Hello All: I have recently changed my Ultrasonic cleaning
solution at work. I am now using a product called “Ultra-CR” from
Stuller. Mixing is 1 quart solution to 3 quarts water. It works
great. It removes polishing compound in seconds and brightens
metals a bit. It cleans stones well enough to weld on a ring in
minutes. I change the solution once week. I was using an “Amway”
product called “Zoom” same mix ratio. It is a great and I mean
Great solution for cleaning jewelry but the vapors from it as it
is heated supposedly are not so good for you. I started a thread
on “Ultrasonic Solutions” awhile back to find out about the
ingredients in Zoom.
The best cleaning solution you can make ( as far as I’m
concerned anyway ), is Dawn dish soap and windex window cleaner.
Use about 4 to 5 table spoons of dawn and about 1\4 to a 1\2 cup
of windex mix it with hot water and degas your fluid for about 15
minutes, works very, very, well. Try it!! Matt the Cat
I recently started using an ultrasonic cleaner in my studio.
I have been using Gemoro ultrasonic cleaning solution and have found
it to work very well.
Gemoro suggests replacing the solution daily
I was curious to hear from others about how often they change out
their ultrasonic solution. Do you change it regularly, when it turns
a certain colour etc?
Also, some have mentioned using Simple Green in their ultrasonics.
Any other suggestions for non traditional cleaning solutions that
work really well?
I use Actavax in my ultrasonic. Since it doesn’t use ammonia that
can evaporate off, I change it when there is a distinct layer of
sludge on the bottom of the tank.
I recently started using an ultrasonic cleaner in my studio.
I have been using Gemoro ultrasonic cleaning solution and have found
it to work very well.
Gemoro suggests replacing the solution daily
I was curious to hear from others about how often they change out
their ultrasonic solution. Do you change it regularly, when it turns
a certain colour etc?
Also, some have mentioned using Simple Green in their ultrasonics.
Any other suggestions for non traditional cleaning solutions that
work really well?
I also use the Gemoro cleaning solution with the 'sonic. But not in
the machine’s well. Call me lazy, but it’s a small hassle to haul
the 'sonic around to empty it. Not to mention that as the solution
gets dirty, it is not as effective.
I put plain water in the well with just a drop of dish soap to
enhance cavitation. Then I float a plastic lid from laundry softener
with the cleaning solution in the lid, which looks rather like a top
hat. The item to be cleaned is immersed in the cleaning solution.
It is easy to retrieve the lid, remove the jewelry, dump the
solution, and replace the solution for the next piece to be cleaned.
If the 'sonic is large enough, two or three lids can float together.
Another nifty hint is to put the solution in a small ziplock bag
with the item to be cleaned, and let it float in the 'sonic water.
Works, but (lazy me) still a bit of a messy hassle, ergo, the
floating lid.
Before I hit on the floating lid thing, I set a glass beaker in the
basket and put the cleaning solution in the beaker.
The water doesn’t need to be changed daily this way and the cleaning
solution is always fresh.
I was curious to hear from others about how often they change out
their ultrasonic solution. Do you change it regularly, when it
turns a certain colour etc?
Ultrasonics work by transferring energy from the transducers to any
surface where the liquid meets solid, and cavitation bubbles can then
scrub that surface. That will include not just your work pieces, but
also the surface of any particles of dirt, gunk, whatever is
suspended in the solution. So when you clean things, and the liquid
gets cloudy with removed stuff like polishing compounds, those
materials in the solution end up diverting energy away from your
work piece. The dirtier the liquid is, the less energy reaches the
surfaces of your work. So the cloudier the liquid is with suspended
gunk, the more you need to clean it in order to maintain full
cleaning efficiency.
Also, because the whole thing works by transmitting vibration al
energy, the same vibrations that cause those cavitation bubbles to
nicely scrub your work piece with the liquid cleaners, can also cause
any suspended materials in the liquid to also be scrubbing your work
piece. Often, those materials, while less efficient at actually
cleaning your work, can be harsher in terms of actually causing
damage to the surfaces. If, for example, you use the ultrasonic to
clean off polishing compounds that are made with harder abrasives,
you may find an increased tenancy for the polish on your work pieces
to be affected by the cleaning action. With softer metals, like cast
silver, you can find this happening just with clean solution too,
just from the energy of the cavitation bubbles abrading the soft
metal (especially where it finds defects, like porosity in the
metal), but when there are abrasive materials in the solution, it
can be more of a problem.
So generally, clean it when it looks like it’s not clear any more.
The color of the liquid isn’t important, but the clarity of it is.
At least, that’s been my experience. Your mileage may vary…
Good Morning from San Antonio Texas: Almost any good dish washing
detergent will do he trick. Dawn, Joy or any other that does not
contain a “hand lotion to make your hands softer” will work. Simple
Green is also very good.
As far as changing daily: Change the solutions as often as it gets
dirty, meaning when you can not see the bottom of the ultrasonic
tank.
What we use is from fleet farm called jungle Jake which is a
degreaser. It works really well. Usually go a few days in between
switching it. Simple green is similar. Some things will tarnish
silver more than others.
We’ve used ultra cr which is made for ultrasonic (it’s blue) but
that tarnishes silver also if you leave it in too long and we’ve had
the problem of the blue staying behind diamonds even after steaming.
We take in scrap gold and silver. The new stuff I got is a green
cleaner from a dollar store nearby which I tested with scrap gold amd
silver. I like it alot.
You see the black buffing compound dissolving right away when you
put in an item. It didn’t do anything to silver after days of being
in there. The fleet farm stuff says biodegradable on it and I think
these other green degreasers are similar.
I put plain water in the well with just a drop of dish soap to
enhance cavitation. Then I float a plastic lid from laundry
softener with the cleaning solution in the lid, which looks rather
like a top hat. The item to be cleaned is immersed in the cleaning
solution
The plastic laundry softener lids that I have seen are usually quite
thick.
I would have thought that the ultrasonic effect would not penetrate
through the thick plastic?
But it sounds like a great idea, and I am going to try it out
tomorrow
Have used L & R Cleaners for years, back to “valve” units.
Now I have an “Elma” which is a new ball game. If you are using any
cleaner with an acid it will cut holes in these tanks and no
warranty. Test with fish tank test strips…
If you see any spotting on the inside of the tank change your
solutions on a regular basis before that happens, again no warranty.
You are starting a hole with spottings.
To see these machines in as new condition awaiting service, with a
hefty price tag is sad, when with the same amount of effort and cost
it would not have happened. It could happen to you, on reading about
the way WE have been doing “it” for years.
No I don’t have a problem with Elma, it was just that My eyes popped
with the reason the Technician gave for all of these machines just
sitting on the shelves and not covered under warranty. Do I like my
Elma no, I love it.
Stuller has a polychem which the folks in the plant helped in
making. They worked together with polychem and came up with what we
call ultra -cr. If interested I would send a sample to you for
testing. Email me off line the address and I will see one goes out
to you. as well we have made our own make of STULLERSONIC… are
feeling are we dare you to break it…