Should I?

Yes, I use mine for more than just bike stuff.

Got mine from aldi.Brilliant for cleaning chains.Broke after a month 😥

I’ve got one

… somewhere

We need links to kit 🙂

What fluid is used, special stuff or just water and fairy?

Great for chains, I use boiling water in my cheap Aldi one

What fluid is used, special stuff or just water and fairy?

Yes, just water in the bath. If you need to use something else for the bit you’re cleaning, put another beaker in the water with the solvent you need, with your bit.

I’ve got the Aldi one, I think it was £20 ish. Great for chains and cassettes and also, with fresh water, very good for jewellery as well.

What fluid is used, special stuff or just water and fairy?

Yup, we had various industrial cleaning solutions, but they were all just water and surfactants.

Be carefull using solvents in them, they get quite warm and the solvent evaporates creating a flamable (and poisonous) cloud. So avoid using light stuff like petrol or meths/ethanol, and do it outside. Never put the lid on it in use regardless of the fluid used.

I have a 2l capacity one from ebay. It has a heater and thermostat as well as a timer.

I got it for cleaning tiny parts inside motorcycle carbs. Its very good. I use it with a dedicated cleaning fluid diluted by water.

Since then ive used for lots of stuff. Bike parts clean up nicely with no effort, though the fluid I use isnt a degreaser, so you need to sort that first.

So, a 2l capacity unit is ample for most bike parts – chains & cassettes etc?

What is the ‘cleaning’ fluid you use?

Cheers

This one on ebay seems OK

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Professional-Digital-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Ultra-Sonic-Timer-Cleaning-Basket-2L-/231280157675?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35d95f23eb

Here’s some blurb from the listing – not sure what a ‘soft alkaline detergent is though’

General Cleaning: Use just plain water.
Enhanced Cleaning: Add a few drops of ammonia, or 5-10ml of soft alkaline detergent or other cleaning solution into the water if the item to be cleaned is smeary or not cleaned for a long time.
Partly Cleaning: for large item, clean the items with open lid. If the whole items need to be cleaned, you may clean one half in one cycle and the other half in another cycle.
Don’t start the machine without liquids?water or otherwise?in the tank.
Don’t use hard objects to strike the bottom of cleaning tank. At least ten minutes cleaning interval is recommended.Do clean the tank
regularly.
Don’t use corrosive or flammable cleaning liquids in the unit.

So, is it just an expensive (and needless) way of cleaning your chain?

I keep my chains pretty spotless I have to say, using water bio lube such as Pro Link Gold which ‘washes’ as it gets dirty (really works)

It’s the thick greasy gunge which comes on a new chain I would like to get off, and I don’t think one of these cleaners would do that anyway – you would need to degrease it differently

Aldi owner over here too. Great with paraffin. Chains come out spotless. Relube and go.

It’s the thick greasy gunge which comes on a new chain I would like to get off,

Don’t remove it, it’s a very effective lubricant.

Don’t remove it, it’s a very effective lubricant.

But your chain/cassette & front ring turn into a thick black gunge of a mess in a few rides

The amount of folk I see – roadies too – with the black gunge is something which just doesn’t sit comfortably

So wipe it off the outer plates, you don’t really want to flush out every trace of it!

^ he’s right, you know

I know he is… BUT

It is possible to get all of the original grease off – let’s say before fitting for the first time – and then every time you clean your bike (and drive train) you get back to spotless shiny – you can’t do that if that stuff is left on

Of course you can, it doesn’t last forever, but why introduce premature wear by stripping all that lube out straight off? The first time you give it a proper clean most of it will go anyway, but again, you only want the plates to be clean, that’s not where you want the lube.

But njeee – if the inside of the plates and the links are left to get black, your cassette and chainring ends up black and gunged

This is how my stuff looks all the time – you just can’t do that any other way

Got one…. They’re ace!

^^ blimey – that looks a posh one 🙂

You can get half a bike in that one can’t you?

But njeee – if the inside of the plates and the links are left to get black, your cassette and chainring ends up black and gunged

Not really, the new lube is very effective. wipe it off the outside of the chain, so it looks clean, leave it on the inside, after a ride it’ll work it’s way into the rollers/bushes, where you want it. You can then clean the chain as normal, the grease will remain where it needs to be for a while. Not forever, but why get rid?

It’s not going to improve the life of your chain to strip every ounce of lube out of it. You can keep it looking very clean with judicious lubing and a reasonable cleaning regime, rather than over zealous cleaning IMO. I’m not a huge fan of the ‘stick it in a jar of white spirit’ cleaning methodology – I always find the rollers rattle afterwards because the chain is so dry.

As we’re also now getting into winter I’m happy switching to a thicker lube. It’ll attract more crap and the chain/cassette do end up looking filthy after a ride, but at least the bike doesn’t sound horrific after 100 yards! A quick clean in situ and it’ll end up looking spotless again, but still with some trace of lube inside the rollers. Depends if you want to take photos of your cassette or ride your bike 😉

bonesetter – Member
^^ blimey – that looks a posh one

You can get half a bike in that one can’t you?

You could get the other half in as well almost! 60 litres I think it is.

My drivetrain looked quite lonely in the bottom of it.

Don’t remove it, it’s a very effective lubricant.

Depends what lube you are using. If you are using a water based one then you need to remove all of the old lube or it won’t work properly.

Saw someone above say don’t fit the lid – I would say the opposite from using them regularly in the lab. Fit the lid to reduce evaporation.

Solvents are probably a no-no in the home but we do use them in the lab with a 750W probe type – sonicating ethanol in a sealed box and then putting your head inside is a quick way to get drunk!

The essential bit of knowledge – so basically if you want to remove the OE fit grease, you need to need to use a decent degeaser first, then wash that off, otherwise the new lube wont penetrate to the rollers

I think the water based lubes are a wax emulsion in a water solvent. Grease will stop the water wetting the surface. When the water evaporates the wax joins together creating a surface film. That is how water based PU paint (eg water based floor varnish) works anyway.