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What capacity ultrasonic cleaner?

Folks with an ultrasonic cleaner...what capacity did you get or recommend? Going to order one in the next few days. Probably one with 2 litre capacity. There is one with 1.3 litre capacity but thinking bigger is better. Is 2 litre enough? Going to mostly use it to deep clean chains and cassettes. Probably not much else. 
 

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16 comments

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mark1a | 1 year ago
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Well originally I bought a small one from Lidl, was made for jewellery, etc and was OK for a chain but not much else. Couldn't fit a cassette in (road bikes 32, MTB 42, I'm 53, sorry can't do smaller). I then bought a 10 litre which fits everything in just fine and has a heater and this is better although obviously uses much more cleaner. So now I generally clean off most of the muck & lube with something like Morgan Blue or Muc-Off in an old Quality Street tub with a paintbrush and then ultrasonic at 40 deg C in water and a tiny amount of washing up liquid. Has worked great so far and extended the life of drivetrains. Chain needs a proper lube afterwards though and am investigating the repurposing of an old slow cooker crockpot for waxing. 
 

 

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NOtotheEU replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
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I'm in no way at all jealous that yours is bigger than mine and your tools are nicer and more neatly arranged! 😜

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mark1a replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
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Thank you, although it's not all about size apparently(!), the extra width means I can fit the MTB cassette in. Also I was expecting some stick about the "easy" gears and looking back at the photo, I forgot to hide the disc brake cleaner. Joking aside, the fact that in 2020 I got permanently based at home for work instead of an hour each way daily commute in my van meant I had the time to refurb my garage. 

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Sriracha replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
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So once you make the switch to hot waxing your chain, what use for all the degreaser and ultrasonic bath? Prepping a new chain once in a while?

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mark1a replied to Sriracha | 1 year ago
1 like

Don't know really, as I say, just looking at wax pros & cons at the moment, and trying to liberate the slow cooker. I probably won't wax all chains on all bikes, plus the ultrasonic is handy for cleaning other stuff too. 

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Rich_cb replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
1 like

I also have serious toolboard envy.

Need to get that holder for the spray cans.

Could try the freezer bag trick to reduce amount of degreaser you use?

I'm hoping to pick up an ultrasonic cleaner on Black Friday. May well go 10 litres as I have a disgustingly large cassette on my winter bike.

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mark1a replied to Rich_cb | 1 year ago
1 like

Thanks - board & accessories are all Bott Workplace Perfolock, so everything clicks in on a standard hole pitch. It becomes a slippery slope once you step into the Perfo catalogue, I found this out when my wife opened the garage door and wanted to know why I'd turned it into a bike shop. 

Ref the cleaner size, they don't seem to get that much more expensive in proportion to size, so probably best to go as large as you potentially need, you're not saving that much by going smaller. 

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Rich_cb replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
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That perfolock catalogue is amazing. I've run out of space on my peg board so can feel an upgrade coming on!

Think I'll definitely go for the 10 litre version then. Thanks.

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ktache replied to mark1a | 1 year ago
1 like

Are you not tempted to silhouette the tools on the peg board?

 

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mark1a replied to ktache | 1 year ago
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ktache wrote:

Are you not tempted to silhouette the tools on the peg board?

I was at first as it happened, I remember as a kid visiting RNAS Portland/HMS Osprey back in the 80s when my dad was in the RN and all of the workshops had this, presumably to avoid leaving tools inside parts of aircraft where there shouldn't be. However I then went on a Cytech home mechanic course and all of the workbays had this Perfolock system and I decided that was the way to go.

My reason not to silhouette these is that the hangers & clips are very easy to move around as I decide, for example on the RH side, are the most commonly used tools, batteries, lubes, etc, and on the LH side, the less frequently used stuff. 

Sorry to hijack the ultrasonic cleaner thread, but here's the rest of it.

 

 

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NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
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I've got a Vevor 3.2l and an 11-32 8sp cassette without the little ring doesn't quite fit under the fill line.

 

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KDee replied to NOtotheEU | 1 year ago
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Wow! I thought a 2 litre would be plenty. I'll take a look at the tank dimensions and measure the largest cassette I have...then maybe time for some good old trigonometry (or AutoCAD). Thanks for the pics. Food for thought. 

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ktache | 1 year ago
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Make sure you can fit the biggest ring of the cassette flat to the bottom.

And some of the newer cassettes are getting HUGE.

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KDee replied to ktache | 1 year ago
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That was the only thing I could think of. My Occam has (I think) a 46T largest on the cassette. In a basket it can sit at whatever angle it likes, and hopefully be fully immersed. Shouldn't really be resting on the bottom of the tank anyway. Plan on using the freezer bag tip too. 

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Hirsute replied to KDee | 1 year ago
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Freezer bag tip ?

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KDee replied to Hirsute | 1 year ago
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Something I saw on GPLlama's channel I think. Whatever you're cleaning, bag it with a mix of diluted degreaser. Stops the ultrasonic cleaner tank getting filthy from drivetrain gunk. 
 

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