!
You want to save gobs of money on cleaning solution (whichever is your favorite)? Here's how: put your part(s) into a Ziploc bag. Fill the bag *just enough* to cover the part(s) with the cleaner. Force out most of the air and zip it shut. Place this in the tank and fill with water to the full line. Press the Go button. This works just as well as having the tank filled with the cleaner. Try it.
Briefly scrolled through comments and suprised I didn't see LA totally awesome from the dollar store. 50/50 mix at 170° in my ultrasonic cleaner will strip a piston and rod clean in about 10 minutes.
I never directly put anything dirty into my ultrasonic, it's always in something else to keep it clean. I have a 15L Vevor, yours is bigger, but a square shaped kitty litter bucket fits perfect into mine, so doing that with yours would be no problem. Just put your dirty thing in the bucket with cleaner, plop it into the Vevor with or without the basket and fill with water to the water line in the Vevor. Just keep the water line of the bucket above the water line in the Vevor and it won't float. The soundwaves and heat will travel through any liquid and clean just the same. The bucket shouldn't start to deform until around 100C, so 80C is fine. Seal the buckets with a lid when done and you can keep re-using them. I have buckets of various cleaners that I've re-used many times including one full of acetone.
That's a good idea. I've heard the plastic makes the ultrasonic not as effective. It would be another interesting test for me to de-bunk or confirm. testing one in plastic, one in a metal can, one in glass?, one directly in the cleaner. all with the same cleaner. Hmmmmm....
@@DeathTollRacing That's a good idea. I can't attest if it's better or worse in different types of containers (or none at all). I've always used a container of some kind with positive results. Usually it's been a plastic bucket or small garbage can, but I've also used glass jars when gasoline was the cleaning agent.
People try hot hot water. Zip lock the part in the cleaning solution IT keeps the tub clean. The water hot. Put solution in the bag. It cleans 100% better
Great video, very well done test of these cleaning solutions. Pretty much the best run test video I've seen on TH-cam. I have subscribed so I don't miss the next ultrasonic cleaner video. I have a Vevor 30L Ultrasonic cleaner. You used four Cascade pods in yours, was that a 30L also? I'll probably cut the Cascade packet and just dump in the contents. I've used the "regular" Dawn dishwashing liquid, and it did ok for parts that I didn't want to risk with a more corrosive cleaner; however, I have not used the Platinum Dawn. I've used Simple Green, and results were just so-so. One cleaner you might consider for your next test is CLR (Calcium Limescale & Rust Remover), I have not tried it but there are some videos on TH-cam where it seems to work out well. Sorry for the long comment! Looking forward to the next ultrasonic cleaner test video. 🙂
I appreciate that! Yes, mine are the 30L as well. I actually put in some clr on some rusty parts once and I wasn’t super impressed, but I may not have used enough.
Awesome cleaner from Dollar Tree is amazing in an ultrasonic cleaner. If you really want to play you can use sodium hydroxide but be careful as it'll remove skin in a hurry.
I use liquid wd40 (comes in gallon cans) or gasoline. I put the WD40 and gasoline (and the items) in a sealed glass jar, and fill the tub with water. I’ve cleaned a lot of silencer baffles and car parts this way.
Most of the solutions that you are using are Alkaline, not Acidic. The vast majority of cleaning solutions use sodium metasilicate as part of the formula and over exposure to that does indeed darken aluminum. The reason that alkaline solutions are use is that they turn grease into soap, thus enhancing cleaning abilities. If you want to find out the composition of the cleaners, Google the MSDS for each one, but the MSDS for Citrus only indicated that it was alkaline, but no ingredients were listed as they were a proprietary trade secret.
Interesting. Yes I should have just kept it simpler and just talked about the corrosion the cleaners did to the parts instead of going into science terms that were incorrect.
So in round 2 I did simple green and it was the best on the aluminum. There's also a simple green aviation that will be in round 3 that's supposed to be better, but I haven't started filming that one yet.
I have a buddy that works in a jewelry shop. He said they use liquid tide in their machines. Then i have another buddy that bought one, and bought eastwood brand cleaner, and it ruined some rc car parts i put in it. Ate the anodizing off the aluminum pieces, and discolored the aluminim under it. Super harsh.
in an ultrasonic? I've never played with either in there, but I would start with the injectors in a jar of injector cleaner (sealed) and put in the ultrasonic that's filled with water or whatever you have in it. The transmission solenoids are a tough one. Maybe in a jar with new atf and let the ultrasonic do the rest? atf is already a pretty good at cleaning, and you wouldn't be introducing anything to it that may harm it in other ways.
No doubt..lol, great lil vid here for sure. Project Farm dives so deep into everything, he's a pretty brainy character so its a huge challenge for anyone to catch up to him. I read 505 does great in these cleaners so I have some to try out here. I do wish mean green was included. It does better than Simple Green on regular cleaning without ultrasonic machines but idk how well it cleans in my tank yet? Too cold in my unheated garage to test chit right now. I need my doors open, Covid 19 permanently destroyed my left lung so fumes are pretty rough on me now. Peace
I use an ultrasonic cleaner for my vinyl records. I thought that's what this was about -LOL. I thought you'd lost your freaking mind during the first minute.
20:00 Hi, When formatting cells there’s an option to rotate the text. That would have made it possible to keep the labels and retain the small format. Great video btw!
😂 I knew that. I used to use excel a lot, and was really good at it. Then 5 years later I’m as green as can be at it. I’m not sure if it’s ptsd or what.
@@DeathTollRacing Oh I hear you! I can’t say how much I hate it when Microsoft decides to ‘improve’ their products every 5 years or so and completely change the user interface while not adding any new functions. 🙄🤦♂️😁
Do you think OxiClean would work well in an ultrasonic cleaning machine? Would love to know, since it's powdered and relatively inexpensive (also non-acidic, I THINK). Great video though, and super informative!
