Ultra Sonic Cleaning

[jmvv]

A friend of mine recently aquired an ultra sonic cleaning bath.

For a trial I had two VW blocks cleaned.

I think the results speak for themselves.

Before:





And after




Chris is based in Centurion and he is prepared to offer this service to other forum members.

To clean a block like this will cost R400 and turnaround is two days.

Interested parties can PM me for his contact details

[Tony Z]

Dude... be VERY VERY FKN CAREFUL with those

You get a proper ultra sonic cleaning fluid, which he obviously has not used. If he puts this stuff in, DONT put in Aluminium or Magnesium!!!!

Why???

You will put the case in and leave it overnight. Then the next day when you go to pull it out, you will wonder who stole the case....
The proper cleaning fluid eats Aly or Magnesium. (I seem to think it attacks metal with an "ium" at the end, the more noble elements stand up better, but still get eaten).

Dont say I didnt warn you. Ask any Marine electrician who worked at safmarine in the old days.... many of them stuck a rotor from a motor into the ultra sonic cleaner and when they cam back the next day, just the shaft was left.....

[Pine]

Caustic soda does the same - it makes aluminum disappear...

[jmvv]

The solution used was supplied by the importers and is specified for aluminium.

It goes under the trade name of Syn500 from Reinol.

The blocks were in for 4 cycles of 3 minutes at 60 degrees Celsius.

The solution for ferrous metals comprises a 3 to 5% solution of Citric acid for pre soak purposes but is not used in the bath itself.

Any suggestions of alternative ultra sonic solutions will be appreciated and checked for compatibilty with the manufacturers in Finland.

Thanks for the input

[Tony Z]

Looks like you did your homework.... Just keep my suggestion in mind

Last time I cleaned a really dirty case, I soaked it in a parafin bath for 4 days and went at it with a paintbrush each day. Came out spotless.

[1972]

jmvv if i had to send my trailing arms from my beam to get cleaned what would it cost and how long should it take +-

[Tom Bishop]

Caustic soda does the same - it makes aluminum disappear...

Some South Africans have the same effect.

[jmvv]

jmvv if i had to send my trailing arms from my beam to get cleaned what would it cost and how long should it take +-

I spoke to Chris about this.

To clean the trailing arms will be R400 for the two sets.

Turnaround time is two days.

[Ron&Gill]

Caustic soda does the same - it makes aluminum disappear...

A colleague of mine, Mario, bought a brand new shiny aluminium ladder, through the procurement department, which took an act of congress and about four months. This was on a 3.4 billion dollar project... one aluminium ladder... Jeez... Anyway, he was very proud of his ladder. He was using it to instal suction strainer on a set of pumps in an empty neutralization pit, where it was promptly forgotten after the job. Then the operator accidentally dumped 30m3 of 20% caustic in the pit.

Me and Mario were watching this lot and we saw his ladder get shorter by an inch/30sec... You should've seen his face!!

[1972]

jmvv if i had to send my trailing arms from my beam to get cleaned what would it cost and how long should it take +-

I spoke to Chris about this.

To clean the trailing arms will be R400 for the two sets.

Turnaround time is two days.

thanks jmvv

[forcecooled]

Most of the Good automotive engineering shops have really good cleaning equipment.
Like a giant pressure cooking type high pressure washing machine that works like a demented dishwasher at incredibly high temperatures.
There is also the absoloute best cleaner for ally and magnesium that does not devour the part.
Its called ADROX 666 and is very dangerous to work with, but, man--- what a job it does.
Very expensive too -----
The SAA workshops swear by the stuff - and you know how many ally type parts they play with.
Rui and I had a 5 lir can of the stuff a few years ago to try out and it was incredible.
It has to be cared for - will evaporate unless it has a well maintained aquous? layer on the top of it---
The end.

[jmvv]

So we took the comments of the forum members to heart and went back to the suppliers.

They supplied us with a proprietry product specific for aluminium alloys and recommended that we increase the temperature by 10 degrees celsius.

This is what the blocks looked like after 30 minutes






Now I can accept that the process works properly without making the parts "dissappear"

[1972]

jmvv what would it cost to clean out a beam?