Another 1600+ through the ultrasonic today.
I figure I've cleaned close to 20,000 since buying it. Worth every penny!
I figure I've cleaned close to 20,000 since buying it. Worth every penny!
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Ultrasonic Chip Cleaning (19 Viewers)
- Thread starter ski_ex5
- Start date
sir bluffs alot
Flush
Need bigger tables
dmalhi1
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does it have to be this brand? I only ever see the blue milk carton looking brand of TSP locally.
DANGER!!! DON'T use the blue milk carton TSP!!!
You want to use sodium metasilicate, which is sometimes branded/labelled as "non-phosphate TSP". Many people have posted that regular TSP dissolves chips, and I'm inclined to believe them, because I don't want to experiment.
I can't tell what on-the-shelf products at the hardware store has for metasilicate powder, so I bought it through Amazon US. I use the Red Devil brand.
This?
Red Devil #0261 Tsp/90 Heavy Duty Cleaner 1 lb. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LNTXIQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_r.zmCbP22TF9X
Yep, that's it. But I got the 4 pound bag. It was wishful thinking at the time, but since then I've had a lot of chips pass through my hands. A lot.
But I doubt that I would ever have to re-order, even if I kept this pace of procurement/sales for a few more years, which seems very unlikely.
dmalhi1
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sound advice. guess i'll have to hit up walmart in bellingham next time i'm stateside. just ordered up an ultrasonic today as I'll be using it to not only clean up some of the chips I currently own but to also clean my shop tools and other random car parts along with fountain pens, jewellry, watches, etc.
I use the blue-milk-carton brand, and it's fine as long as you're careful about which chips you clean. Don't use it to clean ASM/CPC chips, but Paulsons are fine.
dmalhi1
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Only planning on using with paulsons.
I ended up ordering a pound of the red devil brand recommended above.
I need to clean old ASMs, too, sometimes in the same batch. There's no point in me getting two different types of industrial detergent to clean different chips with.
GenghisKhan
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dmalhi1
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thats the one. you can buy it at cambodian tire quite easily in the hardware section.
it will dissolve specific types of chips apparently, is safe on paulsons though.
dmalhi1
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use the salad spinner method and don't let them stand still soaking in the mixture for more than a minute. be tumbling them every second and follow the tsp mixture recipes in this thread and methods for cleaning hotstamps and non-paulson chips, etc.
i recently did a rack of white starbursts using this technique. I did about 40 chips at a time and took them out after 40 seconds of tumbling. they came out looking great with no fading and the hotstamps are still perfect.
Ceramic chips clean up very will in the ultrasonic. You won't need much time in there. I'd guess 30-45 seconds max.
I don't continuously tumble. I let the chips sit for 7-8 seconds before making a 1/2 turn with the salad spinner. Since I usually put my chips in for 90-120 seconds (depending on level of nastiness), that usually means 12 to 16 spins per cycle.
Used this method to clean two sets and I am gracious that others document their methods as this helped a ton. As for the salad spinner, I found one at Wal Mart for $10 that worked great and size was an exact fit so I thought I would include it here.
Last edited:
Another 1700+
* ALERT *
I am now recommending that you DO NOT use non-phosphate TSP/sodium metasilicates to clean ASM/CPC chips. There is definitely some surface activity going on because the chips, although noticeably cleaner, also became very tacky with colour coming off onto my fingertips after only 30 seconds in the detergent bath. I will no longer be using this method to clean any non-Paulsons for the time being. Go back to Dawn dish soap, a good scrub brush, and some elbow grease.
* ALERT *
I am now recommending that you DO NOT use non-phosphate TSP/sodium metasilicates to clean ASM/CPC chips. There is definitely some surface activity going on because the chips, although noticeably cleaner, also became very tacky with colour coming off onto my fingertips after only 30 seconds in the detergent bath. I will no longer be using this method to clean any non-Paulsons for the time being. Go back to Dawn dish soap, a good scrub brush, and some elbow grease.
@allforcharity Have you tried Dawn dish soap in medium temp water in the ultrasonic?
No, you shouldn't use regular dish soap (or anything that bubbles or foams up) in the ultrasonic.
@allforcharity Can you elaborate? I have used this method and had good results when looking to lightly clean chips. I put a tablespoon of dish soap in at 46 degrees celsius to 10 cups of water. I'm not sure I understand the difference of scrubbing dish soap by hand in warm water or letting an ultrasonic vibrate the hell out of a chip in dish soapy water?
I defer to the expert opinion outlined above.
The issue with using suds in an ultrasonic bath is that the bubbles essentially block the ultrasonic waves generated from the transducers from properly doing their job. Even minerals commonly found in tap water can have a negative effect; hence the recommendation to use only distilled water.
Based on this theory though, a straight ultrasonic bath is the better option than a soap/water bath.
Not a theory; it's fluid dynamics. I worked in the ultrasonic inspection field for years.
Sound travels easily through water. Air (aka, bubbles) in water reflects sound waves. Bubbles prevents sound waves from reaching a target (if inspecting), identifies a target (like voids in metal), and prevents the waves from effectively reaching target chips and creating cavitation (microscopic bubbles that essentially explode, creating a shock wave that is the cleaning effect on chip surfaces). Also why leaving chips in the ultrasonic for very long periods of time will eventually destroy them.
Cavitation is some pretty powerful stuff -- it can destroy ship propellers and internal pump impellers, among other things. Additives are often part of the solution to minimize damage caused by unwanted cavitation.
Sound travels easily through water. Air (aka, bubbles) in water reflects sound waves. Bubbles prevents sound waves from reaching a target (if inspecting), identifies a target (like voids in metal), and prevents the waves from effectively reaching target chips and creating cavitation (microscopic bubbles that essentially explode, creating a shock wave that is the cleaning effect on chip surfaces). Also why leaving chips in the ultrasonic for very long periods of time will eventually destroy them.
Cavitation is some pretty powerful stuff -- it can destroy ship propellers and internal pump impellers, among other things. Additives are often part of the solution to minimize damage caused by unwanted cavitation.
What make / model is that cleaner ?
@BGinGA thanks for the details. Theory was a bad word choice on my part.
@BHB I bought the eBay version that I saw referenced on the forum. Had it about three weeks and have cleaned over 3,000 chips with great results.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/400762623779
@BHB I bought the eBay version that I saw referenced on the forum. Had it about three weeks and have cleaned over 3,000 chips with great results.
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/400762623779
Yup, this is the same machine that I have, and I believe several others as well.
Shaggy
Full House
Sorry you didnt see it earlier in this thread. I made that recommendation a few years back.
FYI scrown TRK clean great. Large Crown are same as ASM. I think I recall that BurtCo made the lcrowns for TRK.
Actually, thanks to you and others, I was indeed aware of potential issues. True TSP is OUT for sure. I have cleaned other ASMs with non-phosphate TSP before without issues, except for maybe 3 cases in recent memory. Since this latest attempt showed such a dramatic effect in a very short period of time, I've decided to establish a moratorium on all ASM/CPC cleaning with metasilicates.
Shaggy
Full House
Really! That is quite interesting. I basically stopped following the situation once I decided to clean my binions manually. That is very curious. I wonder if it had something to do with color.
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