I made a 4 gallon Ultrasonic Cleaner for less than $100

Ultrasonic cleaners are useful cleaning tools, however, unless you want to fork out significant coin, the sub $100 units are good for jewelry and little else.
Although they work well, their size limits what can be cleaned.
So I decided to build my own 15.1 Litre or 4-gallon Ultrasonic cleaner; this will better fit the items I want to put through the cleaner. And the best part - I did it for less than $100.00.
This video details the process I used to build my sub $100 Ultrasonic cleaner.
The process is simple and requires few tools to assemble. The hardest part of this build was the optional wheeled trolley that was built to accommodate the ultrasonic cleaner.
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[@TBR_LLC]

Well done

[@Akronbourne]

Stainless steel rack to lift the object just off the bottom.it helps dramatically with the cleaning

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Thank you for the tip.

[@kwacz]

You could make it better by attaching a strip heater to the outside wall of the tub and a thermocouple to the opposite end to sense water temp. This way you can set water temperature and heat it. Maybe insulate it with foam board although not necessary, it would help keep water warm.

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Thanks for the feedback. Absolutely agree with you. At the moment I am using a heating element plugged into the GPO.

[@kwacz]

@@riccardosdiyandrestoration im just using immersion heater on mine to get up to temp or close and then the ultrasonic actually keeps it warm and sometimes heats it a little more.

[@-Evilempire-]

for good operation you need 25w/litre or 100w/gallon and it is better to use more small units than one large one, based on the surface available. the driver and the transducers heat up a lot especially the cheap ones found on AliExpress and eBay, they have undersized transformers and fake components that often burn out if not well cooled. last tip, if possible avoid gluing the transducers, weld the pin and then screw the transducer, if you really can't weld, use very hard resins and don't place the objects directly on the bottom.

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Thanks for the feedback. Lots of very useful and relevant information. Very much appreciated.

[@rattila13]

Easy and cheap improvement would be o add a basket, it cleans better when whatever you're cleaning isn't sitting directly on the bottom of the tank.

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Agree with you. I have been suspending items with some wire - which works well when there is a single item in there, but not so good when I have multiple or smaller items. Appreciate the feedback.

[@johncorlett3699]

a trivet in the bottom of the tank would be better, rather than items being placed directly on the bottom, this aids cleaning, and circulation

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Excellent suggestion. I have tended to suspend items from a bar across the top of the unit, but a trivet would be a quicker option and definitely better for smaller items. Appreciate the feedback.

[@kevshouse]

Nice job. Can you add a link for both the transducer and driver that you used please?

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

AU $60.29 | Ultrasonic Cleaner Power Driver Board 40KHZ 100W Generator Glasses Transducer Ultrasound Circuit Washing Home-made Accessories a.aliexpress.com/_mqwC6km

[@DioDellaMuerte]

You should also add an heater. Price doesn't worth the job i think. Anywat good video, thanks

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Thanks for the feedback. I use a plugin heating element in the GPO that I mounted on the trolley.

[@robertoperez3518]

is it safe to clean aluminium cylinder heads or short blocks, or aluminium pistons in a ultrasonic cleaner?

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Yes. It may depend on the liquid you use, but if you stick with detergent based additives, these should not react with the aluminium.

[@robertoperez3518]

@@riccardosdiyandrestorationnice!, thanks for your answer :)

[@gren509]

Needs a lot more power.

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

I am going to order another transducer. Kinda hope that the waveforms don't cancell each other out. Appreciate the feedback.

[@Villepillle]

@@riccardosdiyandrestoration They will not cancel each other out. As long as you connect the polarities alike.

[@p_peja]

but at the end you have welded the mounting screw of the transducer-

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Ideally I would have liked to weld it, but I suspect that I didn't have the right gear or the right skills. So in this case the transducer was only epoxy onto the base.

[@p_peja]

@@riccardosdiyandrestoration but what is that black spot at inner side of the pot?

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

@@p_peja :-( That was my failed attempt at initially trying to weld it on. The transducer is only attached with the epoxy, however, in saying this, the unit continues to perform well. I am thinking of upgrading the unit with additional transducers - I might try the welding again on the additional units.

[@p_peja]

@@riccardosdiyandrestoration thank you for clarification

[@serendipitynz]

great video, totally unnecessary lousy background soundtrack interferes with your commentary

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Thanks for the feedback Chris. Will work on the levels in the editing software.

[@chauffeurmarco]

I have hard time to believe that all that cost you less than $100

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Sure did. Ultrasonic transducer was about $70. Pot was about $15. Electrical less than $10. I already had the timber and the fixings. I suppose if we factored the timber then we may go over $100, but not by much. Appreciate the feedback.

[@chauffeurmarco]

@@riccardosdiyandrestoration Here in canada, it would have cost much more

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

@@chauffeurmarco Prices are going stupid everywhere. Cheers

[@seb.sch.8905]

@@riccardosdiyandrestorationbut you paid also for Stuff you already had 😂

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

@@seb.sch.8905 Yes that is true. The trolley is probably overkill. At the moment it just gets moved around. I will probably delete the trolley and instead fix the unit into the garage shelving. Hope you enjoyed the video.

[@petercrowl9467]

To those who have built a DIY Ultrasonic cleaner--- Does the tank have to be stainless steel? Could it be mild steel?

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

I have only seen stainless. I think it is for the rust resistance and so that there is minimal reactions with some of the cleaning fluids that might be used.

[@mattkaiser8984]

No way it’s less than $100.

[@riccardosdiyandrestoration]

Yes way. Didn't include the cost of the electrical switches and the timber, but those were leftover items from previous projects. Ultrasonic was $70ish, and the pot about $15. The rest were minor fixings etc. Hope you enjoyed the video. It's a few months old, but the unit is still working well.