Does Anyone Have An Ultrasonic Cleaner? How Used?
- Thread starter Silverton
- Start date
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Not trying to flame you - BUT
I don't think you know what you are talking about - I've used ours to clean relays, micro switches, control boards, etc.; there is no danger of a fire/explosion with these items especially with the proper cleaner being used. I have also used it to clean old engine motors. The plastic shells are actually more flammable than electronic components.
If giving advice please get your facts correct.
Ummm... I think he was referencing the use of flammable isoprophyl alcohol as the cleaner in the system that is powered, not cleaning non-electrified parts in the unit.
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! Ian nailed it. Thanks Ian! Glad someone was paying attention
Bigboy, go right ahead and do whatever you want, but if I may make my own recommedation: When giving advice, think twice about telling someone to do something potentially hazardous. And I very much hope we don't read about or see news of a mysterious fire & explosion up there in Medicine Hat! (or in Iowa)
What am I telling him to do that is potentially hazardous or explosive????????
When I said I would not recommend putting anything flammable in an electric ultrasonic cleaner you chimed in and said I didn't know what I was talking about. No offense taken, it is clear you misunderstood, but you were wrong and were reinforcing a previous post where alcohol was recommended. A poor quality cleaner (some of that cheap Chinese stuff does not meet UL standards) or a stray ignition source could start the alcohol burning. If the unit is unattended when this happens, someone could lose their house. No big deal, just make sure you know what you're talking about before you tell someone else that they don't know what they're talking about.
This is where the problem started as I never told him to use anything hazardous. I said "with the proper cleaning solution"
I thought/took it that cleaning electrical components was dangerous - it isn't if you use the proper cleaning solutions. Nothing (solutions) that I put in our cleaner are flammable/explosive, unless you can get the flash point up to a little over 1000 degrees Celsius as that is the flash point temp of the solution that I use - in other words it is non-flammable. Maybe reading it wrong or it was worded ambiguously. Anyways not a problem.
Have a good one
Jim
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I have a blasting booth for removing paint and decals. I use the ultrasonic cleaner strictly for cleaning after blasting. I use Simple Green or even warm water with a little Dawn dishwashing liquid in it. After the bath I rinse it off and blow it dry. I do this with brass models. I haven't had the need with plastic, but YMMV 
One other thing: With brass models, the ultrasonic cleaner will find bad solder joints and you can usually tell because the part so effected will fall off. You will cuss when this happens, but consider that it is better to find these before painting
One other thing: With brass models, the ultrasonic cleaner will find bad solder joints and you can usually tell because the part so effected will fall off. You will cuss when this happens, but consider that it is better to find these before painting
IowaFarmBoy
Member
My ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight removes paint just fine with 91% alcohol as the solvent. It may not be designed for that but it certainly works for me.
UPBigBoy
J&A Paint Shops
Most ultrasonic cleaners come with instructions that tell you not to use anything flammable in them. Kind of a bad idea with electrical equipmentIt might work, but it's not too safe. I would not recommend it
Not trying to flame you - BUT
I don't think you know what you are talking about - I've used ours to clean relays, micro switches, control boards, etc.; there is no danger of a fire/explosion with these items especially with the proper cleaner being used. I have also used it to clean old engine motors. The plastic shells are actually more flammable than electronic components.
If giving advice please get your facts correct.
Ummm... I think he was referencing the use of flammable isoprophyl alcohol as the cleaner in the system that is powered, not cleaning non-electrified parts in the unit.
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! Ian nailed it. Thanks Ian! Glad someone was paying attention
Bigboy, go right ahead and do whatever you want, but if I may make my own recommedation: When giving advice, think twice about telling someone to do something potentially hazardous. And I very much hope we don't read about or see news of a mysterious fire & explosion up there in Medicine Hat! (or in Iowa)
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We have about 20 ultrasonic units at work to clean parts. Of course these are large (50 gallon ) units and have a lot more power output than the smaller hobby ones do.
The theory works the same though. Sound waves, generated by a transducer (speaker) travel thru the medium (cleaning solution) and impinge upon the part. The impingment is caused by small cavitations that expand and collapse. This impingement causes a scrubbing action at the surface of the part. We have cleaned painted parts in ours at 150-175 Deg water temp with cleaning soap added and not removed any paint. Depending on what you need to remove from the part determines what type of soap is needed. For the most part we use a degreaser with a surfactant to help remove polishing compounds that are also present. The Ph of the soap is about 13-14. which is good for greases and also a protective acrylic coating we have on the product. I would say for most hobby cleaning, Dawn or palmolive dish washing soap would work fine.
As to the isopropyl alchohol in the cleaner removing paint...It will remove it without it being in the sonics. if the sonic tank is not heated I would not worry about it being in there though. If the tank is heated, well, the alcohol is closer to the flash point. The sonics themselves wont ignite it but any stray ignition source could.
