How Ultrasonic Cleaners are Used in Automotive Cleaning Applications

Ultrasonic cleaners use high-frequency sound waves to remove grease and grime from metal and plastic parts without affecting the surfaces of the parts to be cleaned. Effective and fast cleaning action is important in the automotive industry where used parts are often covered in grease, deposits or contaminants that have to be removed. Cleaning such parts with ultrasound avoids the use of aggressive chemicals and mechanical scrubbing that can cause damage. Instead, parts are placed in a bath with mild solvents and come out clean ten to fifteen minutes later. Ultrasonic cleaners are especially useful for shops and facilities restoring classic cars and for machine shops dealing in used engine parts.

Ultrasonic Cleaners Solve Problems with Traditional Cleaning

Automotive parts operate in close contact with oil, gas or diesel and at high temperatures. As a result, parts are greasy with baked on crusts of oil and carbon residue. Traditionally, parts are soaked in baths with chemicals such as acetone or other harsh solvents and scrubbed mechanically or by hand with wire brushes. Such cleaning methods take a lot of time and are often not completely effective.

The scrubbing, if robust enough to remove tough dirt, can damage the surface of the parts, the seals or the parts themselves. Wire brushes may scratch metal and softer material or remove protective layers on specialized components. Small parts can be hard to hold and difficult to clean.

Many automotive parts have complicated shapes, holes, pits and crevices that can’t be reached with mechanical brushing. Even for relatively smooth shapes, high ridges may get more scrubbing action than grooves and contaminants can hide where they can’t be seen and affect later performance.

Ultrasonic cleaners can solve all these challenging problems. The ultrasonic signal generated in the cleaning bath creates millions of tiny bubbles that produce an intensive scrubbing action everywhere the cleaning bath solution can penetrate. They dislodge all grease and grime throughout the bath and work within ten or fifteen minutes to dislodge dirt down to the original surface.

While the cleaning action of the bubbles is intensive enough to remove dirt quickly, it will not damage metal surfaces. If there is some pitting on softer material, the system can be changed to operate at a higher frequency for that specific cleaning application. A higher frequency produces smaller bubbles that clean more gently.

As a result, ultrasonic cleaners can clean more quickly and thoroughly than traditional cleaning methods. The bubbles treat all surfaces the same and they can get into holes and grooves without a problem. The frequency of the ultrasonic cleaners can also be adjusted to get the cleaning intensity needed for a particular application and, when matched properly to the material to be cleaned, the bubbles never cause any damage to the part surfaces or the automotive parts themselves.

Kaijo Can Meet Automotive Cleaning Needs

Kaijo’s ultrasonic cleaners are available in a wide range of frequencies that can be used for all automotive cleaning applications. Kaijo offers turnkey ultrasonic systems that are complete with a cleaning tank and ready to go, as well as ultrasonic cleaners that can be retrofitted on existing systems or added to existing cleaning tanks. The ultrasonic cleaners deliver reliable and consistent cleaning action that allows automotive shops and restoration facilities to save time on cleaning and money on reduced chemical use. In addition, Kaijo can supply ultrasonic cleaners to meet a customer’s requirements or advise customers on the ultrasonic cleaner best suited to their application. If you would like a free consultation or advice on using an ultrasonic cleaning system for your specific automotive cleaning application call Kaijo or email info@kaijo-shibuya.com.