TOPIC:

Sorry for the boring subject, but I am keen on finding out how others prefer to clean used grubby parts purchased from auction sites etc? We have all bought a 'gearbox' from an auction site described as 'as new' and opened it to find solid lumps of grease and dirt.

How do you clean such parts?

Myself, up until recently I would soak for 5mins in a little hot water with washing up liquid, then use kitchen towel to wipe and re-wash again as required... It was a long process.

I now have bough a little ultrasonic cleaner from Aldi, it was cheap but appears to be effective. Sometimes a little drop of washing up liquid does the job, other times I feed it a little corner of dishwasher tablet.

SO, what do you do?

If its clogged up with old grease (you know the stuff that almost looks like sticky plastic and is turning green ) I remove that first by scrapping it off, wiping with these earsticks and papertowel then into the ultrasonic with a squishe of lemon dish liquid.

If after the first run it still looks the same I tend to use some car/bicycle degreaser and then back in the ultra for some more runs.

I am like Waterbok. I remove the bigger of grease with paper and 1 or 2 bath with clean up liquid in the ultrasonic(only when the wheather permits it). After or during this bath, I brush it with nail brush and I dry it with paper towels.

Another vote for ultrasonic cleaning here - I've been using them on RC bits for just shy of two years & wouldn't go back to scrubbing bits in the sink again - diluted "Sea Clean" on brass & copper bits (seperately ), Lemon Fairy liquid on everything else.

One thing I've found with a big(ger) tank is that it can be pretty wasteful on cleaning products - I've used plastic takeaway tubs to reduce the volume in the past, this morning I got a bit lazy & tried a couple of gripseal bags

HI!... I luv a product called GREASED LIGHTNING. Works just awesome. I let the parts soak in it for a few days and just take them out and rinse them off. Very rarely do I have to scrub them. If I do it's just with a small used tooth brush. Be careful though. Do not use this product on Anodized items. It is also a anodizing remover.

Hi, I use a product called KH7, It's for general cleansing, but once I dismantled a TA1, put the parts on a bucket and sprayed the KH7 on them, on minutes all the gunk dripped down letting the parts at only a dry towel of being really 'as new' and with lemon smell. It worked even on gears.

I've always sprayed things well with CRC (or similar), let sit for 48 hours, then blow out really well with compressed air. Once done I go over them with a clean rag to remove any left over residue. It leaves everything shiney, looking like new & helps identify damage or wear. Works on all types of parts although if metal it might need further attention and/or polishing. Just be aware that if there's any decals/stickers already starting to peel off the CRC breaks down the glue & makes it easy to remove them.

It looks like we all use the same type of sprays & the name is the only thing different.