Spent $150 on a fancy chain cleaning tool that just made a mess

Honestly, I thought I was being smart buying one of those ultrasonic cleaners for my bike chains at the start of summer. Dropped $150 on it after watching a bunch of videos showing how clean chains get. First few tries were fine, but after maybe 10 uses the thing started leaking fluid everywhere. I had this puddle of dirty solvent on my garage floor and it ate through the concrete sealer. Called the company and they said the seal was busted and warranty only covers 90 days. I was out the cash and back to using a simple Park Tool chain cleaner with some Simple Green. That $20 setup does the same job without the headache. Has anyone else had bad luck with those desktop ultrasonic units or was it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

stone.thomas1mo ago

I read somewhere that those ultrasonic cleaners have a pretty narrow sweet spot for how much fluid you need in them. Too much or too little and the seals can blow out easier. I've seen a few people on other forums say the same thing about the fluid eating through garage floors, usually that's from the degreaser breaking down before it hits the concrete. Sounds like you got a bad unit but also maybe those machines just aren't built for the kind of grime bike chains put out.

skyler_white1mo ago

Ran a 3D printed parts cleaner at my shop for a year, found the sweet spot was just covering the parts with fluid and running it in 3 minute bursts. Let it cool between cycles and never had seal issues.