Evan - a long time ago, a really good friend suggested I acquire a good ultrasonic cleaner. Not really wanting to spend the many thousands of dollars then required for a made in the USA ultrasonic unit; I purchased one of the off-shore units from an ebay vendor for $600. Of course, the directions were in pictographs, and there was zero warranty.
I plugged it in, and stuck in a VERY dirty carburetor. SURPRISE! In about 45 minutes, that carb was virtually clean! Two carburetors later, the unit died! No return, no refund, I should have known better! My fault!
But the results WHILE IT WORKED were spectacular! The $600. was lost, but it paid for the test run! So started checking for USA manufactured product. Found a company in Ohio with a telephone number. Called the number, and got a technician/salesman who spoke English! He described their basic unit, but then described each of the options (heaters, rheostat controls on both ultrasonic and heaters, etc.). Ended up with a unit that is sufficiently large to submerge a complete Holley 4160, Carter AFB, Carter TQ, or Rochester Q-Jet, with the options. Unit cost then a little over $5k. They are probably cheaper now. That was maybe 10 years ago, and countless hours of use. One of the very best investments I made for the business. A home enthusiast probably can get by with a smaller tank (less expensive), but would highly recommend the controls and heaters.
Cleaning the entire carb before disassembly has several advantages: the obvious one is less dirt
, but more important, the ultrasonic waves tend to break up corrosion bonds, and the carburetor becomes MUCH easier to disassemble.
After doing lots of experimenting, I found the Dawn (Simple Green, Purple Power, others) are not quite as good as the $30./gallon commercial stuff, but with a little extra time, do a good job and are much less expensive.
I run the heaters (remember, I have a rheostat control) at 185 degrees, and the ultrasonic generator wide-open for a 45 minute clean. Drain the solvent, flush, and do a second clean. Now drain the solvent, and flush with fresh water only. Time to disassemble.
Jon.