Sodium Hydroxide + Aluminum = Sodium Aluminate It isn't acidic. It is an oxidizer, particularly in aqueous solution. My all time favorite de greaser at the moment is Zep Industrial Purple. Brief contact with aluminum results in instant grey surface appearance. Left long enough no more aluminum. Take an aluminum beverage can. Turn it upside down and fill the bowl with sodium hydroxide. It will convert every last bit into sodium aluminate.
The word you are looking for caustic. As in caustic soda. Most of the cleaners there are caustic. This the high alkalin side of the ph scale. I would be intrested to know if the citris cleaner is actially acidic or just smells of citris? Please also test pine sol or generic cleaner of that type and the cheap LA's totally awesome(dollar store degreaser).
Have you tried putting parts in mason jar with cleaner and filling ultrasonic machine with water? Less waste. Just drop mason jar with lid in tank. I just bought my hobo ultra cleaner tonight and purple power=oops. I just need to clean small engine carbs but dont want to damage the potmetal or aluminum. Would the cascade pods damage the carbs?
Mason jars- Yes. It works great that way! Plastic containers don’t work good though. I think they absorb the vibrations. Cascade pods- I don’t think they will hurt the carbs. Definitely won’t hurt them as much as the purple.
I didn’t use any flammable fluids. Even without turning on the heat, it does generate heat from everything moving at a very fast rate even though very small motion. So diesel or anything flammable can definitely be dangerous.
@@DeathTollRacing The only thing I've ever used in mine is diesel, never worried about a fire even with heat. Coincidentally, I used it to clean drill press, mill, and lathe parts that were in my brother's garage when it burned to the ground. It worked fine for that but since it's the only thing I tried, I can't compare it to other things. Since it's more viscous than most other fluids you might use, I wonder if that has a dampening effect on the ultrasonic transducers. I'm pretty sure that alkaline based cleaners will be more effective regardless.
Ran into this video on accident, subscribed, hay wtg man nice job putting together that test, good filming content and explanations Yeah I am about myself going to using the ultrasonic cleaner for some small carbs off chainsaws, Another guy on YT who works on saws, he uses a combo of simple green, vinegar, and dawn and has good results, I am thinking simple green, vinegar and one cascade pod lol not sure I will wait for your part two
Awesome! There will be a variation of the simple green / vinegar / dawn in the next video. Also, I guess the dawn I used is terrible, and not the original. I though they had just branded it, but I have been told it's just plain bad. So the next video will also have that corrected.
for who knows what reason I thought about Coke the pop I have seen some strange things people do with coke , maybe I take a piece of aluminum and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and see what happens lol @@DeathTollRacing
As a diesel mechanic of 40 plus years, Cascade powder has been used to clean oil and sludge from engine cooling systems after oil cooler failures. Flushing with plain water to get as much out as possible then adding Cascade powder and running the engine for half an hour at fast idle usually completely cleans the system. Neen doing this as long as I can remember.
Interesting. 🤔 I’ve never seen that before.
and using soap powders clothes washing machine types @@DeathTollRacing
I use dawn platinum but will use cascade give it a try 👍🏽
How much do you use?
@@5jjt 1 cup (measuring cup) for each 4 gallons of system capacity is what I start with.
Around 30 years ago I worked at a machine shop that did precision grinding and polishing from GM fuel injection and ride control products to Rolls Royce jet engine parts. We had very large ultrasonic cleaning and rinsing tanks - about the size of a washing machine for each tank. The manufacturer of one of our systems recommended Tide laundry detergent. It worked very well and even cleaned the polishing slurry from the ceramic filter/separators. I don't remember the detergent-to-water ratio but it's cheap enough to experiment.
And, as someone mentioned before, to save on cleaning solutions in larger ultrasonic tanks you can do tank-within-a-tank and only use what you need for cleaning smaller parts.
Hmmm. Excellent suggestion for round 2. I think I will include that one.
Any soaps or say detergents will almost certainly be basic (base) on the ph scale. Say for example soap has caustic soda which is very basic and will chew through aluminium but ny god does it clean well. I use borax plus dish soap in my mixes. Once you add heat it takes the reactions on metals up a biiig notch so wasnt surprised at the discoloured aluminium
Just a heads up those machines aren't as effective if you don't fill your solution to the creased fill line. The transducers need a certain volume to correctly propagate the waves and at a minimum need to have water at least above the top of transducer mounting location.
I’ll have to look, but you’re right. The directions state a minimum, but I can’t recall what it said exactly.
I cannot thank you enough for not including the ultrasonic noise in the video like everyone else. It’s absolutely chaotic
I fear for someone with hearing aid’s buying one of these and blowing their ears out. I don’t know if it would, but it’s a terrible noise in microphones.
Tip: Save cleaning material and skip scrubbing out the U/S tank every time. Fill the tank with water. Put the parts to be cleaned and the cleaning solution in a plastic freezer bag. You can even use a plastic jar. The Sound travels right through the water and plastic and does its job. I've been using mineral spirits for nasty grease like bike chains and such. Bagging it means I don't have a giant fire hazard. May try the Cascade for the greasy stuff after seeing your results.
Awesome!!!
Awesome video. I've been using krud Kutter, and I like it, but I always seem to leave it in the cleaner too long because I don't want to waste it. I will be switching to cascade pods so I can have a clean tank each time. I would love to see a follow up video with cascade regular detergent to see if there is any benefit and to see what ratio is best. I love what that salt one did for the rust, I will probably keep some of that on stand by for super rusty stuff. Thanks for spending the money and time on this so we don't have to!
I will be doing a follow up soon. I’m actually very curious if a much more diluted salts gone would be just as effective. Also I just got some liquid dishwasher detergent to try too.
A tip for anyone interested in using the Zep 505:
Zep 505 is simply their Industrial Purple Degreaser diluted 5:1 with water. This was informed to us at work by a Zep representative when we asked about purchasing 505 by the drum.
interesting!
I found from ultrasonic cleaning ammunition brass that the citrus acid cleaners are okay for short term cleaning, that is less than 20 minutes. Brass and copper alloys usually have some zinc mixed in. The citrus acid will dissolve and leach out the zinc weakening the brass and making it look almost pink. I rely on mechanical wet tumbling with Dawn and stainless steel pins, beads and chips to do the majority of my cleaning.
Great info! Check down in the comments, another viewer posted a formula for brass that he says works really well that you may want to play with. It was a few ingredients and I don’t recall the ratios off the top of my head.
EDIT - I misspoke about Pine Sol - it discolors steel, not aluminum as stated below.
Thanks for this test - it’s definitely needed. In the small engine community on TH-cam this subject is discussed very often.
Harbor Freight’s cleaner recently was changed chemically and there’s a warning on the container so you might want to skip that one for now because it’ll be apples to oranges due to most people assuming that cleaner is still the same product.
I agree with another commenter who said you didn’t give Dawn a fair chance (at reaching its full potential). I understand your hesitance to use too much due to the foam it produces, but there seemed to be little foam in the test so I think you can increase the ratio somewhat. Dawn seems to largely be a surfactant, as are most products in that category, which is why it is renowned as a degreaser and probably why it foams so much - that’s how it works. I’ve been using it in my ultrasonic most recently and it does a good job without adversely affecting metals, plus I didn’t experience any foam at all. The Cascade pods I use in my dishwasher (the Complete version) feature Dawn right on the container as one of the constituents.
I stopped using Pine Sol because it discolored aluminum, although I did note that one carb had a brass part that came out looking like new.
I’ll be trying the Cascade pods to study their effectiveness.
FYI, I rinse all parts off well when they come out of the ultrasonic and then spray with WD-40 since the first time I experienced flash rust on some of the fasteners.
Great info! Thanks. I think I may do dawn more concentrated on round 2 (soon). I also was told a few times that wasn’t the good dawn to use either. It definitely doesn’t seem to be as good. It was the “platinum “ from Costco.
Funny thing about Pine Sol is it no longer contains pine oil. You can order the original formula direct for too much money, or believe it or not you can buy off brand stuff that still uses it. And as you mentioned it flat out works on aluminum, especially with heat (I use an old crock pot). You can leave aluminum and brass in as long as you want, but it's not compatible with most types of natural or synthetic rubber, pvc, silicone, etc. and it will eventually eat away cast iron and steel even faster. It will also strip paint rather quickly. The other option with aluminum or brass is kerosene, but I don't think it works as well and I'd rather not burn the garage down anyway.
@@DeathTollRacing The dawn will hardly put a dent in carbon deposits... dish soap and dishwasher soap are nothing alike because the latter is surprisingly caustic stuff. It's also a lot less effective now since they went phosphate free 15 years ago or whenever it was. You can still get it and add it yourself though. Also, don't quote me but I'm pretty sure all the stuff you tested is probably caustic, not acidic.
@@Milkmans_Son you are correct about everything being caustic not acidic. My brain mouth coordination sucks. 😂
This was an excellent test! You mentioned that these cleaners were acidic but chances are that a number of these were alkaline. Automatic dishwasher detergent is definitely alkaline.
Yes, I miss spoke. I should have been maybe saying corrosive. Thank you!
@@DeathTollRacing
Hi again 😉
If I remember correctly from my high school chemistry (a really long time ago) metals will only corrode in an acidic environment.
The aluminium should not corrode from the dishwasher pads alone but maybe the combination of iron and aluminium caused corrosion.
I’ve noticed that my aluminium garlic press corrodes in the dishwasher.
Greetings from the Netherlands!
@@Conservator. you are probably correct! I don’t remember much from high school. 😂 I do know that I was wrong to be calling things acidic though. I should have stuck to the results and not speculated on that aspect.
@@Conservator.alkaline solutions will corrode aluminum. like caustic soda (lye) will make aluminum disappear in short order. and it is not acidic at all its a very strong alkaline solution
Alkaline Duracell batteries will destroy an Aluminum Maglite. Back in 1993 I bought a 3 D cell Maglite and put it in my car. Perhaps a year later I tried to use it and it was dead. Middle cell had corroded the inside of the flashlight while both of the other cells still measured 1.5 volts.
I now use Panasonic Eneloop cells because they are rechargeable with an extremely long shelf life, 70% of charge at 10 years and never seen one corrode. Low Self Discharge NiMh for me.
I just got the 6 liter ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight and will now be purchasing a box of Cascade powder.
Funny thing is that I don't have or want a dishwasher.
Great showdown idea, thank you for taking the time to do the testing and sharing the results!
Of course! Stay tuned for round 2 from suggestion of different products to use!
I have taken hot coffee or iced tea to work in stainless growlers for years. Even with an evening rinse over time they stain. Long ago I discovered that a Cascade pod dropped into the growler full of hot water and left overnight would leave the stainless looking brand new. I didn't make the connection until I saw this vid. Saves me big bucks.
Awesome! They are amazingly good for something so readily available!
Great video! I use my ultrasonic cleaners daily and I’ve tried most of these but actually use 2 other products that won my own testing. Simple Green Purple Pro & Simple Green Aircraft when I need to be very gentle on prized aluminum. 👍 I’m going to try the cascade pods though, never even thought to test them! Just an FYI, your hot 80C temp is discolouring aluminum (in addition to some acidic & very basic cleaners). I did testing and found anythjng over 38C dulls certain aluminum compositions. Most typical 6061 aluminum can handle 50C however.
Excellent! On my next test I’m going to do the same thing, but I’m going to add anodized parts too. I’m going to stick with the temp though for consistency, so as you say, it may affect the aluminum negatively.
+1 Simple Green Purple Pro works excellent on vintage motorbike bit and pieces!!!
@@DennisBall good to know! It will be in round 3 most certainly. Round 2 video has the original simple green and it does really good also.
