Couple of my friends have been using ultrasonic cleaners (~$90 at Harbor Freight) to clean their cassettes, chains, and other parts instead of laboriously trying to pick the grease out.
I notice that the new 6800 and 9000 cassettes are shipping with carbon carriers for the lower cogs instead of aluminum. Are these a no-go for ultrasonic cleaning?
put bike on a standhand crank the wheel aroundhold a soapy brush to the cogs
Super fast and easy.
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I use an Ultrasonic cleaner now and then. Used it a few weeks ago (small video clip) http://thecyclingaddiction.blogspot.com/2015/02/rainy-day-cleaning.html
My guess is the type of cleaner added to the water may be more of what would damage carbon fiber or metal rather than the ultrasonic cleaning action.
For metal I’ve been using Simple Green Pro HD metal cleaner, which is supposed to be safe for all types of metal or I use Alconox. The important part is to rinse well after.
I would be cautious in using a metal cleaner with the carbon fiber unless the label specifies it to be safe. If you test with one of your friend’s tubs just try it with plain water. The ultrasonic action sometimes works well by itself.
*Note: that I mainly clean by hand and may use the tub once or twice a year when I feel like I can no longer detail clean the tight spots. *
put bike on a standhand crank the wheel aroundhold a soapy brush to the cogs
Super fast and easy.
That’s all there is to it. Sometimes I introduce some diesel into the equation
While I have not put carbon components in an Ultrasonic Cleaner I have put other cassettes in them.
It does an OK job but not any better than using brake cleaner or a power washer.
jaretj
The ultrasonic energy part of it is not a problem.
The solvent could be, but I would suspect that it would have to be a fairly strong solvent.
I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I use a lot. I just got into doing the paraffin baths on my chains and cleaning with the ultrasonic cleaner makes the process even easier. So, since the machine is out all the time for that, I’ve been putting in all kinds of stuff. Including some new 6800 cassettes. I use the simple green extreme airplane degreaser. Works well. No issues.
Andy
I actually sell industrial sonic cleaners (among many other things). Main customers are aerospace shops making precision parts and cleaning those after fabrication (remove cutting oil, etc.). I do clean my bike parts at work on demo units we have. They are not in the same league as the Wal-Mart units, but the generally, the principle is the same:
They will generally come in three range of frequencies: around 25kHz, 45kHz and 130kHz. Lower frequency (25kHz) means much harsher cleaning. Higher frequency means very gentle cleaning (usually for jewelry and electronics). For stainless steel, titanium, aluminum parts, 25 or 45 is fine. If you had anodized aluminum parts (I don’t think I’ve come across those in the bike world), you do not want to put anodized aluminum in an ultrasonic cleaner. Period. Carbon parts would be safer in 45kHz, although they should be safe in 25kHz as well.
Heat! I doubt at that price the units have a heater, but if you can get one, heat is a must. Ultrasonics by themselves will not do everything. Heat is extremely important. If you can’t get a unit with heat, get some water around 50-60 Celsius and put it in the cleaner.
Cleaning agent: necessary, especially for grease, oil, dirt. Do not use a solvent in an ultrasonic cleaner unless it is explosion proof - and at 90$, it is not explosion proof. First of all, you do not need a solvent and second, you do not want it to catch fire. For bike parts, a little bit of dishwasher soap (2% in volume at most) will be fine.
But… to be frank, if I didn’t have an easy access to demo units (and often use my cassettes as demo for customers), cleaning the parts by hand will do an adequate job and will probably be quicker.
This all sounds like a lot of fuss.
I pull my rear wheel, remove cassette, clean each individual cog with brake cleaner. I’d be surprised if it takes 30 minutes and the cassette looks like new after. I’ve got 10K miles on my cassette that shows almost no wear and because of my cleaning process I can get over 5K miles on a chain with little wear. I run my chain through a rag / WD-40 after almost every ride.
I do the cassette process monthly at most.
That also sounds like a lot of fuss. I clean cog by cog now (though certainly not 30 minutes worth!) and it does an ok job, but I would rather be able to put things in the dishwasher (so to speak) and go do something else with that time. Call me lazy.
haha. We each have our own preferences I guess 
This all sounds like a lot of fuss.
