Cycling UK Forum

Hi all,

Does anyone having any real life experience of cleaning very oily/grimey cassette in an ultrasonic cleaner?

Is it effective? Which model do you use and what solution do you use in the ultrasonic cleaner?

Cheers

Jim

My LBS has one. I think for regular use - and certainly in a commercial / professional mechanic environment - they're excellent for allowing the mechanic to just chuck a cassette, mechs etc in there and get on with the rest of the bike.

For home use (unless you have a large collection of bikes that need regular maintenance) they are (IMO) overkill. You can achieve at least as good a clean using a spray bottle of degreaser and an old toothbrush in the kitchen sink.

'You can achieve at least as good a clean using a spray bottle of degreaser and an old toothbrush in the kitchen sink.' Can we assume that there is no Mrs Rareposter?

borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2024, 10:23am Can we assume that there is no Mrs.....

Two things, wait untill she goes out, and the bath is good for cleaning larger items.

I've got a £25 Ebay Ultrasonic cleaner, used with 20% solution of Screwfix degreaser.

20 mins at 40C will clean anything back to shop finish - chain, cassette, chainrings, deraiileur jockey wheels.

Needs a good rinse afterwards, drying and a thorough re-greasing.

the best way I know of to clean a cassette is to use a hot water jetwash on it. The second best way is to leave it soaking in paraffin and then brush using an old paintbrush. If I make it sound like you don't really need an ultrasonic cleaner you would be right. They can be quite good, but people worry about using them on certain things, fearing that the ultrasound will damage any delicate metal to metal contacts. TBH I don't really know if these fears are really justified, but many people (including most clock repairers) would never put anything with bearings or bushings (including chains) into an ultrasonic cleaner and this is the reason why.


btw there is a lot to be said for just sticking things in the dishwasher. However, anything really greasy is probably better cleaned elsewhere.

Wipe the worst off then put in the dishwasher on a high temp wash. After Swmbo has gone out for the day. My small industrial ultrasonic cleaner (used previously to clean medical instruments) has not been very effective on greasy bike parts using boiling water and washing up liquid.

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borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2024, 10:23am 'You can achieve at least as good a clean using a spray bottle of degreaser and an old toothbrush in the kitchen sink.' Can we assume that there is no Mrs Rareposter?

If there was no Mrs Rareposter it would go in the dishwasher.

hamster wrote: ↑11 Jul 2024, 1:54pm

borisface wrote: ↑11 Jul 2024, 10:23am 'You can achieve at least as good a clean using a spray bottle of degreaser and an old toothbrush in the kitchen sink.' Can we assume that there is no Mrs Rareposter?

If there was no Mrs Rareposter it would go in the dishwasher.

We'd use the one in the servants quarters, we're not savages!

My other half loves it when I clean bike bits in the bath. She knows fine well I will clean the bath afterwards to a very high standard. Same goes for the kitchen sink.

I have a cheapo Lidl ultrasonic cleaner and I have always been quite disappointed by the results; it doesn't really seem to do much more than simply soaking. It does however make a satisfying "bzzzzzzz" sound when you turn it on and has some nice blue LED lights and I am a simple person so I still ocasionally get it out.

I assume an industrial ultrasonic cleaner would do a much better job (but is also a bit more risky if you have e.g. kids who enjoy putting their hands in random things).