The Purple doesn't react badly with aluminum discoloring it. Motorbike carbs come out bright and shiny! Keep up the good work!@@DeathTollRacing
awesome. it will be interesting! Round 3 is going to have some excellent results. @@DennisBall
Worth noting that fumes from some of these cleaners are likely considered acutely toxic. Definitely check the material safety sheets before using them without proper PPE. I was using Purple Power in my heated parts washer, but it gave me a sore throat, and then I looked it up and I was breathing toxic fumes! My favorite cleaner and degreaser is Oil Eater! I have found it works fantastic for pretty much everything, it is water-based, non-toxic, non-corrosive, and smells kind of like sugar cookies. Works well diluted or full strength. Definitely hope you will try it if you do more testing. I have also found super clean to be pretty effective, but also that it discolors aluminum as you saw.
Very interesting. Oil eater hopefully will make it into round 3. Round 2 just went live today.
I use simple green in my ultrasonic and it works amazing.
I setting up round 2 and that will for sure be on the list!
which version of simple green are you using and are you doing it on aluminum
I suspect the aluminum coloration is caused by alkaline rather than acid and may be aluminum oxide. You can get test strips at chemical supply places or online that turn colors depending on the ph it is dipped in. Very informative session. Sodium hydroxide (lye) can be used as a cleaner but is a dangerous chemical and must be treated as such and must be thinned a great amount. The power of the chemicals shone is evident and gloves and goggles may be wise. I just bought a small cleaner to clean watch parts and this info is very useful! Thanks..
You are 100% correct. I miss spoke and didn’t ever catch it. I actually ph test them all on round 2. Something I should have done in round 1.
The cascade pods makes sense. They're meant for plates and pots covered in food; food is oily and carbon based, and engine parts are oily and covered with carbon, so not a big surprise.
Some times the simplest solutions are pumping the best!
Good stuff! I can’t wait to try some of these out!
I started out using super expensive Lyman ultrasonic cleaner concentrate for gun parts. Then switched to simple green and it works ok not great but it’s cheap nontoxic nonsmelly and doesn’t ruin anything. Lately I’ve been using Evaporust as the solution and wow does that work well for rusted parts. It gets gross but works over and over and over again. 5 gallon bucket is the way to buy that stuff. But grease and carbon are a challenge so apparently I am buying dishwasher detergent next time! Thanks for the vidya!
No problem! I may have to do another round. I'm getting all sorts of ideas for others. I'll have to find another gross motor with tons of buildup. Or maybe take the best ones and add some others on something different.
i have used simple green for gun parts in the ultrasonic and it works well.
wheni i did vintage carb rebuilds. i learned fast that you should rinse your parts in warm water right away and not let then dry till you get them fully rinsed
Yes, especially on carb parts!
You should do a dive down on one detergent at a time with different concentrations. Otherwise, you dont know how much money you wasted or saved.
With powders, mix until unable to dissolve more gets you to 100% solution.
Maybe sample at 1:0,1:1,1:3,1:4,1:7, 1:9
as your control
and fine tune ratios a few more stages when you see a significant change in outcome.
There may also be different ratios depending on surface finish from smooth to coarse and whether there is any porosity present.
That's a good idea. Especially on the salts gone. I am 99% sure that I didn't need it nearly as concentrated as I had it. I am doing a round 2 next focusing on mostly inexpensive options, then I may find what had some promising results and tune it in like you suggested.
Another thought I have on this is that different stages may demand different ratios to closely match bubble size to gap size or surface wettability.
Bubble size MIIIIIIIIIIGHT be loosely associated to grit count on sandpaper.
@@gary.richardson I’m also testing ph levels on round 2. It’s interesting where they are coming in at.
Thanks for a very interesting video. Many of the cleaners are highly alkaline, not acidic. This is why the cleaners lile Super Clean stained the aluminum. Acidic cleaners would actually brighten the aluminum if the ph is right.
I need to study up on my science. I can tell the difference, but have know idea what they are, or how they are measured. Thanks for clarifying!
@@DeathTollRacing The alkaline cleaners have a ph that is very high, above 12. That breaks the bond oil and grime have on the surface, but it also attacks aluminum and bearings. Dawn has a more neutral ph, around 7 to 7.5 I think, like plain water. As a soap it requires some action to lift soils from the parts, which you get from the sound waves but you probably need a lot more Dawn to do the job. Acidic cleaners have ph levels often well below 6, which is great for aluminum.
These results are pretty interesting. I suspect you might get different results with different metals, like a zinc casting for a carburetor.
Very interesting. I'm looking into this now. I probably should have prior, but I wasn't expecting to have such diverse results. @@v8packard
@@DeathTollRacing overly acidic solutions can lead to hydrogen embrittlement leaving you a clean shiny but molecularly compromised part.
I have used a dishwasher to clean parts for years. Yep, Cascade dishwasher detergent. Parts come out looking like they were just made.
It does work great. I have a friend who does that too.
Thanks for all the work and data. That was very helpful. Next time I’m going to try some cascade powder 👍😎👍
I can't believe how well it worked. I now wonder if I were to put more in if it would be even better, or maybe less would be less corrosive yet still cut the grease and carbon?
I restore vintage chainsaws, three or four Cascade pods with purple clean, Oxiclean and Mr Clean, at room temperature, cuts thru the crap every time. I was using a solvent tank and brush washed the parts, quit that and use the water based detergents and degreasers. Some tough grease and burnt on carbon will take some soaking, sometimes 24 hours, but the solution is safe, leaves the aluminum bright. This solution blows the carbon off piston tops real well, I had tried trans fluid and acetone and other suggested solvents to no success.
Awesome! I have a saw I’m going to restore someday. It was my grandfather’s David Bradley. It’s in good shape, but I need a chain for it before I start on it. As far as I can tell, used is the only option.
I would love to see this testing against the Harbor Freight Yellow Degreaser
I plan on adding that in round 2. Some have said it was recently reformulated and isn’t as good any more. But I’ll test it anyway!
@@DeathTollRacing interesting I haven't seen that Issue I been using the Hf degreaser In my parts machine for years never noticed it not work as good as it once was always works the same for me maybe people aren't using it right 🤔
Years ago we converted an old industrial dishwasher worked fantastic
That does work good. I had one too but it was really small.
I have seen where pinesol seems to work well. Maybe a contender for the follow up video you speak of. Thanks for the video.
