Bought a $300 ultrasonic cleaner for the shop and it's been a weird week

Thought it would be a game changer for crusty old parts. First thing I cleaned was a bottom bracket from a 90s mountain bike. It came out spotless, but the whole shop smelled like a weird mix of hot metal and the citrus degreaser for two days. My coworker walked in and asked if we were making robot soup. It works great, but I didn't budget for the strange vibes. Anyone else have a tool that works perfectly but just feels odd to use?

3 comments

3 Comments

hunt.nora1mo ago

Yeah, my pressure washer gives me that same weird feeling.

cole3561mo ago

Ever try just using simple dish soap and hot water in that thing? The citrus stuff can get real weird when it heats up. I keep a cheap bottle of Dawn next to mine now, cuts the grease without the robot soup smell. That hot metal smell is just the old grease cooking off, it fades after a few uses.

grantp281mo ago

So you're saying that hot metal smell is actually old grease burning off? How long did it take for yours to stop smelling like that?