Tried using that cheap ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight on some fuel nozzles last month

Ended up vibrating the brass inserts right out of three nozzles and had to spend a whole afternoon tracking down replacement parts, so now I just let them soak in solvent overnight like my old mentor taught me back in 2003, has anyone else had parts come apart in those ultrasonic baths?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesf261mo ago

That cheap cleaner probably got the frequency wrong for brass parts.

umamartin19d agoMost Upvoted

Jump right in and say that I've been there too with a cheap ultrasonic cleaner and it's just frustrating how they don't tune those things properly. @jamesf26 is totally right about the frequency being off for brass, these budget models always skimp on that calibration stuff. I remember trying to clean a trumpet mouthpiece with one and it came out looking worse than when I started, all pitted and weird. You really gotta check the manual or online forums for the right setting, otherwise the cavitation just beats up the metal instead of cleaning it. Wish they'd just put a simple dial on it instead of assuming everyone knows the right Hertz for different alloys.

king.andrew1mo ago

Did you try turning the frequency down to 35 kHz? I had the same issue with some old horn parts and dropping the hz sorted it right out.