I pull my rear wheel, remove cassette, clean each individual cog with brake cleaner. I’d be surprised if it takes 30 minutes and the cassette looks like new after. I’ve got 10K miles on my cassette that shows almost no wear and because of my cleaning process I can get over 5K miles on a chain with little wear. I run my chain through a rag / WD-40 after almost every ride.
I do the cassette process monthly at most.
^^^^^^^ X 2
Also the main reason cassettes get gunked up is that their owners over oil their chains especially without wiping them down thoroughly afterwards.
Hugh
The cassette is another issue, but I would not put a chain in an ultrasonic cleaner with solvent.
Because the result will be a chain that will wear faster (likely) and that will be slower (certain).
The problem is that this cleaning will remove all the factory lubricant from deep within chain. And you will have no way of getting in back effectively.
Most chains are packed with grease at the factory ostensibly to prevent corrosion. If you don’t remove it, it will pick up dirt at an incredible rate as well as spread the grease throughout your drivetrain. Removing it is the best thing you can do.
The person who developed a way to measure chain friction provides a chain prepping service that involves the use of ultrasonic cleaners to remove the original grease and relube it with a high performance oil:
http://ultrafastoptimization.com/about/ufo-process
The chain is then cleaned using a 4-step ultrasonic cleaning process to fully remove the inefficient factory lube and friction-producing contaminants introduced during the manufacturing process and break-in period.
Even before I heard of Friction Facts, my procedure was to use a heated ultrasonic cleaner to remove the factory grease and subject it to a hot oil bath in some homebrew chain lube, also in the ultrasonic cleaner. After being wiped down, the chain’s innards are well-lube but the exterior is relatively dry and doesn’t pick up much dirt. The result is a chain that stays fairly clean, is quiet, and stays that way for quite a few miles.
An even better process here:
I have used a varsol bath to clean my cassette and chains and it works admirably. With the require PPE of course.
An even better process here: http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html
Um, no. While that link points to one of Sheldon’s more humorous posts, 10/11 speed chains have flush mount pins which need to be ‘peened’ when joining otherwise there is a good possibility of the newly joined pin disconnecting out on the road under load (been there, done that - once). So unless you have access to a pro level tool such as the Rholoff Revolver, forget about 'pushing link pins 1/2 way out with 10/11 speed chains unless it is to remove links and plan to use a quick link to re-join the chain.
Thanks for the heads up on anodized parts. I was hoping this would help clean chainrings as well but given that all the ones I use are anodized, that is out.
I am less worried about carbon parts if its just dish soap and no nasty chemicals (I don’t want to use any nasty chemicals anyways if I can avoid it - 409 is about as bad as I get for normal hand cleaning). Carbon in the cassettes seems like a strange application anyways.
Thanks for the heads up on anodized parts. I was hoping this would help clean chainrings as well but given that all the ones I use are anodized, that is out.
I am less worried about carbon parts if its just dish soap and no nasty chemicals (I don’t want to use any nasty chemicals anyways if I can avoid it - 409 is about as bad as I get for normal hand cleaning). Carbon in the cassettes seems like a strange application anyways.
Not all anodized metals will react the same - our warning is about anodized aluminum only. Granted, that’s like 95% of all anodizing out there… Ultrasonics might or might not damage an anodized part, but our warranty is clear: put anodized aluminum parts at your own risk in ultrasonic cleaners 
Some people will do it anyway and get good results, other will damage parts (usually pinholes in the metal). But if the part was worth a dollar to a customer, they might not care to lose a part from time to time.
If you use the Deluxe kit it comes with 114 Shimano Replacement Pins
If you use the SRAM Deluxe kit it comes with 57 SRAM Powerlinks
Note, if you use this option, you don’t need to clean the outer links or chain pins, because these are replaced by the Power Links
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Most chains are packed with grease at the factory ostensibly to prevent corrosion. If you don’t remove it, it will pick up dirt at an incredible rate as well as spread the grease throughout your drivetrain. Removing it is the best thing you can do.
This is not necessarily true. Some chains come with a heavy, greasy lubricant, especially low end chains, but some, such as Dura Ace chains, come with a very high quality light lubricant. Unless you’re going to do something really elaborate like what Friction Facts does, you’re much better just leaving it on the chain. Dura Ace chains have done well on Friction Facts’ testing right out of the box. I’ve been just installing D/A chains for a while and the lubricant works great.