Oh I like that! I will put it on the list to try!
Thank you, dish washing powder it is then. I Guess if you rinse and throughly dry parts after and lubricaste where necessary it will also help. This is going to save me a lot of money going forward.
Yes! It’s all I use now. But sometimes I use the leftover salts gone from the testing. But I probably won’t replace it. I’m doing a round 2 to try 8 more options, so stay tuned!
This was a good video, thanks for taking the time to put it all together. Ive had good luck with Purple Power, its gentle on rubber and plastic also for heavy carbon areas i use a fairly stiff nylon brush 1 or two times while its in the tank. I started using Purple Power in a big soup pot on a turkey fryer burner but the ultra sonic cleaner is a big step up. On the burner (metal parts) i try to keep the temp about 140-150. Thanks again
Thanks for the tips!!
Purple power will melt whatever BMW uses for sliding/friction areas in their VANOS units. Completely ate away all the shiny area and started eating the aluminum housing as well. Tested on Dual VANOS unit from a 2005 BMW E46 325ci (M54B25).
@@ThatOneCatNyxyes, all the “purple” I’ve found to be hard on aluminum. Especially if it’s warm or hot.
Thanks. I'm cheap and I've been using hand dish soap... and being disappointed. I am happy to see how good a job dishwasher detergent is and will be changing. BTW, the corrosion is not because the detergents are acidic; they are caustic (high pH). As an example, the pH of the Cascade solution is going to be somewhere around 10.
Haha. Yes, I kept meaning to say corrosive. My brain mouth coordination sucks. I spent all day yesterday on “round 2” with different alternatives but this time I am ph testing all the solutions!
Probably most effective but most expensive would be Chem-dip carburetor cleaner. Soaking a piston in the stuff cleans it pretty well. The ultrasonic should speed up the process.
Dishwasher detergent is know for discoloring aluminum and many of the cleaners you can buy off the shelf state on the label whether they discolor aluminum.
I'm amazed the Cascade was so effective. Very good news as far as cost goes not to mention being available so readily.
I'm pretty excited about that. Just being able to run loads of nasty crap and not worry about shortening the life of the fluid that your using is a huge perk.
Also nice to be able to throw out the used fluid and not have to store a $40 bucket of used cleaner for when you need it next.
so true!@@a.a.b.47
Thanks for taking the time to do this. At first I thought that this was a cheap vs. expensive ultrasonic cleaner showdown. I'm trying to decide between settling for the Vevor ($113) or busting out with the Crest ($1,300). Also, I'm confused by your statement at 20:20 that SuperClean is too acidic for you. SuperClean is a super high pH cleaner (12.5-13.8). That's about as basic (read: not acid) as you can get. The pH scale only goes up to 14.
Haha. Yes I said that backwards and never caught it. I was trying to keep it simple and just say corrosive and ended up making it confusing and also incorrect.
Surprised you didn't try CLR ... Works great on rust ... Not sure about dirt and grime. Also, Harbor Freight sells a relatively cheap degreaser that works way better diluted than straight ... Not sure what that's about, but I'd like to see how it would do in an Ultrasonic cleaner.
Check out round 2! No clr but the harbor freight degreaser is in there as well as some other good ones.
Thanks for your test!!
I have a piston from an airplane engine with really heavy carbon on it, I tried different ways but nothing worked. Used Ultra Clean Solution 1/5 didn't help after your video rushed to buy Zep 505 and on 3rd 30 min attempt, it cleaned pretty well.
Awesome! So glad it helped!
Best way I've found to get carbon off of a piston is set it in plain old water overnight. The carbon generally just falls off the piston in one peice.
The best setup I have found is a 1 to 1 mix of Simple Green Pro Purple and distilled water. Doesn't harm aluminum and cleans better than anything else I've tried.
Interesting. I haven’t seen simple green purple. Is it not the same as super clean?
Agree! Dawn has always never worked for anything. Have used Joy dish soap for 30 plus years now. Teardown a PenZpoison engine without any hand protection and just a little joy dish soap at the end to clean up of my hands. No grease found!
I’ve been told I used the “wrong” dawn. Round 2 will have the “correct “ one. 😂 maybe I’ll do joy also.
I have had amazing success with purple Power and Zep Citrius Foaming Degreaser Purple power works amazing on getting oil and grease out of automotive Upholstery
Great tip!
@@DeathTollRacing glad the information and tip can be helpful in the future
I use the dawn platinum concentrated liquid. It's meant to refill the foaming dispensers, but a cap full of that cut with water in my little 2.5L harbor freight sonic cleaner works a treat for cleaning BCGs.
Hmmm. 🤔 another idea!
A cheaper way for smaller parts to use less solution is you can put them in a ziplock bag filled with solution or a jar and just put water in the ultrasonic cleaner
Yes! great tip. Glass jars are my go to.
It's kinda nice seeing the comparison between the different cleaners, I've been using cascade for at least 10 years that only because I'm cheap
Glad I can show how not being cheap would not have bought you much if anything.
That Cascade was surprisingly great!! Thank you
It's still my favorite even after 2 rounds.
i use dishwasher liquid and cirtic acid powder. Dishwasher liquid makes the clean more gentle to the parts cleaned and increases effectiveness of the citric acid.
Excellent tip!
I seen one guy use gasoline in a jar without turning on the heating function and it seemed to work better than anything else I've seen.
I bet that would work amazing. I am reluctant to try it in a video now for liability reasons in case someone has an accident and can't take responsibility for themselves.
I'd suggest doing a PH strip on them if possible or just checking the SDS, it's likely that they are alkaline rather than acidic.
Aluminium, lead and chromium are amphoteric meaning that both acids and bases will react with them, which is likely why you saw differences in the rates that discoloration occured between them.
Yes. I said that multiple times and meant to say acidic. On the round 2 video I ph tested every solution as used. The trends of corrosion are just like your thoughts.
By far my favorite cleaner is the harbor freight heavy duty degreaser. Plenty strong at 3:1 and it's not as hard on aluminum as many of the other degreasers.
