(who always makes a buzzing noise when manualy winding the windows on the car)
I do that too!...but only when I have a passenger I want to impress. The car is already 24 years old and lacks electric windows, cup holders, airbags, and ABS, so I impress with what I have.
Yes! Ultrasonic cleaners are useful. Cool, and/or hot also, depending on one's age demographic (yesterday's cool is today's hot...or dope; I try to keep up).
I got mine from my favorite reasonable-quality-cheap-tools place, Harbor Freight:
http://www.harborfreight.com/ultrasonic-cleaner-3305.html They also now offer a cleaning powder for it, which I have yet to try. So far, the blue LEDs that light while operating and give the water a pseudo-radioactive look seem to be working fine, along with some liquid dish soap.
Speaking of Harbor...I can get lost in that place, and typically visit a couple times a week. Overall, their quality is now much better than a decade ago, but there are some wonderful values now. Harbor Freight has now become successful enough to commission and/or fund some very innovative tool designs of its own and offer them at reasonable prices. The ultrasonic cleaner ended up costing me USD$8.99 when I stacked a sale price and a 20% off coupon. It has run faithfully for the last 4 years.
For greasy-cleany stuff, I go with my solvent-based dash tank, filled with mineral spirits. Basically, it is a large diameter metal can with a flip-up lid. Inside is a large spring that supports a perforated platform. You put the desired dirty/greasy item on the platform, then depress the platform. Do it enough, and the old, greasy dirt is washed out and the part rises phoenix-like, clean and shiny as new. There's a small parts tray that is perforated and goes on the main platform as well. There is some slight loss of mineral spirits over time, but a typical charge has me cleaning derailleur drivetrains monthly for about 6 years. At that time, I recycle the 'spirits at the local solvent works and start anew. I use Nirtile gloves to protect my hands, and a metal rod to depress the spring-loaded platform. Works a treat.
You can also get much the same effect as the ultrasonic cleaner and the solvent dash tank if you fill a 1-2l PET drinks bottle with Simple Green or a similar water-based solvent, toss in the item, recap securely, and shake it like mad. This can work well for cleaning chains, though I've found (to great dismay and a cleanup roughly equal to something EXXON might deal with) that a) it really pays to make *sure* the cap is secure and b) beyond a couple uses, the Simple Green makes the PET brittle and it can crack, leading to unintended cleaning of a larger series of products.
All the best,
Dan. (...who has found "Green" is not always simple, but Simple Green usually is)
