New or used. The brothers want one with basket big enough and deep enough to clean small engine carbs. If it isn't ridiculously expensive to go bigger, one with a basket that takes a 4 barrel carburetor or a block of carbs typically seen on 4 cylinder sport bikes.
What are reputable companies? Any Chinese ones worth gambling on? Sources for new? Sourcesfor used?
Is there a series of tests to compare one to another ?
I've gotten into this for record cleaning recently. 40kHz is the standard and should be good for anything auto related; the higher frequency machines are 2-3x the price and only matter for very small/microscopic detail cleaning. The Chinese machines are fine, they all clean the same but the better machines are more durable or have more features you'll never need. I got a 6L Creworks machine off of Amazon and it's been great. IIRC it was around $150. Noisy enough to wake the dead though. When it breaks I'll just get another.
What you put in the machine and how hot it is is also very important. Water, alcohol, surfactants, etc all make a difference.
Not sure if any of you guys are into vinyl but for record collectors they are a total game changer. I had probably 100 LP's that were unlistenable, they're like new now.
I've had good luck borrowing my friends Harbor freight through the years. Mainly for small engine carbs. They fit well, but I'm not sure about car sized ones.
I would not recommend Harbor Freight, mine failed after a few weeks. I had thrown away the receipt apparently, unfortunately.
I have a crappy HF that I've used to clean carbs and it works quite well for the price.
I also had, not the case anymore, access to a $10k Omegasonics one and the HF always impresses me on how well it works for the price. Its drawback is the size.
Looking at buying the one below on Amazon. It looks like its made by a Chinese company and labeled under different brands on Ebay/Amazon/etc. I have seen people use this with success, so hopefully it works well. They have different sizes.
I bought the HF unit. Right outta the box the heat worked but nothing else.
I returned it for a refund/ no exchange.
I may look at an Eastwood model as seen on Iron Trap Garage, or a Chinese model.
I got a nice made in USA unit off of eBay for a couple hundred bucks. It's 3.6 gallon size. Spray paint can is there in the picture to show size.
Dentists offices use ultrasonic cleaning machines and there are stores on eBay that liquidate old dental office equipment. Mine cost nearly 1700 dollars new and I got it for just over 200 delivered. It's powerful and it will swallow a ton of parts.
ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:I've gotten into this for record cleaning recently. 40kHz is the standard and should be good for anything auto related; the higher frequency machines are 2-3x the price and only matter for very small/microscopic detail cleaning. The Chinese machines are fine, they all clean the same but the better machines are more durable or have more features you'll never need. I got a 6L Creworks machine off of Amazon and it's been great. IIRC it was around $150. Noisy enough to wake the dead though. When it breaks I'll just get another.
What you put in the machine and how hot it is is also very important. Water, alcohol, surfactants, etc all make a difference.
Not sure if any of you guys are into vinyl but for record collectors they are a total game changer. I had probably 100 LP's that were unlistenable, they're like new now.
Which ultrasonic record cleaner do you use? I use a non ultrasonic wet cleaner (have around 4K LPs) and use a small ultrasonic jewelers cleaner for another hobby, fountain pens. Hadn't thought of getting a larger one to do records!
Have a phono stage show down happening this weekend at my place - my Vendetta SCP2-C vs a Herron VTPH-2A.
I bought an Amazon Chinesium one to do motorcycle carbs and smaller vehicle carbs. No complaints. If I were to do it again, I'd spend the extra for a big one that could swallow 4v carbs. I use industrial Simple Green and pre-heated water.
wspohn said:ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:I've gotten into this for record cleaning recently. 40kHz is the standard and should be good for anything auto related; the higher frequency machines are 2-3x the price and only matter for very small/microscopic detail cleaning. The Chinese machines are fine, they all clean the same but the better machines are more durable or have more features you'll never need. I got a 6L Creworks machine off of Amazon and it's been great. IIRC it was around $150. Noisy enough to wake the dead though. When it breaks I'll just get another.
What you put in the machine and how hot it is is also very important. Water, alcohol, surfactants, etc all make a difference.
Not sure if any of you guys are into vinyl but for record collectors they are a total game changer. I had probably 100 LP's that were unlistenable, they're like new now.
Which ultrasonic record cleaner do you use? I use a non ultrasonic wet cleaner (have around 4K LPs) and use a small ultrasonic jewelers cleaner for another hobby, fountain pens. Hadn't thought of getting a larger one to do records!
Have a phono stage show down happening this weekend at my place - my Vendetta SCP2-C vs a Herron VTPH-2A.
I had to sift through a few 100+ page forum threads before I got to the desired formula. I got this cleaner:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FQPPYR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
With this rotisserie:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TVLY7HS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Fill it with around 180ml isopropyl alcohol, 6ml Triton X-100 (surfactant), and around a gallon of distilled water. You can run a cheap acquarium filter to get rid of all the crud from the records and do lots of batches back to back. This setup can clean 6 records at a time, do it at about 40 degrees celcius for 20-25 minutes. Prior to this I had been using a KAB EV-1 vaccuum cleaner which worked OK, but I still had a lot of records with deep embedded dirt that caused pops and crackles. All those records are like new now. I still use the EV-1 to vaccuum the records dry after they come out of the bath.
Or you could throw down $3k on a Degritter that does exactly the same thing that my $300 DIY setup does. ;)
ShinnyGroove (Forum Supporter) said:Or you could throw down $3k on a Degritter that does exactly the same thing that my $300 DIY setup does. ;)
Hey, I have cars to maintain! But yes I expect that your rig does exactly what the expensive versions do.
But now you have me thinking........thanks!
I also got a big, used medical machine off ebay for about $200. Works well, not too loud, has a heater and timers.
I've learned a lot about chemistry that I'd forgotten. The ultrasonic with wrong chemistry for the material at hand can do some damage. Of course that's true for non-ultrasonic cleaning too - I wish I still had the nickel plating on those Porsche muffler brackets I thought were stainless 
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