This is our Omegasonics, 110gal Ultrasonic cleaner. Not many people have a cleaner like this, in fact, we know of no other business which specializes in engines and transmissions which uses cleaning equipment this advanced and expensive.
We have this cleaner set up with 2 baths. On the right we have a bath with acid to help remove staining and any junk which may be hiding in case parts. This bath can also be cleaned and flushed easily.
The bath on the left is mild soap for steel components. This area also has a filter and pump assembly to assure the water stays clean.
Our cleaner also has a heater which can go up as high as 165 degrees to help cook out any contaminants which are a bit sticky.
Looks like a fast-food frier, but this unit is amazing and will pull garbage out of a part that you had no idea was contaminated! Below is an example. The picture is of an input shaft from an EVO 8 trans. Looks pretty clean doesn't it? To the naked eye, you would think there are absolutely no contaminants in this part and it's ready to be installed.
We will carefully lower the shaft as it sits into the cleaner, in a white bucket, so we can see any junk which may come out:
15 minutes later, we pulled the bucket and drained the water from it. It's difficult to see with our camera, but the spots you see in the bucket are metal flakes the ultrasonic pulled from the part and settled in the bucket!
We tried to wipe some of it on our finger, but it's still difficult to see the metal.
All of that metal would have ended up in your trans, and that's only one part! The shaft looked clean and we ran it through our industrial spin-jet washer like 99% of other shops do only. Obviously, it's not enough for that 'true clean' we want to see from a part.
Imagine the metal and contaminants which would come out of something like an engine block or GR6 trans, which has many tiny hidden recesses. This machine has proven to us that no matter how clean a part looks, or how much time we spend trying to clean it by hand, this machine will find more contaminants hidden and pull them out.
Removing contaminants from parts has become an obsession here and we are not happy until we know we have a truly clean part.
We have the standard large industrial washer, but after the parts run through that machine, which is all most builders have, we then use this ultrasonic cleaner for that real deep clean we want as the final step in the cleaning process.
How does it work? Ultrasonic cleaning uses high frequency sound waves to agitate in a liquid. Cavitation bubbles induced by the agitation act on contaminants adhering to substrates like metals, plastics, glass, rubber, and ceramics. This action also penetrates blind holes, cracks, and recesses. The intention is to thoroughly remove all traces of contamination tightly adhering or embedded onto solid surfaces. In other words, your unit will be far cleaner with this process than some dude cleaning your parts in a solvent tank and basic parts washer who can't reach all parts for a thorough cleaning.
Video of Jay Leno using one here:
