I bought an Ultrasonic Cleaner

[awemawson]

I've been hankering after an Ultrasonic cleaner for some time. I have an ancient one that is at least 25 years old but very small capacity - maybe 200 cc that we used to use at work cleaning big inkjet printer jets - but I wanted something more 'workshop sized'

The market is swamped with Chinese cleaners, and they all look much of a muchness, just varying in capacity  - some having electronic integrated controls and some with rotary switches - that later being significantly more expensive.

I settled on a 30 litre one with free shipping from The Czech Republic for £204.75. Delivery was very rapid being only a couple of days - quite impressive.

Perhaps not surprisingly it was supplied with a European IEC lead with an 'adaptor' to UK 13 amp socket. This arrangement is lethal as in my experience the multi-function adaptor fails to grip the plug and anyway the arrangement is not fused in any way as a 13 amp plug in the UK has to be. No big deal - abandon the lead and use a proper UK one 'from stock'

In anticipation of the units arrival I had ordered some cleaning fluid - lots of varieties but I got 25 litres of 'Sensitive Metals solution' from Allendale Ultrasonics that is said to be safe on all metals including brass and aluminium. Like all these fluids it's used diluted 10:1 which improves the economics.

The Ultra Sonic Cleaner itself arrived yesterday but I had to tame my enthusiasm until this morning to try it as I was designing and cutting house signs for a neighbour.

So I partially filled it with 15 litres of diluted cleaning solution and put an old PCB in as a trial. This PCB is from a Siemens controller similar to the one in my Beaver but not of a type used in mine - I got it as some of the specialist components such as the ULA's are the same and it only cost 99 pence so I wasn't too worried if it was shaken to pieces

In it went for 5 minutes, and yes it is noticeably cleaner particularly between the ic pins. No doubt to use it it will need lengthy drying especially things like the rotary switches - a few days on top of the boiler should sort it.

It's got a 600 watt Ultrasonic source and an 800 watt heater, (but these are probably Chinese watts !)

Anyway have some pictures:

[edward]

I have a similar 20 litre one I use(d) for cleaning diving regulator parts, and nowdays for cleaning bike parts. Its excellent, my only complaint being the heater is very very slow - easily remedied by starting out with hot water from the tap/kettle.

The most alarming thing is just how much gunk you can extract from stuff - t'missus's engagement ring yielded some impressive muck for its size

[awemawson]

Well this beast definitely works

I put a tote bin in that wasn't cleaning up well with a spirity cloth - five minutes later it came out looking like new.

Now it's possible that a run through the domestic dish washer would have done the same, but that raises all sorts of other issues 

[mc]

How much of the workshop contents are going to be gleaming before the novelty wears off? 

Ultrasonic cleaners are handy to have. I've had one of the smaller Chinese ones for a few years, and it's a handy thing for bits that would otherwise be awkward to clean. Carburettor, strip to bits, chuck it in for 10min, and it's sparkly clean. EGR valve, scrape the worst of the carbon off and give a quick wipe with some WD40 to soften the remains, then chuck it in for 15 minutes, and it'll be 99% clean.

[kayzed1]

****domestic dish washer would have done the same, but that raises all sorts of other issues ****

   Like how many clean shirts do you have left

[Will_D]

I just have a liitle one ( } for my contact lenses

[nrml]

I bought a 10L version of that machine a year or two back. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well built it was for the price (about £45 on a clearance offer).
It has been a very useful thing to have. Apart from cleaning various bits and bobs, I use it for mixing up 'difficult to mix things' when preparing lotions.

[awemawson]

Mine is amazing for cleaning your glasses 

I'm using quite a mild cleaning solution and for the glasses I hold them suspended for a couple of minutes then rinse off under the hot tap, and clarity returns !  (But where DO all those smears come from  )

My concern with delicate things like glasses is fretting against the stainless mesh basket at 40 kHz  hence hanging on to them.

I cleaned a Cherry keyboard the other day that was 'workshop soiled' - what a transformation, and  the construction was such that the keys easily came off as a unit to be cleaned leaving the switch elements separate and hence not dunked.

[nrml]

I wouldn't clean expensive sunglasses or coated lenses with it. It would probably damage the coating film.