Note to self. Dont put thinners into Ultrasonic cleaner......

Note to self. Dont put thinners into Ultrasonic cleaner....... although it makes it clean a part really well, it does this to it if you leave it overnight!!!

On a brighter note, I now have a reason to throw out this cr*p one, and get something decent.

mmmmm, poor you!

I have only used stainless steel ones.

That looks like a right mess!

This one had a stainless bath, but the buildup of thinners fumes with the plastic lid shut was just too much for it.

This was a 30 quid ebay special so I'm not too fussed. Experience of using it prior to the big melt was pretty poor. If I put in a dirty tap that I wanted to clean, you could see spots of dirt coming off the tap, but it came out only slightly cleaner than it went in. There were still bits of dirt left on the item, that could easily be removed with slight finger pressure.

So, what are other peoples cleaning experiences with US baths. How much do you need to spend until you get decent cleaning effort. What sort of results are people getting. Am I expecting too much from US cleaning. What are the key specifications to look out for. What power rating, heated tank a requirement?

Thanks.

Edited By Graham Wharton on 14/07/2012 21:58:05

Presumably cellulose thinners? If white spirit did that, that is some dodgy plastic.

What about this Graham:

**LINK**

You should not use Volatiles in an Ultra Sonic Cleaner!

Freon and Chlorothene of course are now banned.

This leaves only Aqueous types of cleaner, The one we have found best is a US made product called 'MIcro' and as it is only a 2% solution is very economical.

There are other people who can supply Aqueous solutions like Farnell and RS but nowhere near as good as Micro.

It is used by te US Atomic weapons manufacturers to clean the items they make!

If you want to use a volatile then us White Spirit in its own container in the Ultra Sonic bath so that it will not contaminate the fluid. Do this in a small plastic or metal container for screws or gears etc.

Clive

Just a quick look on flee bay and this item showed up straight away 280832408592

It is all stainless construction so shouldn't melt if any dodgy fluids were to be used and left in for long periods of time?

Price isn't too excessive either.

Andy.

The point I was trying to make about Volatiles is that we had an Ultrasonic that burnt through the bottom of the stainless steel tank and vapourized all the Freon, luckily it was over a weekend and nobody was in the building. ( Thats why the ho;le in the Ozone layer got bigger)

The heater thermostat had malfunctioned, maybe because the operator failed to keep the fluid levels up!

When we arrived on the Mon. morning all the bits and pieces around the Ultrasonic were covered in a white deposit. Not sure if it was dangerous or not.

Since then I have been ultra cautious about the ultrasonics but now we are with an aqueous solution I do not worry too much apart from boiling dry.

I will find out the UK supplier of Micro and post the detail.

Clive

Graham,

Walker Electronics advertise in the Horological Journal, and are well respected.

http://www.walkerelectronics.co.uk/

MichaelG.

P.S.

Being a cheapskate, I have a couple of cheap units, and have never bought specialist cleaning fluids ['though, given Clive's recommendation, I might try Micro]. I usually put a few drops of "Alberto Balsam TeaTree Tingle" shampoo in the US bath. This wonder-fluid is about £1 for 400ml from the Supermarket.

I don't know if it's the surfactants or the herbal additives, but it works a treat.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/07/2012 14:50:35

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 15/07/2012 14:52:22

Hi There,

I have used a cleaning agent called "decon 75" for cleaning lab equipment in work and this is described as being suitable for cleaning in the nuclear industry, and perhaps this is another version of the "Micro" product clive mentions.

Neil

I think you were had! Aldi were selling these for £14.99 a couple of years back. The instructions say use a drop of liquid detergent in water. Works absolutely fine for jewelry etc. I have used paraffin in mine, for cleaning workshop parts, but not usre how safe that is.

Most Ultrasonics have heaters fitted under the tank and if there is any burn through then if you are using volatiles it will vapourize and ignite.

I would not want to be around if one did!

Micro as such is an Ammonia based liquid with inhibitors and is biodegradable which is quite important to a lot of people.

Prior to placing parts in the Micro we wash them in White spirit and then wash in detergent (Washing up Liq.) hot rinse and into the Ultrasonic machine for an average of about 3 to 4 minutes.

Obviously we scrub the parts with an old tooth brush and get rid of as much detritus and oil and grease as we can.

Upon completion we again hot water rinse and use an air line to remove as much water as possible and then use a heat gun to dry the parts.

You can put glass and plastic into the Micro, the only thing that does suffer is the shielding that is sometimes put on the inside of plastic to stop RF breakthrough. Glass lenses and prisms I only allow max. 1 minute or just 30sec. in the ultrasonic.

PC boards can be put in to remove moisture residue if the board has been subject to water ingress. Blow off as much as you can and then warm gently for a while before testing/use.

Clive

Here are deatils of the Micro fluid and supplier.

Intl. Products Ltd

Unit 5 Green Lane Bus park

238/240 Green lane

London SE9 3TL

CVlive