Ultrasonic questions

[2broke2ride]

I tried searching but couldnt really find what I was looking for.
I bought a cheap harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner primarily for doing carbs. What are guys running for cleaner in these? I tried dish soap and water, that was mediocre at best. I've heard simple green but have also heard it attaches aluminum.
I am kinda also looking for something that isnt water based because I dont heat my shop all the time and i need something that wont hurt the check valves in the carbs if they arent being removed (they arent readily available for a lot of the vintage stuff I work on)

I was also wondering if anyone knows a way to bypass the timer on this. It only allows like 3 minutes at a time and I'd like to run a carb for a half hour or so.

 

[deaves61]

I use mean green, purple power would turn things dark gray, never used simple green, a buddy that cleans injectors uses hoppes bore cleaner in his with mineral spirits, mean green works good, but i would wash everything off with hot water and blow dry afterwards

 

[stihl86]

I tried searching but couldnt really find what I was looking for.
I bought a cheap harbor freight ultrasonic cleaner primarily for doing carbs. What are guys running for cleaner in these? I tried dish soap and water, that was mediocre at best. I've heard simple green but have also heard it attaches aluminum.
I am kinda also looking for something that isnt water based because I dont heat my shop all the time and i need something that wont hurt the check valves in the carbs if they arent being removed (they arent readily available for a lot of the vintage stuff I work on)

I was also wondering if anyone knows a way to bypass the timer on this. It only allows like 3 minutes at a time and I'd like to run a carb for a half hour or so.

It’s a inexpensive unit, and probably has a short duty cycle. I find Dawn Heavy Duty, which is new, works quite well.
I’ve used Super Clean, but didn’t see any real difference. But was concerned about doing more damage than good.
It turned some aluminum black. So there’s definitely some sort of chemical reaction going on.
Dawn is harmless.
As you probably know, it’s not the cleaner you use, it’s the action.

 

[jl4c]

If you have a large enough unit you can use plain distilled water in the tank. I put the carb or other part to be cleaned in a small peanut butter jar. Then I fill the jar up to the 80-90% full level with plain gasoline and put the lid on snugly. Then I put the jar (which floats) into the tank itself. The ultrasonic waves have no trouble passing from water to plastic to gasoline. Any laundry business will tell you that "like dissolves like." Since most carb deposits are varnishes from gasoline, it follows that gasoline is the best solvent to remove said deposits. And the gasoline doesn't discolor the aluminum. Neither do you have to periodically drain the tank. And I don't use near as much "solvent" as I used to.

 

[oldfortyfive]

Some cleaners when used in an ultrasonic cleaner can be bad for aluminum. You probably should test on a noncritical piece.