Ultrasonic cleaner help

[EMTBSEAN]

Hi guys

I am wanting to buy an ultrasonic cleaner big enough for my 12 speed cassette in but not too big, I’m asking for help because there’s so many on eBay I just don’t know what one to buy, just one requirement really, it’s got to be big to fit the largest section of the cassette without having to keep turning it around, I just want to be able to drop it in and forget it until it’s done, if possible a link would be appreciated please

Sean

 

[Slapbassmunky]

An ultrasonic cleaner is a very expensive way to clean a cassette, what's wrong with a bit of diesel and a toothbrush?

 

[EMTBSEAN]

Good point but it’s not just for cleaning my cassette, I intend to put several things in and clean them all in one go, I have back problems and can’t stand up for long periods of time, it just makes life easier for me and life is too short to be standing for long enough cleaning bike parts for ages, I’d rather be doing other things like riding but I get what you’re saying mate

 

[Choppersquad]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an ultrasonic cleaner big enough for a 12spd cassette but I’ve only seen the jewellery cleaning ones in the flesh. Maybe someone makes a more industrial sized one?

 

[EMTBSEAN]

The biggest cog on the 12 speed cassette is 8 inches in diameter, the larger ones on eBay are rectangular in shape, I need one that’s square shaped, I’m not being a tight sod I just didn’t want to spend more than I need to really, I sort of took it for granted that there would have been someone on this forum that might have got one, oh well not to worry

 

[RustyIron]

I have a cheap ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight. They're a big retailer here that specializes in substandard tools from the Land Of Mao. To be honest, it doesn't do much better than soaking your parts in a bucket of warm cat pee. If there's and area with hardened grease or wax, you can leave your cassette in there overnight, and it still won't be perfectly clean. I bought this one at least ten years ago, so maybe they've improved since then.

Mine works fine for easy jobs. But when you consider how much time is required to take the thing off the shelf, fill it with liquid, do the job, and then clean it up, it's just easier to clean parts in the traditional methods.

I just checked Amazon, and they have quite a few ultrasonic cleaners that look more sophisticated than mine, that will easily hold a cassette. The prices are under 200 USD.

 

[dobbyhasfriends]

ive used them a lot in engineering, depending on what chemical you load it with, you should get perfect results everytime.. we used to clean gold print heads with 34 micron nozzles blocked with ink with good results so pretty sure your cassette would look minty fresh

TBH I think its overkill, I get my cassette looking brand new with a few sprays of Peatys foaming degreaser and a cassette brush everytime I wash it.

 

[EMTBSEAN]

I wish we had Harbour Freight in this country because they seem to sell everything including the kitchen sink and some, unfortunately I can’t stand up in one position for too long without causing me a lot of pain, this might seem over the top to some people, fortunately they’re the people who don’t suffer from spinal arthritis, if they did they’d understand the reason for this post.

 

[Slapbassmunky]

Dude you dont need to stand up for a long time. When my cassette gets particularly minging I whip the thing off and let it soak in an ice cream tub with a good slosh of paraffin/diesel for 10 min. Give it a quick swish about, maybe a 20 second scrub with a toothbrush, and it's as good as new.

As has been said the cheap ultrasonic tanks are rubbish for heavily soiled items. I use a small but powerful industrial 6L one at work regularly with Micro90 as the detergent. I think even that would struggle to cut through the clag on a cassette

 

[Kilham5]

I use one primarily to deep clean my road bike chains before hot waxing.
But everything goes in.

I got a VEVOR 3 litre capacity with heater, direct from VEVOR for £50 delivered, cheaper than ebay or Amazon.

11-30 cassettes off my road and gravel bikes go in fully submerged, but an 11-52 of my hardtail is more than half submerged.
So no problem, 10 mins on one side, turn it over and do the other side. Come out like new pennies.

I put hot water in to start with, with a dash of Fairy Liquid, Works an absolute treat.

 

[Slapbassmunky]

before hot waxing.

I use a crock pot full of wax and gearbox oil for a summer lube as well. Water washes wax off easily which is possibly why yours works so well with hot water and fairy liquid? I'm not trying to be awkward, just saying it's a possibility.

 

[EMTBSEAN]

I use one primarily to deep clean my road bike chains before hot waxing.
But everything goes in.

I got a VEVOR 3 litre capacity with heater, direct from VEVOR for £50 delivered, cheaper than ebay or Amazon.

11-30 cassettes off my road and gravel bikes go in fully submerged, but an 11-52 of my hardtail is more than half submerged.
So no problem, 10 mins on one side, turn it over and do the other side. Come out like new pennies.

I put hot water in to start with, with a dash of Fairy Liquid, Works an absolute treat.

Thanks for the heads up mate, I know I said I wanted the ultrasonic cleaner for my biggest cog on my cassette but this was only because if I could get that in the cleaner then anything else I have would fit, the cleaner would also be very helpful in cleaning my chain because no matter how well I clean that I never seem to get ever last bit of grit, an ultrasonic cleaner would do a far better job than I could and I intend to use Smoove chain lube and everything has to be meticulously cleaned to get the best results, thanks for all of the feedback from everyone else too.

 

[Kilham5]

I use a crock pot full of wax and gearbox oil for a summer lube as well. Water washes wax off easily which is possibly why yours works so well with hot water and fairy liquid? I'm not trying to be awkward, just saying it's a possibility.

