# Degreaser for Ultrasonic



## Cranky Chain Cycles (Jan 12, 2020)

What degreaser gets the best results in an ultrasonic cleaner? In another thread, Simple Green was used but it left some parts discolored and it left a nasty residue on the tank. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Bozman (Jan 12, 2020)

I use about a 1 to 3 ratio of Simple Green to Water. Be careful if degreasing painted parts with the heat on. The paint may be damaged. 

Never had any residue problem. 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


----------



## DonChristie (Jan 12, 2020)

Im no expert in ultrasonic cleaning but i think the waves of energy clean whats in the bath. For PCB boards where we had soldered a component on it, we would use isopropyl alchohol. Unlke water, IC will evaporate quickly and not rust or leave residue. Never tried it on a bike part tho.


----------



## Goldslinger (Jan 18, 2020)

I am a jeweler , I have used Simple Green for 15 years in my ultrasonic. Works fantastic.


----------



## tryder (Jan 19, 2020)

Goldslinger said:


> I am a jeweler , I have used Simple Green for 15 years in my ultrasonic. Works fantastic.



Yes.  I use a 1 to 10 ratio as recommended by Catfish in an older Ultrasonic post.  Works great. Cleans up quick.  No residue.  No problems.


----------



## Cranky Chain Cycles (Jan 19, 2020)

My first time using a UC. I bought a 15L one off eBay. It’s big enough to put multiple parts in. The directions were blah. 

I used Zep industrial degreaser on ‘99 Specialized mountain bike components. I read that Simple Green was mild so I wanted something stronger. It took two cycles of 30 minutes to get everything clean. The UC never got to the target temp of 60 degrees despite being preheated. I filled the tank with Zep until the parts were submerged, and then filled with hot water to the line. 

Final result: the crank and cassette turned out great. The jockey wheel still has a good amount of crud (see pic). 

Draining: I’m using a non-disposable degreaser so I fitted the unit with a 3/8” barb and a 10’ hose. I drain it into an oil jug. I like a larger hose diameter and baeb fitting so grease doesn’t gum up the butterfly valve. 
































Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## NoControl (Mar 17, 2020)

twinflight said:


> My first time using a UC. I bought a 15L one off eBay. IView attachment 1126211




I have the smaller version of this UC. I think its the 5L version. The control panel looks the exact same. After looking at your post, I seriously wish I bought the larger one because I'm lucky to get a chain clean in mine, and like others here, I use Simple Green. I'll have to try your method and perhaps get a larger one eventually.

For what its worth, the best-ever cleaning I got for steel parts was using an old portable dishwasher. I'd use heavy setting, and all controls on maximum. It worked great! The only dislikes for me was that it took up a lot of space in my shop, and always needed water and drain hookups. Its the home version of an industrial parts washer. Alloy and polished aluminum will take a beating if you use regular household dishwasher detergent, so if anyone tries this, DO NOT wash your expensive old Campagnolo components in it!


----------



## Two Wheeler (Mar 29, 2020)

I have been using the one I bought at Harbor Freight and the cleaner was also purchased there. It does a pretty decent job if you get the heavy crud off first. It's not very big through.


----------



## Jay81 (Apr 23, 2020)

twinflight said:


> What degreaser gets the best results in an ultrasonic cleaner? In another thread, Simple Green was used but it left some parts discolored and it left a nasty residue on the tank.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk




I've come to the conclusion that the only reason that happened, was because I put the copper colored brake discs in there. I stopped putting those in there and haven't had anything else get discolored. Still using Simple Green diluted with some water and not having any issues. 
Once in a while I'll have to scrape hardened grease out of the bearing cages and run them through again, but other than that it does an excellent job with the Simple Green.


----------



## Cranky Chain Cycles (Apr 24, 2020)

Use Simple Green. It's disposable. I made the mistake of taking my used degreaser and mineral spirits to auto parts store to recycle and was told to go pound sand. They only accept oil. SG works as well as the commercial degreaser and I can flush it down the drain.


----------



## Sevenhills1952 (May 5, 2020)

Simple Green, but try just 5%, 95% distilled water. I made the goof too strong solution and it turned metal black (on Mikuni carburetors). I called Mikuni and that ratio is what they use a fellow there told me.

Sent from my SM-S320VL using Tapatalk


----------



## Cranky Chain Cycles (May 5, 2020)

I'm using 50/5O SG and tap water. It takes a good hour of cooking and scrubbing to get the desired results. Love it. I deep clean everything now. I see people advertising their bikes as 'restored' online and see the crappy job they did cleaning and polishing it. To most people restore means to make it rideable again.


----------

