Still skeptical about ultrasonic cleaning after trying it on a carburetor

I finally borrowed a neighbor's ultrasonic cleaner last weekend to scrub a dirty carb off a Continental O-470. It got the gunk off but left some pitting I wasn't expecting. Any of you guys use these regularly or am I better off sticking with the manual soak method?

3 comments

3 Comments

olivermason15d ago

Never had pitting, but I ran a motorcycle chain in one once and it came out looking weirdly dull...

amy_martin15d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, that dull look is actually a reaction from the chain grease! I've had a wheel in a ultrasonic cleaner with some heavy duty degreaser and the grease from a chain just kind of... clouds everything up. It leaves this film on the metal that makes it look matte or weirdly satin. You gotta run it through again with a fresh batch of cleaner and maybe a bit of simple green to really strip that residue off. It's super annoying because it looks clean but it's not actually clean, you know? A quick wipe with some acetone after usually brings back the shine if it's really stubborn.

ward.anna15d ago

Funny enough, my first ultrasonic cleaner experiment was with a rusty bike chain and I thought the dull finish was some kind of pro patina. Turns out I just needed to degrease it twice and stop pretending I knew what I was doing. Definitely learned that lesson the hard way with a lot of elbow grease and swearing.