There was a thread on here about them, if I remember correctly you need one that's over 400 watts to be anygood

Quite a few years ago, I got one of the small, plastic-bodied cleaners (around £20), which worked reasonably well, but only for about 12 months. So got one of the rectangular looking, stainless bodied ones, with a heater (around £70) – they seem very generic and a common design no matter where you buy them – and so far it works well and continues to work for about three years so far.

I use it with Seaclean solution, and it cleans nicely – not miraculously, but worthwhile – but is quite noisy. If it breaks, I'd probably get another, probably move up a size to one with a drain tap.

Hope this helps.

Rob

Chris

I bought one of those 'cheap' oval shaped cleaners ( about £25 or so) quite a few years ago for cleaning airbrushes of acrylic paint build up. It is still in use today but to be honest I often ponder if it really is 'ultra sonic' or just some other less esoteric means of vibrating the fluid.

For paints I put the individual parts into a small jar of solvent then place that in the water. What I can say is it definitely works to my satisfaction and you can see the paint disintegrate quite rapidly so I guess it must be kosher to a degree.

Certainly works on your glasses too

Ramon (Tug)

My second (current) one is a Sonictune unit – strangely, their website now doesn't seem to have any actual cleaners for sale, only a few accessories, so not sure what's going on there. They are UK-based as far as I am aware.

Rob

'That practice was lauded on a thread on this site a while ago, and appeared an example of On't'Net-So-Must-Be-Right lore, not a cleaner manufacturer's suggestion.'

Hi NIgel

I mentioned this because that is what I do – whether it's 'urban myth' or not as efficient I don't know but I do know that as soon as the unit is switched on paint begins to disintegrate quite rapidly from the parts within the jar.

I didn't follow anyone's advice on't net, here or elsewhere but tried it because it was fairly obvious I was not going to fill the entire cleaner with a solvent (cellulose thinner in this case) – it just seemed the logical thing to try.

I don't say it's right but I can say it works – well for me at least

Tug

Ultrawave ultrasonic cleaners are made in Wales, at Cardiff. They may have something suitable.

I have no connection with this firm.

HTH

Dave

I have a small ultrasonic cleaner with a four inch (or so) bath…it was twelve quid about ten years back and works surprisingly well on small items and parts including my wifes rings and jewellery, my pocket knife once a year, small screws and fittings for clocks, bits of camera shutters and lumps of brass musical instruments (brilliant for cleaning the valves)

It's definately NOT 'ultrasonic',…in fact well subsonic! it's really better described as a 'vibration cleaner' but works well enough to be handy as described. It's worth remembering that the vibration of cleaners is aided/hindered by how the machine is mounted or supported…in industrial settings ultrasonic cleaners are often mounted in a concrete block to enhance the vibrations. With my little cleaner I often put a heavy book on top to reduce surface movement and this aids cleaning a lot.

It wasn't that long ago – July 2020, issue 295 – that a home-brew one was described in MEW, if that's your bag. I can't vouch for its efficiency, of course, and only skipped through the article. But it is an option to fill the days in the workshop.

John

Tempted to buy an ultrasonic cleaner but would only need a relatively small one for the workshop, would need one with a stainless inner, have reservations about Chinese Stainless Steel after the experience with our outside lamp at the front door, it has rusted terribly. It seems most of the ultrasonic cleaners originate in China are there any UK brands that are available in the same price range?
Dave W

Allendale electronics are in the UK but not sure where their bits are from?

Tony

We have one at work, purchased last year from ebay. I think it has 2 litre capacity. We bought the proper carb' cleaner (also from ebay) which mixes with water and the chap who cleans the parts in it says it works very well.

It apparently can be the difference between a carb' working or not. It's used on plant hire machine service and customer repairs.

I'v not used it myself but have seen it in operation. A slight criticism would be the lid rests on the tank, metal to metal and can make a bit of a racket.

Ed.

Hi well I've had the one in the bottom of this Thread for nearly ten years and although it's not the bee's knees and I don't use it regularly, it does work and does a reasonable job of most things and I've even cleaned the inside of small bottles that stand upright above the water level in the tank, by filling the bottle up to the top. I think it has four timed settings that can be selected and it came from Maplin's at the time.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 19/12/2020 16:54:10