I only run hot waxed drivetrains on my road and gravel bikes (where I rack up the miles), I will get 300 ish dry miles on a wax.
After a long wet ride I will either put a fresh waxed chain on, or maybe apply a bit of Squirt/Smoove to eek out a few more miles.

I bought the Ultrasonic cleaner primarily for the initial setup and to clean new road chains of the manufacturers packing grease prior to their first wax. (applies whether hot immersive waxing or using something like Smoove)
Once waxed, the whole drive train stays unbelievably clean and smooth, you can feel and hear when the wax is ready for replenshment.
I rotate chains, so I always have a pre-waxed chain to go straight on with 2 clicks of a quick link.
2 minute job and no filthy hands.
The used but clean chain only needing a douse of boiling water in a sieve and running through a clean rag before going back in the crockpot for a fresh deep wax. No oil in the wax, just a dash of PTFE and Molybdenum Disulphide.
Once you get over the faff of the initial set up and first deep clean it is a pleasure to maintain.

But I stick with good old wet lube on the MTB's and e-MTB.
As tempting as it is, I don't think my Yorkshire trails stay dry long enough to render hot wax lube tennable.
The hot water and fairy liquid in the Ultrasonic is for the occasional deep cleaning the dirty oily MTB and e-MTB stuff during maintenance.

 

[EMTBSEAN]

I only run hot waxed drivetrains on my road and gravel bikes (where I rack up the miles), I will get 300 ish dry miles on a wax.
After a long wet ride I will either put a fresh waxed chain on, or maybe apply a bit of Squirt/Smoove to eek out a few more miles.

I bought the Ultrasonic cleaner primarily for the initial setup and to clean new road chains of the manufacturers packing grease prior to their first wax. (applies whether hot immersive waxing or using something like Smoove)
Once waxed, the whole drive train stays unbelievably clean and smooth, you can feel and hear when the wax is ready for replenshment.
I rotate chains, so I always have a pre-waxed chain to go straight on with 2 clicks of a quick link.
2 minute job and no filthy hands.
The used but clean chain only needing a douse of boiling water in a sieve and running through a clean rag before going back in the crockpot for a fresh deep wax. No oil in the wax, just a dash of PTFE and Molybdenum Disulphide.
Once you get over the faff of the initial set up and first deep clean it is a pleasure to maintain.

But I stick with good old wet lube on the MTB's and e-MTB.
As tempting as it is, I don't think my Yorkshire trails stay dry long enough to render hot wax lube tennable.
The hot water and fairy liquid in the Ultrasonic is for the occasional deep cleaning the dirty oily MTB and e-MTB stuff during maintenance.

Have you ever tried Smoove lube on your MTB or EMTB’s, I watched a video last year and I was interested in their claims of not having to clean or lube a chain for quite a bit of time so I gave it a try and no matter how dirty my bike got my chain stayed cleaner for a long time but not to leave it there, when I got home after a really long and very muddy ride I cleaned my chain with my park tool cleaner and there was a few tiny bits of grit in the bottom of the chain cleaner, the other big plus is the Smoove’d chain seems quieter too, another of their claims, since then I’ve only had to use another make of lube because I ran out of Smoove and it now needs another treatment

 

[Kilham5]

Not tried Smoove, but did experiment with Squirt which is a similar wax based drip lube.
Didn't last long enough in the dry on a road bike, let alone on a filthy MTB ride. And didn't appear significantly cleaner.
I wasn't convinced when applying to a cold bike, that it was viscous enough to get into the pins and rollers where it's needed.

I will stick with hot wax immersion on my fancy shmancy Dura ace road bike chains that don't see too much mud.

And stick to cheap chains and wet lubes on the MTB's. Just give them a regular clean, then not worry about chucking a new £12 chain on after the grinding paste on the inside wears them out to 0.5. Thats when the cassette and rear mech get thrown in the ultrasonic.

Works for me... not for others.

 

[EMTBSEAN]

Smoove is brilliant stuff but to get best results everything should to be spotlessly clean hence the ultrasonic cleaner post, plus it needs to be applied and allowed to completely dry until it goes clear, I know I’m relatively new to mountain biking but I’ve used quite a few different chain lubes and so far Smoove has outlasted all of them by months, without getting the bottle and reading the technical stuff for sure, I’m pretty much certain that they claim that one application lasts for 500 miles and when you wash your bike it just needs a clean with cold water which I use in a chain cleaner with no detergent

 

[John Beedham]

You don't need an ultrasonic cleaner (USC) for a cassette bro .. i have one, $A30 at Aldi, and use it for my chain only ...other components are easy to clean esp when off the bike ... USC for 30 bucks works way better than my clip on mechanical cleaning tool from LBS for $A35.. I spray with degreaser let that sink in then into the USC with warm water ....I run it through a couple of cycles, 6 min each, one would do but... hey... I'm retired... then out into the sun to dry off ....Australian sun!

 

[EMTBSEAN]

Unfortunately I already have it, I bought a ten litre cleaner for all my stuff, I got it directly from Vevor at a really good price but I thank you for your feedback, besides that living in Australia you have an unfair advantage, we don’t get any sun no seriously mate, I bought it not just for bike stuff but for other stuff I needed to clean too and it’s big enough to fit everything in in separate jars with different cleaning solutions in and set it going.