AggieEE
08-27-2010, 06:04 PM
You went and put down your hard earned money for a ultrasonic cleaner, now what. This is meant to be in the form of FAQ's and will go from very basic to advanced so if you are ready.
What is a ultrasonic cleaner?
It is a machine that uses sound waves above the level of human hearing, 25kHz and up, to generate little vacuum bubbles in the cleaning fluid, most often soap and water, to gently clean parts.
What can I clean in one?
Almost any small parts, up to whatever will fit into the tank. If you are cleaning SWMBO's jewelry do not put her pearls, jade, turquoise or any other soft fragile stone into the cleaner. Any plated item will be OK if the plating is on tight. If it is flaking it will be removed until you reach tight plating. Watch bands should be removed from the watches or the watches held out of the solution to keep water from being forced into the watch. Yes, even the 100M rated ones could end up wet, better safe than sorry.
Should I buy a cleaning basket?
On most ultrasonic cleaners the transducers, think speakers, are on the bottom of the tank so to maintain good operation you should not place anything in direct contact with the bottom. With small parts you should use a basket, larger parts can be suppended with wires, insulated house wiring scraps, 12ga. solid or larger, work well as they can be formed to hold what you need.
How full should I fill the unit?
The ideal level for your cleaning solution would be about 1"from the top of the tank when you have the parts to be cleaned inside. The minimum level would be about 2/3rds the depth of the tank.
Can I use acid or basic solutions?
If the pH level is not more than about 2 points from netural, 5 on the acid side 9 on the basic you should be OK. If you are going to be stronger than that or you expect to use that pH level a lot you would be well advised to get some glass beakers put your parts to be cleaned into the beaker add the acid/base then float the beaker in a soap and water solution in the cleaning tank. You can make a beaker positional cover easily out of a piece of plastic and a O-ring around the beaker to keep it from touching the bottom of the tank. A company I do warranty work for will not honor the warranty on a perferated tank if it was used with very acid or basic solutions, they give a 2 year warranty on their machines and the only time they balk is when I say that I think the unit was abused.
Can I use acetone?
NO, do not use any flamable liquid. You are putting energy into the liquid which speeds the evaporation and you could end up with an explosive level of fumes. I tell clients that ask that question that it is bad for business to incenerate your customers.
When should I change my solution?
When you are done with the machine or when you see "dirt" on the bottom of the tank. If you have cleaned something that has abrasive particals in it change the solution right away as the vibrations will cause the particals to eat into your tank. This doesn't mean that if I have 3 batches of sandy brass that I should change the solution each time but rather don't use it for a week without cleaning it.
How long will it take to clean something?
Most cleaning should be done in 10 - 15 minutes. If it is taking longer than that then you have the wrong solution for the contaminate or you need to do some pre-cleaning cleaning. A ultrasonic is not very good at getting cosmoline chunks out of a barrel. It will do better on the leftover film after the chunks are gone.
Can I put my hands in a unit while it is running?
It is not a very good idea. Put about a inch of a carbinated soft drink in a beaker and just touch it to the surface of the water while the unit is running. The carbination will leave the soft drink so fast it will almost shoot out the top of the beaker. Your blood also contains disolved gases so the effect would be like getting the bends without going diving. There can be other tissue damage depending on the power of the ultrasonic.
This should give everybody a good starting point for the use of an ultrasonic cleaner. If you have any questions please ask, either on the forum or by PM.
Thanks Guys,
AggieEE
What is a ultrasonic cleaner?
It is a machine that uses sound waves above the level of human hearing, 25kHz and up, to generate little vacuum bubbles in the cleaning fluid, most often soap and water, to gently clean parts.
What can I clean in one?
Almost any small parts, up to whatever will fit into the tank. If you are cleaning SWMBO's jewelry do not put her pearls, jade, turquoise or any other soft fragile stone into the cleaner. Any plated item will be OK if the plating is on tight. If it is flaking it will be removed until you reach tight plating. Watch bands should be removed from the watches or the watches held out of the solution to keep water from being forced into the watch. Yes, even the 100M rated ones could end up wet, better safe than sorry.
Should I buy a cleaning basket?
On most ultrasonic cleaners the transducers, think speakers, are on the bottom of the tank so to maintain good operation you should not place anything in direct contact with the bottom. With small parts you should use a basket, larger parts can be suppended with wires, insulated house wiring scraps, 12ga. solid or larger, work well as they can be formed to hold what you need.
How full should I fill the unit?
The ideal level for your cleaning solution would be about 1"from the top of the tank when you have the parts to be cleaned inside. The minimum level would be about 2/3rds the depth of the tank.
Can I use acid or basic solutions?
If the pH level is not more than about 2 points from netural, 5 on the acid side 9 on the basic you should be OK. If you are going to be stronger than that or you expect to use that pH level a lot you would be well advised to get some glass beakers put your parts to be cleaned into the beaker add the acid/base then float the beaker in a soap and water solution in the cleaning tank. You can make a beaker positional cover easily out of a piece of plastic and a O-ring around the beaker to keep it from touching the bottom of the tank. A company I do warranty work for will not honor the warranty on a perferated tank if it was used with very acid or basic solutions, they give a 2 year warranty on their machines and the only time they balk is when I say that I think the unit was abused.
Can I use acetone?
NO, do not use any flamable liquid. You are putting energy into the liquid which speeds the evaporation and you could end up with an explosive level of fumes. I tell clients that ask that question that it is bad for business to incenerate your customers.
When should I change my solution?
When you are done with the machine or when you see "dirt" on the bottom of the tank. If you have cleaned something that has abrasive particals in it change the solution right away as the vibrations will cause the particals to eat into your tank. This doesn't mean that if I have 3 batches of sandy brass that I should change the solution each time but rather don't use it for a week without cleaning it.
How long will it take to clean something?
Most cleaning should be done in 10 - 15 minutes. If it is taking longer than that then you have the wrong solution for the contaminate or you need to do some pre-cleaning cleaning. A ultrasonic is not very good at getting cosmoline chunks out of a barrel. It will do better on the leftover film after the chunks are gone.
Can I put my hands in a unit while it is running?
It is not a very good idea. Put about a inch of a carbinated soft drink in a beaker and just touch it to the surface of the water while the unit is running. The carbination will leave the soft drink so fast it will almost shoot out the top of the beaker. Your blood also contains disolved gases so the effect would be like getting the bends without going diving. There can be other tissue damage depending on the power of the ultrasonic.
This should give everybody a good starting point for the use of an ultrasonic cleaner. If you have any questions please ask, either on the forum or by PM.
Thanks Guys,
AggieEE