Ultrasonic cleaners

[Cliff Topp]

I recently bought one very similar to this

(link goes to eBay) and it appears to be very easy to operate being as there are only two parameters to set, time and temperature.

However, they don't give any help in actually using the thing, such as what temperature to set it at and for how long!

Our first use for it is that we have some old jewellery that we want to clean up (couple of gold chains, a gold ring with an amethyst centre stone and small diamonds around it and a few other pieces) so does anyone have suggestions for time and temp settings on the cleaner?

It will probably also get used for cleaning up a car part or two and maybe a printed circuit board or two as well (not at the same time), so what settings would I use in those situations?

[jon]

Depends on the solution you use.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

I'd be careful of printed circuit boards if they have any legends screen printed on them, I did that once at work and erased the whole lot in a couple of minutes. What fluid is it going to use? The one we had used a kind of spirit of some kind. Brian

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Beware of using one on that Austrian Crystal too, a lot of those are made from several parts and they are glued using an adhesive that has similar optical qualities to the crystal, but they do come apart in ultrasonic baths, Also if stones were set but also had small blobs of adhesive under them they will become loose and may fall out if it attacks the glue. Brian

[Cliff Topp]

Cliff Topp presented the following explanation :

This is the cleaning solution that came with it (sorry Brian, it's just a link to a photo)

[Cliff Topp]

Cliff Topp pretended :

So can nobody come up with some actual numbers then?

[RJH]

I'd be inclined to read the manual of one that's likely decent:

and take it from there. I've got a small basic cleaner and the instructions say luke warm water and a drop of washing up liquid, and basically run it for as long as it takes. Seems to work in my very limited experience.

Incidentally - does anyone clean their specs in them? I did once before I read the instructions - nice and clean and no apparent damage.

[Andy Burns]

I do, but not very often, I had one pair where the ant-reflective coating peeled of in patches ... probably had scratches to start with though.

[The Natural Philosopher]

TBH when I used these back in the day with chemistry that made me feel utterly sick - chlorinated hydrocarbons, now totally banned, we just used to suck it and see.

I don't recall heat being part of it. Just ultrasonics

They are not complicated. You need a solvent for what ever it is you want to dissolve. Can be just water. And the time is however long it takes to get it clean.

What washing powder, temperature and time do you use in your washing machine?

How long is a piece of string?

[rick]

I remember Heathkit use to sell a kit for one of these - popular kit