Any tips, recommendations, pro's and con's etc for a small ultrasonic cleaner?
I want to use it for motorcycle carbs, small machine parts , an occasional piece of the wife's jewelry, etc. Maybe a 6"x8"x10" capacity? Is it better to have bigger? Is there a down side of bigger?
I don't know a thing about them, they are most likely all Asian?
Was figuring a few hundred dollars?
Can't recommend a specific brand other than to try and find one that has a drain, and you might consider the tank capacity be about twice the size of the largest object you plan on cleaning. And...ultrasonic cleaners seem to be a common commodity item, China made, and shop based on capacity, features (drain or basket), and price.
I have three ultrasonic cleaners, all different sizes. Two are China and work OK and one is a USA (Branson) industrial one. It works better but costs a lot more and is the one I use the most but is too small to fit a carburetor. It was also close to $ wheras the eight gallon China one was about $250 from Amazon
Bigger is better but waiting for it to come up to temperature is a pain when you only have few small parts to clean. So the smallest one gets used the most.
Avoid the cheap plastic ones made for jewelry as they don't have much power and take forever to clean anything.
I bought a Branson around . it was American made, expensive and failed in a couple years. Branson said it could not be repaired (transducer on the tank bottom failed). So I bought a 2 quart L&R, another expensive American product. The difference is that the L&R is still working after about 50 years.
If you get a small unit like a 2 quart, it does not need a drain valve. Heaters are OK, but I get by without one. Sometimes I fill with hot tap water and Dawn.
I got a used 5 gallon L&R unit at a GE auction years ago and it had a drain because it was too heavy to lift and dump if full. I sold it to a clock shop after a few years of finding little use for that size.
Those China prices are a lot less than what I was paying many years ago.
Larry
I bought an import several years ago. Some of the features that I like include:
About a gallon and a half stainless steel tank.
Temperature control (heater) with five available temperatures. This sounds like a limitation but five have proven to be enough.
Drain with large handle, control on front.
Easy to set the duration.
Plastic basket with legs that hold it above or in the water in the tank. Handy when loading and unloading the basket. The legs also serve as handles for removing the basket.
Brackets on back that hold the cover. This is handy for loading and unloading as you don't need bench top to hold it.
Features that could be better or omitted:
Power switch at bottom, rear. I can reach it but it would be better on front or top.
Drain connection has push on connection. Standard hose thread would be better. But it does allow tube to be used.
There is a time of day clock. I don't know why and don'[t use it. Perhaps there is some kind of timed operation mode. But why?
It seems to be somewhat wimpy when compared to others that, of course cost a lot more.
I believe it cost a bit over $100. That was a good price for a US cleaner of this size/capacity. It has been a good addition to my shop.
PS: I often use plain water in the tank and put the parts in a zip-lock bag with the various cleaning solutions. This saves water changes which is handy as there is no drain in my shop. I have to carry all used water out and dump it somewhere. And it allows smaller amounts of solvents to be used when they are preferred over soap/detergent solutions. The relatively larger size of the tank/basket helps in doing this. IMHO, there is no down side, no disadvantage to having the relatively larger tank. The zip lock bag trick gives me all the advantages of a smaller tank.
Looking at it more from a home shop perspective, I wanted one but couldn't afford even used prices on industrial models. After a year or so of scouring ebay etc. I gave up and bought a small Chinese unit. It probably holds a gallon and you can only run it 30 minutes at a time (probably to save the transducers). It was cheap enough so I regarded it as a throwaway experiment. I've since used it dozens of times and it still works like new. I have to say I'm pretty happy with it. Eventually my buddy gave me a bigger industrial unit but I wound up selling that because it took up so much more room.
metalmagpie