I’ve had a few people tell me that. They also said that as of recently it’s been reformed and is not as good as it used to be. I’m going to include it in round 2 testing. Thanks for the input!
I have not tried it in mine but I watched a guy put rusty screws & bolts in a ziplock bag with blasting media. Might be worth a try. Vinegar works on rusty stuff too.
Round 2 has vinegar. That’s an interesting idea with the blast media. My instinct says that won’t work. So now I’m extra curious since I think it won’t work. 😂
My fav is Purple Power. Around $5 gal at WalMart. Also I noticed you didn't try Simple Green. Worth a look.
Simple green is in round 2, that I’m working on now. Hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll have it ready.
Thank you for the testing. I'm in the market for cleaning solution. Cascade Pods for the win. 😊
Yes! I’m doing a round 2 soon of suggestions. So there may be another alternative!
I'm using simple green. I just got my ultrasonic cleaner.
I'm doing a round 2 soon, and that will be one for sure. What dilution are you running?
@@DeathTollRacing so far 50/50. I don't remember the recommendation.
Awesome video Sir, question what the best Ultrasonic unit you have and part number thks again ,
I’ve only tested these 2 vevors. They work, but I’m going to assume there are better ones out there, but for the money, they are tough to beat. I have had to change out the main switch on one so far.
We used to use the solvent for the pump and brush style cleaners it works pretty good
That’s mineral spirits, and I bet it would work great. But it is flammable, so there’s that to worry about.
Aluminum is an alkali metal and as such will be aggressively attacked by any basic or alkaline cleaning solution. Iron on the other hand is typically much less reactive with alkaline solutions and more reactive with acidic solutions. If you have two cleaner tanks it would be a great idea to keep a more alkaline solution in one for cleaning ferrous and other non alkaline parts and one that is slightly more acidic for cleaning alkali metals like aluminum, zinc and magnesium. It would also be neat to see how borax, washing soda and tide and clorox2 would do.
Absolutely! Great information there!
That Zep 505 is really basic (opposite of acidic), it is a pH of 11.3. Just keep that in mind, will be quite corrosive.
Yes. My brain mouth coordination sucks. I kept saying acidic and meant to say corrosive. I’m getting corrected a lot.
@@DeathTollRacing Oh okay haha, sorry to pile on! Was a fantastic test to see the results though.
My main concern would be breathing the fumes and how to dispose of the ckeaning solution. Things like dish cleaning products make sense in borh cases.
Yes and Yes. Round 2 I did a batch in drain opener and expressed exactly your concerns. Dishwasher pods have so many benefits!
Try LA Awesome cleaner. It's cheap and can be found in many dollar stores. It doesn't harm aluminum and decreases carbon pretty good.
Awesome. I will give it a go for round 2. I’m setting up for that soon.
I 2nd this
@@v.simonson5170 thank you!
I tried LA Awesome and it turned a chainsaw carb almost black.
@@SNELLERIZED never turned any aluminum parts black in all the times I've used it.
Great work. Thanks for taking the time.
Thanks for watching!
Wow at salts gone with the rust removal at the end
It is actually very impressive stuff. I think I could have used less of it. I’m not sure if that level of concentration was necessary.
@@DeathTollRacing that would actually be a great video removing the concentration level multiple times in multiple test to see were the solution becomes to the point the dilution isn't useful
@@AntonioClaudioMichael I agree. I actually still have that inning of the cleaners. It’s pretty used and dirty, but still working
@@DeathTollRacing wow impressive
Loved this test, try simple green next round, la's totally awesome from dollar tree & cascade powder. Just subscribed glad I found the channel
It’s on my list for the next round of testing! I had high hopes for this video getting interest. It’s slowly starting to pick up. 🤞
I wonder if the bolts were cleaned better or worse based on which apparatus they were in (strainer vs tea thingy).
It doesn’t seem to make a difference. Glass jars work in it too if you want to put them into a higher concentration of cleaner. The glass transfers the “sound” really well.
I use cascade platinum pods in my diy hot washer cabinet. About 12 pods per the 45 gallons it holds seems to be plenty @ 90c. They work great completely stripping all grease and oil, but doesn't cut the carbon like i want. (I'll be buying an ultrasonic soon to help with this) It will turn any aluminum a dull grey color especially machined surfaces, andneed to make sure to pull the parts out immediately after it's done or it will leave some nasty mineral deposits that can only be removed mechanically. Nice thing with the heat is the parts evaporate off in seconds when removed so no need for blow drying. There's a video on my channel if you care to check it out my contraption.
Very interesting! I’ll check it out!
@@DeathTollRacing the video was in my channels infancy and pretty terrible but the info is there lol
@@HsPerformanceWi Lol. I don't have any of those. hahaha. actually even one's I thought were good a year ago suck. I'm sure in another year, I'll look back at these the same way.
Have you, or could you, measure the actual Wattage of your ultrasonic cleaner. My cleaner is listed as 180 watts for the ultrasonic transducers. When I measure it with a Kill-a-Watt meter using only the ultrasonic function of the cleaner, it measures between 110 and 135 watts. I would be interested in knowing what your model is rated as and the actual power consumption. You posted a great video and I appreciate the information you provided.
I haven’t, but I will. I’m going to doing a round 2 video to try out 8 more ideas very soon (most requests from viewers). I’m waiting on a couple products yet.
I am going to try the cascade detergent on my next cleaning.
For sure!
It appears that all the cleaners tighten the wrist pins quite a bit!
It did feel that way. I’m going to pay more attention to that on round 2. Normally you would separate the piston and rod before, but I suppose there are situations where that’s not practical to do. Great observation!
I always wondered if you get away with cheaper brands. Thanks for making this video.
Thanks for watching!
You want to save gobs of money on cleaning solution (whichever is your favorite)? Here's how: put your part(s) into a Ziploc bag. Fill the bag *just enough* to cover the part(s) with the cleaner. Force out most of the air and zip it shut. Place this in the tank and fill with water to the full line. Press the Go button. This works just as well as having the tank filled with the cleaner. Try it.
