I am considering buying an ultrasonic cleaner. It will primarily be used to clean chains so they can get wax. Can anyone give advice on what to look out for and possibly recommend specific models?
I’ve lusted for an u/s cleaner for years. Almost pulled the trigger on a small one, but my LBS told me that if all I was planning on using it for was chains and drive train (which was my plan), I’d be better off using a Silca strip chip to clean the factory wax off a new chain. After that, he told me that I don’t really need a u/s cleaner… just drop it in the hot wax (I also have a Silca wax system, which I really like!) If I really want to clean the chain of all the wax, hot water will do just fine. I trust him, but I suppose your mileage may vary. They ARE awfully loud though.
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I’d agree with @John_Tonetti and would see a ultrasonic cleaner as over kill for just stripping factory grease off chains prior to waxing.
I do have an Ultrasonic and use it for new chain de-greasing but that is more for convenience of the size of the bath than anything else. One chain fits into the base of my cleaner perfectly which means i can then fully cover it with the least amount of Ceramic Speed degreaser possible. I leave the chain to soak for approx 5mins, then turn the Ultrasonic on for a few mins while moving the chain around. If the Ultrasonic broke, I’d keep the bath for the soak and then transfer the chain and degreaser liquid to a container for a vigorous shake.
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The Silca chain stripper is compatible with ultrasonic cleaners so it’s a good option if you don’t want to use strip chips.
I probably wouldn’t buy an ultrasonic solely for bike chains, but they have many other cleaning uses
I have a Vevor one that also does heat up to 80c so it’s quite nice for waxed chains if you want to do a full reset
Just for the record, if the cleaner broke, it’s usually the transducer that (literally) broke to pieces. You’d know if/when you rattle the entire cleaner and you hear rattling inside.
You just need to undo the base of the cleaner (most cleaners are accessed via the base, located the broken transducer, remove it from the circuit and insert the new one. It’s the epoxy used to bond the transducer to the base of the tank that’ll take a little bit of elbow grease to remove. But once that’s done, just clean the area with a heat gun (to melt any residual epoxy), clean the area, apply new epoxy and attach the new transducer.
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I bought an unbranded one on Amazon about 8-9 years ago for $40-50, used it for chains, pulley wheels, probably at least 2-3 times month all year. Only regret was not getting one large enough to handle cassettes. I switched to wax 4 years ago and kept using it for that first strip as you describe, until Silca released their solvent. That’s SO much easier to use, works better, and is really inexpensive, especially if you use the coffee filter hack pouring used/filtered solvent back into the bottle. If your only use is chains, skip it and go solvent or strip chip, though I personally think the strip chip is a bit expensive, especially if you factor in that it also reduces how many remelt cycles you get before you should dispose of the wax.
To me buying an ultrasonic cleaner only makes sense if you’re servicing multiple bikes and deep cleaning the whole drive train.
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This.
Get one by all means. Offer to do all your mate’s chains & cassette in return for wine / beer / chocolate / weird healthy stuff so that it’s not just sat there for weeks doing nothing - just make sure you get one big enough to properly submerge a cassette.
For reference, a 3L Vevor is big enough for road cassettes, but struggles with anything bigger than 30t unless you decide not to use the basket.
If anyone reading is in Sydney and wants a 3L Vevor, you can have mine in return for a half-decent bottle of red and I’ll buy myself the bigger one I keep meaning to get!
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I purchased a Chinese one online, quite large, the one that always comes at the top of Google shopping. Separate temperature control and timer. It is excellent. Does what it says in the label. The process of inducing cavitation is noisy.
I bought a cheapy, but I am not sure it is much effective because its almost silent. Mine is big enough for all road cassettes. It is almost big enough to half submerge a crankset (right half). Has anyone bought one big enough to 2/3 submerge say a 53 chainset ? Or do you remove the chainrings to submerge the chainrings separately to the cranks ? What size Vevor unit for this ? I am interested to hear anyone’s experiences.
I’ve got 2 30l ones from these guys, off AliExpress. Pretty well built, support was decent, and unit was well thought out…
that’s exactly my idea, that I will service my friends’ bikes. I therefore expect to have to use it continuously for about 6-8 bikes. Are there other things besides the size that I should be aware of. I basically don’t want to use Silca’s solution, as I want to use ceramics speed’s newest wax
It might help to place the items you’re cleaning into a thicker ziplock bag, before placing that bag into the ultrasonic cleaner filled with water (never run an ultrasonic cleaner with an empty tank).
This lets you get off with less degreaser, especially when dealing with heavily soiled components, like those off gravel and MTB bikes. You can then re-use the degreaser after filtering it. I typically use cutup sheets of 50 micron cheesecloth as a filter; any smaller and it takes forever to filter, any larger, and you’re letting microscopic particles through.
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When you’re cleaning a dirty wet lubed chain, ultrasonic cleaners look very impressive as a bunch of dirt just lifts out of the chain. However, if you then change the solvent and run another cycle, you’ll very likely see more dirt coming out of the chain. At that point, you might wonder if you could just have shaken the chain in a Gatorade bottle.
When you are starting with a clean chain and you’re going to wax it, there’s not really a benefit to ultrasonic cleaners for us regular consumers.
it’s not really worth it to degrease a used chain - i.e. one with chain lube applied. other than the thin factory coating. as @Weiwen_Ng says - they will clean, but it takes so many repetitions and solvent to get it clean. yes, I’ve done it. No, I wouldn’t bother again.
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In my experience, I’ve come to terms with degreasing a used, previously lubed chain to prep for a future of waxing. All in the name of welcoming newbies into the cult of wax. I’ve found that there are quite a number of those who might be wax curious, but resistant/hesitant to resort to a new factory chain, in the event that this whole waxing business is just the latest fad. Some clients have ended up embracing wax, others, not so much, but the approach at least provides some semblance of an insight into using and living with waxed chains.
I’ve also found that ultrasonically cleaning lubed chains can require some finesse. Go in too heavy handed and you can actually lift the plating on cheaper chains. So some experience counts here. For factory grease removal, I’d typically rattle the chain in a jug of degreaser, and have found this works best. Used to use the thinner/methanol approach, but those things are nasty…
I’ve been using the ultrasonic cleaner my wife has for jewellery. Chain fits in nicely. Seems to do a reasonable job. Using a concentrated (Fenwicks) bike cleaner. This has been for cleaning chains that had a regular lube on before switching over to Squirt wax lube. So not full-on wax and it’s a bit of a trial but am pleased with results so far.
You don’t have to use Silca’s wax in Silca’s Wax System. You can use other brands as well. All it does is heat. You would just have to set the appropriate temperature for the wax you are using.
I prob would not suggest the CREWORKS 2L cleaner I bought on Amazon. The heat function doesn’t seem regulated — there’s a temp switch, but it regularly exceeds that. I do like it as chain cleaner. That plus Simple Green Aircraft Cleaner (a Geek Warning suggestion as safer for metals) let’s me strip new chains with much less use after of organic solvents
If it’s anything like the first ultrasonic cleaner I bought off AliExpress, the heater element isn’t anything more than a little heating pad secured to the underside of the tank by aluminium foil tape. The setup is woefully underpowered and takes forever to get heated to a meaningful temperature.
Get yourself a cooking thermometer and a portable water heater wand instead. You’re much better off heating the water this way.
