Ultrasonic cleaner recomendations

[Colliam7]

I will echo many of the comments of other posters.

First, as to your 2 questions, my answers are 'Yes', and 'Yes'.

The Harbor Freight unit that several have mentioned is not 'great' but it works, and is attractively affordable. At 2.5L it is small, and you will not be able to clean regs in volume -But, if you have the time, it will handle 1-2 regs easily. Definitely use some food containers for the different solutions and simply put water in the stainless steel basin - that makes the process MUCH easier.

For many years I used a 10 quart GemOro unit at my previous shop, and it was terrific. Of course, it also costs about $780 new, and used ones are simply not to be found. I subsequently bought a 2 quart (~1.9 liter) GemOro and the size is barely adequate. In hindsight, I wish I had gone ahead and made the investment in the bigger unit.

So, if your wife is only doing a few personal regs, once or twice a year, a 2.5L unit should be fine. If she wants to do more - not for a 'living' but for supplemental income - you will want to go bigger.

I am now once again doing more than my personal regs, and will therefore invest the money in a larger unit this year, because the small units just don't support efficient workflow when you are looking at numbers.

 

[Bob DBF]

I'm another user of the Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner and find it adequate for my personal use, it has come in quite handy for my personal projects, as well as reg and valve repair. When I bought it I figured it wouldn't be much of a loss at the price, and over the past few years I'm glad I picked it up.


Bob

 

[Scared Silly]

I have an unit made by Crest. By far one of the best units out on the market. Expensive but it does the job and will last a long time. The 2 liter version is great for a single reg or valve.

 

[CptTightPants21]

I have an unit made by Crest. By far one of the best units out on the market. Expensive but it does the job and will last a long time. The 2 liter version is great for a single reg or valve.

Link?

 

[Scared Silly]

http://www.crest-ultrasonics.com/benchtop-ultrasonic-cleaners/

I have the CP200HT (Analog Heat & Timer).

 

[TotDoc]

http://www.crest-ultrasonics.com/benchtop-ultrasonic-cleaners/

I have the CP200HT (Analog Heat & Timer).

Yikes...at that price, they BETTER be amazing...

 

[Jack Hammer]

I used the HF one for a number of years. Like many others have posted it works OK and holds up well. I picked up a smoking deal on a Crest 1.5 gallon unit and there is no comparison. The Crest is much more powerful, I haven't used the HF one since I got it. For occasional usage the HF works well enough,

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[lowviz]

Nobody mentioned Branson Ultrasonics Corp yet? Wow.

I've serviced them in-house for years (they were a primary supplier for my old employer). They are expensive in the short run but rock solid over time and an extremely good long-term investment. Solid electronics.

Every failure that I saw came down to running them dry or with a low bath level in the tank. You WILL shatter the transducers. The power has to go somewhere...

The glue (silicone) that replacement transducers require is most unusual and expensive.

Just my .02

 

[billinwilliamston]

Went with the Harbor Freight one and she finally used it for the first time last night. It worked great. One cycle for everything except the second stage housing. That took 3 cycles. Being cautious, she used plain distilled water and no heat and it still got the crud off of all of the parts.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Frod]

Simple Green also works well, but I prefer Simple Green Crystal, particularly for O2 cleaning as it takes less rinsing and does not have the obnoxious smell. I normally dilute it 1 cup simple green crystal to 8 cups water for ultrasonic cleaning and O2 cleaning.

1 cup?! How big is it? 100 ml?!