That $80 ultrasonic cleaner saved my carburetor, or maybe it cursed me

I dropped real cash on a cheap ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight after my small engine shop wanted $150 to dip my mower carb. Brought it home, ran it with some Simple Green and water, and man, the gunk that came off was gross but beautiful. Put the carb back on and it fired up first pull, which felt like a miracle. But then two months later the jets clogged again with the same varnish, so I think it just loosened stuff that moved deeper inside. Now I'm rebuilding the whole thing with a $12 kit and wondering if the cleaner was even worth it. Anyone else had a tool that fixed the symptom but not the real issue?

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1 Comment

hunt.jana6d agoMost Upvoted

Ha! So the cleaner is the bad guy now because your carb was already full of varnish that you didn't fully clear out? That's like blaming your pressure washer for the rot in your deck boards. Did you even pull the jets and clean them separate, or just toss the whole carb in and hope for magic? The cleaner did its job, it loosened years of gunk, but you gotta follow through and blast every passage with compressed air or you're just moving the problem around. Sounds like the tool saved you $150 and gave you a heads up that the carb was toast anyway, so yeah, I'd say it earned its keep.