I own a commercial duty, high powered, heated bath, ultrasound. Only the exposed surfaces of a submerged part are treated.
Thanks for your reply! :bigsmile: I thought I had read this somewhere but couldnt find it again. Is there enough material on either the DST head or 5C tube (or both) that could be removed (turned in a lathe) for a press fit? If not, what about removing the threads from both and turning a press fit adapter?
Im at least a week away from going to HD, but it looks like I need to grab a 5C if I can find one.
Have you tried it with a light? I came across this when someone I know wanted to restore a motorcycle carb- a rare English AMAL which has some really soft metal in the body that gets brittle with heat and time. They’re known for metal parts seizing into the body to the point that moderate wrench pressure will often break the body. Having tried new carb dip, MEK, heat both local and total he was about to try more brute force when he thought about somehow cleaning it more before trying that. He saw his ultrasonic bath and figured what the heck. Left it going overnight and late the next morning when he checked it had disassembled itself completely. His best guess is that the different mass of each part resonated differently inducing enough difference in vibration to unscrew everything. He’s repeated it numerous times and said it’s now his favorite technique for taking carbs apart. Dip ’em, then into the ultrasonic bath- and usually almost everything is in pieces by morning without anything getting buggered up in the process.
His is also an industrial machine. I don’t know the settings he used, I guess wide-open and high. My own experience with these carbs without that is about 50% chance of major body breakage or distortion so I always left the pieces I couldn’t shift in place and did the best I could that way. Stranger things have happened before so if he’s right about the different resonances it might work which is why I posed the question. If you’ve got something to test it on could you give it a try for us when you have time?
Phil
Im glad your friend found success. My guess is that it was probably the combination of several factors, combined with repeated attempts that weakened the bond and allowed its disassembly. I used to be a VP/production manager/partner for a large high tech metal finishing company in which I established ISO production standards certifications. Ive long considered using the power of resonance frequencies to separate stubborn parts, but in practice have never seen it successfully accomplished. That would be through my experience of treating tens of thousands of parts. Im not saying it cant be done. Its that Ive never witnessed it or heard of it being applied as such a technique in the industry. What I have seen are non ferrous metals left in an ultrasonic cleaner too long and having large pieces of metal dissolve and become pitted, thus effectively ruining the part. There are of course many variables which exceed the scope of this thread.
Luckily, Ive only had one flashlight that seriously challenged me to the point of risking total destruction or success. My mega-thread-locked Crelant 7G9. Since I couldnt heat it in an over for 4 hours at 550-650 F to carbonize the adhesive without destroying the light, it took repeated heat cycles with a blow torch (probably 10 or more) until the thread locker was smoking, then applying enormous amounts of torque with large strap wrenches while the part was still hot. In the end, it took incredible force until the last thread was turned. I couldn’t believe the fight that ensued!
I have used MEK, Barrymans industrial line of submersion carb cleaner as an ultrasonic bath, acetone, xylene, about every stoddard solvent variant, avgas, CAM2, ethylene, industrial grade aircraft paint stripper and many others. Regardless of which solvent is being used to try and dissolve a glue or thread locking adhesive applied to a tightly threaded part, I have never seen solvent penetration past the 3rd thread, and often only to the 1st thread. IMO, it simply doesnt work becasue it cant penetrate the threads, but your mileage may vary.
Confucius say: “What may work for one part might not for another.” 
I should also mention that I restore antique pressurized liquid fuel lanterns, which is why Ive spent so much time disassembling and refurbishing stubborn-locked parts. They are always a pain!