I don't mess around with concentrated metasilicate solution. Eye protection, good gloves. Good ventilation by leaving two nearby screen doors open.
I would do it as a business, but
a) it reinforces a racial stereotype (Chinese laundry)
b) your shipping costs back and forth would be prohibitive
I'm new to the cleaning world but have cleaned over 2000 chips via ultrasonic in the last two weeks. I didn't do a presoak and had some very casino used chips that ran through the machine. I found that running the first batch of chips through in 15 second increments starting at 30 seconds and working up was the most useful way to gauge time necessary in the ultrasonic. Lightly soiled Paulson THC chips do very well at 30 seconds, while heavily soiled Paulson THC chips needed 1:30 on my end. After 1:30 in, they will be dried and thirsty.Are the chips needing a soak in distilled water before placed in the machine or just "regular" tap water?
Are the chips needing a soak in distilled water before placed in the machine or just "regular" tap water?
You can absolutely use a smaller, jewelry-sized cleaner and get good results. Mine only holds 2 cups of solution and cost $25 on Amazon.
Here's what's really important:
Your chips are now clean and wet and will need oil. The following may well work with wet chips, but I let mine dry first, and I'm now out of dirty chips to test on.
- Protect your work surfaces, eyes, and hands.
- Use an altrasonic cleaner. Choose a size/style/brand that's convenient for you.
- Add Lundmark TSP (sodium metasilicate) to the water. Tap water will most likely work fine, but you need the TSP to eat the grease and grime off of your chips.
- You agitate the chips during the cleaning cycle. I just strir them around with a bamboo chopstick. My 2 cup machine still cleans a barrel of 20 chips in 2 min or less,
- Rinse in clean water.
5. Transfer a rack at a time to a large diameter bowl of water with 1 tbsp of mineral oil floating on top. I like to drop the chips individually through the oil slick. Agitate the chips for 30 secs. Remove.
6. Rub the faces dry with paper towels. Stack into barrels. Rub the edges with a small amount of additional oil if needed.
Many thanks to the others who came before me. None of this information is really new or original. I'm just trying to share what worked for me after combing through these cleaning threads.
I sat on my dirty set of Empress for a very long time because they were too painful to clean manually. The answer was under $40 for the U/S, the TSP, & the mineral oil, and a couple of hours of time. No brushes or magic erasers or scrubbing of any kind.
My thought is buy the size ultrasonic cleaner that matches the volume you need - they all do pretty much the same thing. I already owned the small one, so I tried it and it worked great. This one if you're curious, but I really don't think it matters. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DKDAVW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thanks intjester for the post. I was literally searching amazon when I came across your post. From what I gather, my wifes' jewelry cleaner will do the job? Or would suggest a dedicated machine?
Going to try my first shot at this
This weeekend wish me luck
Forgot to ask, if I have a 3L do I just cut all the ingredients by half
Great video and thread. Is there no end to this chip collection madness? I am definitely going down the rabbit hole but enjoying the trip... maybe too late for an intervention.
Just keep around the same ratio of 1 big tbsp of metasilicates to 2L of distilled water, you should be fine.
So 1 tablespoon with 8 cups of distilled water
Even in a 3L unit
SO after my first time ever doing this i can honestly say ill never wash chips by hand EVER
I have a Vevor 3L unit
I used 1 heaping TBSP of TSP with 6 cups of distilled water..
i ran 100 grey chips first at 37C for 1 minute and they came out awesome
i then ran 200 green chips at 37C for 1 min
then last 200 red chips at 35C for 40-50 sec
they came out like brand new. fricken awesome
i used same water for 500 chips and never added anything , i was just curious for next time around.....I've wondered that as well... how often do you change the water in the ultrasonic? Or do you just keep adding water/cleaner as you go?
also to the vet how long do u let the chips air dryWell, fill it up with tap 2L of regular tap water just to see how the waterline compares to the top of the unit. You don't want to be splashing around too much when using the spinner. You can always use 1.5 tbsp in 6 cups distilled water if you think 8 cups fills too full.
Do you guys change the post cleaning rinse off water often? I'm wondering how much of the chemical residue sticks in the chip grooves as the post cleaning soak water gets older.
If you're cleaning a lot of chips (1000+) in a single session it might not be a bad idea to change your rinse water halfway through... although I've never seen anyone have a specific issue related to it.
I was also curious if the rinse quality effected the mineral oil process at all. I've never cleaned my Paulson's so I'm in the "gathering info" phase.