The theory works the same though. Sound waves, generated by a transducer (speaker) travel thru the medium (cleaning solution) and impinge upon the part. The impingment is caused by small cavitations that expand and collapse. This impingement causes a scrubbing action at the surface of the part. We have cleaned painted parts in ours at 150-175 Deg water temp with cleaning soap added and not removed any paint. Depending on what you need to remove from the part determines what type of soap is needed. For the most part we use a degreaser with a surfactant to help remove polishing compounds that are also present. The Ph of the soap is about 13-14. which is good for greases and also a protective acrylic coating we have on the product. I would say for most hobby cleaning, Dawn or palmolive dish washing soap would work fine.
As to the isopropyl alchohol in the cleaner removing paint...It will remove it without it being in the sonics. if the sonic tank is not heated I would not worry about it being in there though. If the tank is heated, well, the alcohol is closer to the flash point. The sonics themselves wont ignite it but any stray ignition source could.
spookyac47
New Member
Ultrasonic Cleaner and paint removal
Don
Lower Arizona
Will have to disagree with this. I have had a small ultrasonic cleaner, built from a kit during the mid seventies, and I have used it to loosen the paint on dozens of HO scale locomotive bodies and rolling stock bodies. I fill a small tub with 91% IPA, immerse the body in the IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol), set it in the cleaner tray and then fill the tray with water. This reduces the amount of alcohol I need to strip the model because most of the cleaner's tub has regular water in it.
Don
Lower Arizona
UPBigBoy
J&A Paint Shops
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! Ian nailed it. Thanks Ian! Glad someone was paying attention
Bigboy, go right ahead and do whatever you want, but if I may make my own recommedation: When giving advice, think twice about telling someone to do something potentially hazardous. And I very much hope we don't read about or see news of a mysterious fire & explosion up there in Medicine Hat! (or in Iowa)
What am I telling him to do that is potentially hazardous or explosive????????
When I said I would not recommend putting anything flammable in an electric ultrasonic cleaner you chimed in and said I didn't know what I was talking about. No offense taken, it is clear you misunderstood, but you were wrong and were reinforcing a previous post where alcohol was recommended. A poor quality cleaner (some of that cheap Chinese stuff does not meet UL standards) or a stray ignition source could start the alcohol burning. If the unit is unattended when this happens, someone could lose their house. No big deal, just make sure you know what you're talking about before you tell someone else that they don't know what they're talking about.
UPBigBoy
J&A Paint Shops
Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding! Ian nailed it. Thanks Ian! Glad someone was paying attention
Bigboy, go right ahead and do whatever you want, but if I may make my own recommedation: When giving advice, think twice about telling someone to do something potentially hazardous. And I very much hope we don't read about or see news of a mysterious fire & explosion up there in Medicine Hat! (or in Iowa)
This is where the problem started as I never told him to use anything hazardous. I said "with the proper cleaning solution"
When I said I would not recommend putting anything flammable in an electric ultrasonic cleaner you chimed in and said I didn't know what I was talking about. No offense taken, it is clear you misunderstood, but you were wrong and were reinforcing a previous post where alcohol was recommended. A poor quality cleaner (some of that cheap Chinese stuff does not meet UL standards) or a stray ignition source could start the alcohol burning. If the unit is unattended when this happens, someone could lose their house. No big deal, just make sure you know what you're talking about before you tell someone else that they don't know what they're talking about.
I thought/took it that cleaning electrical components was dangerous - it isn't if you use the proper cleaning solutions. Nothing (solutions) that I put in our cleaner are flammable/explosive, unless you can get the flash point up to a little over 1000 degrees Celsius as that is the flash point temp of the solution that I use - in other words it is non-flammable. Maybe reading it wrong or it was worded ambiguously. Anyways not a problem.
Have a good one
Jim
Silverton
Member
I fill a small tub with 91% IPA, immerse the body in the IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol), set it in the cleaner tray and then fill the tray with water. This reduces the amount of alcohol I need to strip the model because most of the cleaner's tub has regular water in it.
When you say "a small tub" is that the ultrasonic cleaner, or another container? And for how long? Is it then set in the cleaner tray after soaking in the other tub? And you say the tub has the IPA and the tray has water?
When you say "a small tub" is that the ultrasonic cleaner, or another container? And for how long? Is it then set in the cleaner tray after soaking in the other tub? And you say the tub has the IPA and the tray has water?
spookyac47
New Member
The ultrasonic cleaner I have has a stainless steel tank as part of the cleaner. This is partially filled with water. The parts I am cleaning or stripping are placed in a container of some sort that is smaller than the stainless steel tank of the cleaners. This container is where the IPA (or any other cleaner) is placed. As stated, this reduces the amount of IPA of cleaner I need to use because part of the space in the tank is taken up by water. Since the water and IPA are separated by the container walls, water does not migrate to the IPA. The ultrasonic action in the liquid is the same in the tank and the container that is resting in the water in the tank.
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