Yes, I prefer glass jars. The glass transfers the ultrasonic vibrations better than plastic. some cleaners will also dissolve the bag.
Briefly scrolled through comments and suprised I didn't see LA totally awesome from the dollar store. 50/50 mix at 170° in my ultrasonic cleaner will strip a piston and rod clean in about 10 minutes.
I’m doing a round 2 of viewer suggestions. La will definitely be included!
I never directly put anything dirty into my ultrasonic, it's always in something else to keep it clean. I have a 15L Vevor, yours is bigger, but a square shaped kitty litter bucket fits perfect into mine, so doing that with yours would be no problem. Just put your dirty thing in the bucket with cleaner, plop it into the Vevor with or without the basket and fill with water to the water line in the Vevor. Just keep the water line of the bucket above the water line in the Vevor and it won't float. The soundwaves and heat will travel through any liquid and clean just the same. The bucket shouldn't start to deform until around 100C, so 80C is fine. Seal the buckets with a lid when done and you can keep re-using them. I have buckets of various cleaners that I've re-used many times including one full of acetone.
That's a good idea. I've heard the plastic makes the ultrasonic not as effective. It would be another interesting test for me to de-bunk or confirm. testing one in plastic, one in a metal can, one in glass?, one directly in the cleaner. all with the same cleaner. Hmmmmm....
@@DeathTollRacing That's a good idea. I can't attest if it's better or worse in different types of containers (or none at all). I've always used a container of some kind with positive results. Usually it's been a plastic bucket or small garbage can, but I've also used glass jars when gasoline was the cleaning agent.
Super informative. Appreciate you putting this together.
Thank you! I did a round 2 as well you should check out. I have a round 3 planned.
People try hot hot water. Zip lock the part in the cleaning solution IT keeps the tub clean. The water hot. Put solution in the bag. It cleans 100% better
Great breakdown on these! For the money and overall cleaning power, it looks like the Cascade dishwasher pods are the way to go in most cases.😉
Yes! And you can change it out more frequently which I tended not to do using more expensive cleaners. 😂
i have heard of people using Pine Sol clearner with great effect in ultra sonic cleaners
It will be in round two for sure!
Great video, very well done test of these cleaning solutions. Pretty much the best run test video I've seen on TH-cam. I have subscribed so I don't miss the next ultrasonic cleaner video. I have a Vevor 30L Ultrasonic cleaner. You used four Cascade pods in yours, was that a 30L also? I'll probably cut the Cascade packet and just dump in the contents. I've used the "regular" Dawn dishwashing liquid, and it did ok for parts that I didn't want to risk with a more corrosive cleaner; however, I have not used the Platinum Dawn. I've used Simple Green, and results were just so-so. One cleaner you might consider for your next test is CLR (Calcium Limescale & Rust Remover), I have not tried it but there are some videos on TH-cam where it seems to work out well. Sorry for the long comment! Looking forward to the next ultrasonic cleaner test video. 🙂
I appreciate that! Yes, mine are the 30L as well. I actually put in some clr on some rusty parts once and I wasn’t super impressed, but I may not have used enough.
Awesome cleaner from Dollar Tree is amazing in an ultrasonic cleaner. If you really want to play you can use sodium hydroxide but be careful as it'll remove skin in a hurry.
I’m going to do a round 2 and awesome will definitely be included!
I use liquid wd40 (comes in gallon cans) or gasoline. I put the WD40 and gasoline (and the items) in a sealed glass jar, and fill the tub with water. I’ve cleaned a lot of silencer baffles and car parts this way.
I haven’t played a lot doing that type of thing yet with it. Great ideas!
Most of the solutions that you are using are Alkaline, not Acidic. The vast majority of cleaning solutions use sodium metasilicate as part of the formula and over exposure to that does indeed darken aluminum.
The reason that alkaline solutions are use is that they turn grease into soap, thus enhancing cleaning abilities.
If you want to find out the composition of the cleaners, Google the MSDS for each one, but the MSDS for Citrus only indicated that it was alkaline, but no ingredients were listed as they were a proprietary trade secret.
Interesting. Yes I should have just kept it simpler and just talked about the corrosion the cleaners did to the parts instead of going into science terms that were incorrect.
I would like to see the test done with simple green.
I’m doing round 2 as we speak! Simple green is included! I’ll be done with the tests today and hopefully have the video up Sunday.
Which one would you recommend for carburators? Im looking for something that wont harm aluminum
So in round 2 I did simple green and it was the best on the aluminum. There's also a simple green aviation that will be in round 3 that's supposed to be better, but I haven't started filming that one yet.
Extremely helpful - thanks for the great work!
Thank you!
I have a buddy that works in a jewelry shop. He said they use liquid tide in their machines. Then i have another buddy that bought one, and bought eastwood brand cleaner, and it ruined some rc car parts i put in it. Ate the anodizing off the aluminum pieces, and discolored the aluminim under it. Super harsh.
Interesting! That makes me think on my next set of testing (soon) throwing some things anodized in to see what it does.
@@DeathTollRacing thatd be awesome. Id be interested.
Can you try do a cleaning using plain Distilled water?
I should as a baseline. Good call
I will say i think dawn ultra platinum sucks at cutting grease. We switched to just the regular dawn ultra and it works much better.
Judging by all the comments, Its safe to say you’re correct about dawn platinum. In round 2 I will use the “correct” dawn. 😂
Thank you for the video ❤
What is the best solution to clean fuel injectors or transmission solenoids ?
Can gasoline do the job ?
Thanks 🙏
in an ultrasonic? I've never played with either in there, but I would start with the injectors in a jar of injector cleaner (sealed) and put in the ultrasonic that's filled with water or whatever you have in it. The transmission solenoids are a tough one. Maybe in a jar with new atf and let the ultrasonic do the rest? atf is already a pretty good at cleaning, and you wouldn't be introducing anything to it that may harm it in other ways.
