We got an ultrasonic cleaner at Christmas.
It cleans not bad just with water.
However, the manual says to use ultrasonic cleaner concentrate.
Does anyone know what the concentrate comprises of, and is it possible to use a cheaper alternative, rather than having to buy the specialist fluid ?.
woodglass...
Water with a drop or two of washing up liquid to lower the surface tension is what mine suggests in its instructions. I'm sure that will do the job well enough for most people.
Dishwasher powder ?
A
Our 'James' branded one from Maplin suggests (a) warm water, (b) warm water & two drops of washing up liquid and (c) for 'enhanced cleaning' two drops of hand soap.
Only ever used it with warm water.
My Dad always used a couple of drops of washing up liquid in the US cleaner at work. Depending on what he was trying to clean, he'd either use tap water, or de-ionised water (but he did work in a chemical lab).
I have always found a citric acid based degreaser a very useful additive. IIRC the one I used was called Citriclean, but any industrial / commercial cleaning product supplier will have something of the same type.
Colin Bignell
"woodglass" wrote in news:_IKfj.105833$ snipped-for-privacy@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk:
The place to buy this stuff is one of the watch / clock / jewelery material supply houses.
What do you want to clean? If it's jewelry and other small but 'clean' items, then an ammonia + detergent cleaner works well. Have a look here for the L&R products:
If it's 'dirty' items like oily things or tarnished brass parts, have a look here:
Or you could try isopropanol (IPA, propanan-2-ol or whatever it's called this week) which is fairly cheap in quantity.
Perhaps best of all, see here:
Walkers supply both commercial size (well, clock repairer size) ultrasonic baths as well as cleaning fluids, and often have bargains. Anyone interested in buying a decent sized ultrasonic bath as opposed to a toy should give them a call - they often have 'shop soiled' items at bargain prices.
There are plenty of other suppliers to the clock / jewelry trade. Try Meadows & Passmore, or Walsh. For a full list, see here:
Hope this helps
For small items you can always put the cleaner in a small open container within the US bath rather than fill the whole US bath up.
It might be too aggressive for some applications.
About 18 months ago, my wife was on a Scouting trip, when she did just that and landed in a stream with her digital camera under her, She dried out OK but the camera, when dried out at home, was still polluted by the stream water. After taking advice on getting it professionally fixed, it was decided that it would be cheaper to buy a new one. I, on the other hand being something of repair it yourself type decided to switch the camera on and take out the batteries. Then I put it all ways up in my ultrasonic bath and put it somewhere warm to dry off for the week. It works fine now, but I hate to think what dishwasher powder would have done to it.
Dave
My wife left her mobile in her jeans which she put in the washing machine
the legs of some of the ICs had already corroded away when the cycle had finished
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