Ok thanks for your reply 🙏
Project Farm better watch out. There’s a new sheriff in town.
lol. Except I need to learn about acidic vs alkaline vs basic and I'm sure 100's of others.
😂
Alkaline and basic is the same thing
No doubt..lol, great lil vid here for sure.
Project Farm dives so deep into everything, he's a pretty brainy character so its a huge challenge for anyone to catch up to him.
I read 505 does great in these cleaners so I have some to try out here. I do wish mean green was included. It does better than Simple Green on regular cleaning without ultrasonic machines but idk how well it cleans in my tank yet?
Too cold in my unheated garage to test chit right now. I need my doors open, Covid 19 permanently destroyed my left lung so fumes are pretty rough on me now. Peace
@@DeathTollRacing
Well'
If you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with BS!
It is the way....
“Awesome” does a wonderful job. Probably can grab it from the dollar store
Round 2 has awesome in it!!
th-cam.com/video/EyE6ghtL3As/w-d-xo.html
I use an ultrasonic cleaner for my vinyl records. I thought that's what this was about -LOL. I thought you'd lost your freaking mind during the first minute.
lol
20:00 Hi,
When formatting cells there’s an option to rotate the text. That would have made it possible to keep the labels and retain the small format.
Great video btw!
😂 I knew that. I used to use excel a lot, and was really good at it. Then 5 years later I’m as green as can be at it. I’m not sure if it’s ptsd or what.
@@DeathTollRacing
Oh I hear you! I can’t say how much I hate it when Microsoft decides to ‘improve’ their products every 5 years or so and completely change the user interface while not adding any new functions. 🙄🤦♂️😁
@@Conservator. I am definitely not a fan of Microsoft’s “innovation”. 😂
That’s awesome! Can’t believe dishwasher crap did so well!
Yeah, it's pretty amazing.
Do you think OxiClean would work well in an ultrasonic cleaning machine? Would love to know, since it's powdered and relatively inexpensive (also non-acidic, I THINK). Great video though, and super informative!
Oh yes…. Hmmmm. Follow up video is going to be in the works and that would be interesting to try.
Nice to know as those cleaners are all getting pretty expensive like everything else
Yes they are!
Sodium Hydroxide + Aluminum = Sodium Aluminate
It isn't acidic. It is an oxidizer, particularly in aqueous solution. My all time favorite de greaser at the moment is Zep Industrial Purple. Brief contact with aluminum results in instant grey surface appearance. Left long enough no more aluminum. Take an aluminum beverage can. Turn it upside down and fill the bowl with sodium hydroxide. It will convert every last bit into sodium aluminate.
Great information!
The word you are looking for caustic. As in caustic soda. Most of the cleaners there are caustic. This the high alkalin side of the ph scale. I would be intrested to know if the citris cleaner is actially acidic or just smells of citris? Please also test pine sol or generic cleaner of that type and the cheap LA's totally awesome(dollar store degreaser).
Thank you! I'm going to do another very soon, and both of your suggestions are on the list!
Oh, and yes, citrus smelling for sure, and I thought it said it was made from actual citrus, but I'm not 100% now
I know we are not supposed to but I use parts solvent. It works great but you have to babysit it.
I bet it works well!
Have you tried putting parts in mason jar with cleaner and filling ultrasonic machine with water? Less waste. Just drop mason jar with lid in tank. I just bought my hobo ultra cleaner tonight and purple power=oops. I just need to clean small engine carbs but dont want to damage the potmetal or aluminum. Would the cascade pods damage the carbs?
Mason jars- Yes. It works great that way! Plastic containers don’t work good though. I think they absorb the vibrations.
Cascade pods- I don’t think they will hurt the carbs. Definitely won’t hurt them as much as the purple.
@@DeathTollRacing glass jars for sure and yes plastic is not friendly w/vibrations.
I was hoping there was going to be one with diesel fuel to compare to these others.
I didn’t use any flammable fluids. Even without turning on the heat, it does generate heat from everything moving at a very fast rate even though very small motion. So diesel or anything flammable can definitely be dangerous.
@@DeathTollRacing even diesel without heat would be interesting. Thanks for the video!
@@DeathTollRacing The only thing I've ever used in mine is diesel, never worried about a fire even with heat. Coincidentally, I used it to clean drill press, mill, and lathe parts that were in my brother's garage when it burned to the ground. It worked fine for that but since it's the only thing I tried, I can't compare it to other things. Since it's more viscous than most other fluids you might use, I wonder if that has a dampening effect on the ultrasonic transducers. I'm pretty sure that alkaline based cleaners will be more effective regardless.
@@marcseclecticstuff9497 🤔 it’s definitely worth a try.
@hu hu hu hu y cty ymarcseclecticstuff9497
Reminded me of an episode of Mythbusters solving the myth of what cleaning solutions work best in ultrasonic cleaners.
I'll have to find that one and see how our results compare.
Ran into this video on accident, subscribed, hay wtg man nice job putting together that test, good filming content and explanations Yeah I am about myself going to using the ultrasonic cleaner for some small carbs off chainsaws, Another guy on YT who works on saws, he uses a combo of simple green, vinegar, and dawn and has good results, I am thinking simple green, vinegar and one cascade pod lol not sure I will wait for your part two
Awesome! There will be a variation of the simple green / vinegar / dawn in the next video. Also, I guess the dawn I used is terrible, and not the original. I though they had just branded it, but I have been told it's just plain bad. So the next video will also have that corrected.
for who knows what reason I thought about Coke the pop I have seen some strange things people do with coke , maybe I take a piece of aluminum and put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and see what happens lol
@@DeathTollRacing
@@diggindiggenit6540 not a bad idea at all!
Use just water in the machine, put your parts in separate containers. Use a mix of gas and diesel fuel, Mabey for smaller parts like carbs
I think that would work great. Be careful!
Lestoil what was the gray cleaner they don't make it any longer😢 laundry detergent called Dash would not suds but it cleaned Gray
🤔
That was really good.
Thanks for all of your efforts. 🇦🇺🤜🏼🤛🏼😎🍀☮️
Thank you! I appreciate that!!