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Ultrasonic Chip Cleaning (23 Viewers)

Round 2! About to make these Arc Yellows POP.

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Alot of people seem to like the Vevor Ultrasonic machines. Should I get the 6L 180w/400w or the 6L 380w? Is one preferable over the other? Price isn’t an issue there’s only a $10 difference.

Thanks
 
More wattage = better/quicker cleaning. I see no advantage to a dual setting machine (in respect to cleaning chips, at least).
 
I used my ultrasonic cleaner for the first time this weekend. I used it on 400, fairly dirty, casino-used RHC chips. Here’s a few observations:

Not only is the ultrasonic way faster than cleaning by hand, it also cleans way better. I tried soaking and scrubbing with warm water and Dawn dish soap, but I still could not get all the gunk out of the little top hat & cane molds. The ultrasonic completely cleared the gunk out while cleaning 2 barrels at a time.

I tried two methods, salad spinner and the metal cage that came with the ultrasonic. The salad spinner works way better. When I used just the metal cage, even with constant stirring using a wooden spoon, many of the chip faces did not get clean. I’m assuming these were stuck together so the ultrasonic could not get to these chip faces.

Another thing about the metal cage… Mine has gaps in the corners big enough for chips to slip through. I had one slip through during a soak. I had to turn off the ultrasonic and dig through the murky hooker juice water to find the missing chip. I was using gloves, of course.

I personally do not like using the zip ties in the salad spinner cage. I found chips got stuck to them while spinning, and they went along for the ride all the way around. That was too much time out of the water. Without the zip ties, I found the chips tumble just fine.

You’re going to want to use whatever minimum soak time is required to clean your chips. The longer you ultrasonic, the more the color fades (or dries out). My chips needed about 45 seconds in the ultrasonic.

I’ve never oiled chips before, but I’m going to have to oil these. While they are way cleaner, these chips are now duller than they were prior to the ultrasonic.

I don’t know if other models are different, but my salad spinner top does not fasten itself to the cage. I had to use one hand to hold the top in place while using the other hand to do the spinning. Several times the top slipped off and I had to pull the whole thing out and reset the top. In the future, I’m going to find some way to lock down the top, maybe twist ties?
 
@Mangatang I think we were mirror images this weekend! I went right to the salad spinner and noticed chips getting stuck in the zip ties. So maybe ours were a little too loose? It's interesting that the spinner without agitation was enough for you. I actually tried it without the zip ties at first and noticed they were sticking together. At least with the zip ties, they would usually fall at the top and PLOP SPLASH ... but it got 'em moving in there.

My salad spinner also didn't attach; but it was a tight enough fit where it wouldn't come loose either. I used the zip ties as handles to turn it. Mine came from WalMart for $9. Probably the only time I'll ever buy anything with the word "salad" in it.

I also noticed that I couldn't clean the stain around the THC on the chips by hand. It just wouldn't come off. But the US got it done!
 
BearMetal said:
I went right to the salad spinner and noticed chips getting stuck in the zip ties. So maybe ours were a little too loose? It's interesting that the spinner without agitation was enough for you. I actually tried it without the zip ties at first and noticed they were sticking together. At least with the zip ties, they would usually fall at the top and PLOP SPLASH ... but it got 'em moving in there.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think my zip ties were too loose and too wide. I think I'm going to redo them so that they are smaller (only span two openings instead of three) so that a chip cannot fit in the loop. Then I will stagger the zip ties, alternating high and low, if that makes sense.

A couple things about the ultrasonic machine that I got but didn't know at the time of purchase. The timer on mine can only be set in minutes. It displays seconds as it's counting down, but you can only set the timer in minutes. I would like to be able to set it at 45 seconds, for example.

Another small annoyance, mine only displays temperature in Deg C. Being a yank, I'm used to Deg F, so I had to convert. Btw, 110 Deg F is about 43 Deg C.
 
The ultrasonic is not fool-proof. If your chips are dirty enough, even a few minutes in the ultrasonic might not get every little bit of gunk out, especially in the corners of the top hats or the canes. A sewing needle will get that last bit of crud out of the little spaces without damaging the chip.

Size of the salad spinner is important in order to get a good fit in the cleaner. Just measure the width of the trough and measure the height of the spinner when you are going to buy it. I think my spinner height is within 1/2" of the cleaner's trough width (with the top on), so I don't really have to worry about the top falling off and the chips spilling out in the detergent as I'm spinning it as long as I hold it steady.

Yes, you can only set the timer in whole minutes. I don't think this is a big deal. If your chips can be cleaned in 45 sec, there's not going to be any danger in keeping them in for an extra 15 sec.
 
allforcharity said:
Generally it can be quite important, because it depends on the water quality where you live.
Our water quality is primo-excellent, so I use water straight from the tap and boiled.

Some people have poor quality water due to either poor source or poor quality pipes, and so should use distilled water.
Click to expand...

Lemonzest said:
I just use water from the tap and don't boil it or anything. I have always had great results. Of course people living somewhere else with different water supply YMMV.
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BGinGA said:
I once cleaned about 800 hybrids using tap water & TSP with very dismal results -- and using long soak/run times (up to 3+ minutes), too. Hardly any difference in the chips whatsoever.

All other near-identical cleaning attempts on a variety of types of filthy chips has produced oustanding results with very short soak/run times (typically 30 seconds) -- with the *only* difference being that distilled water was used each time. It's been enough to totally convince me.
Click to expand...


I was draining and re-filling my ultrasonic cleaner today, and while doing what I normally do with a fresh batch (see below) it occurred to me that one of the reasons distilled water from a jug might give better results than tap water is the level of aeration in the water, i.e. how much air is trapped in there. Since ultrasonic cleaners depend on cavitation, any pre-existing bubbles are detrimental to performance.

I've always been bothered by the assumption that water hardness makes a difference. As soon as you dissolve a bunch of trisodium phosphate in the water, and the first batch of hooker juice that washes off the chips, it seems to me that the chemical purity of the water you started with should quickly become trivial.

However the amount of dissolved GAS in the water can and should make a non-trivial difference. One difference between distilled water from a jug and water from the tap, is that tap water (in most North American sinks) has been deliberately aerated by the mesh thingy on the end of the tap itself. Water that has been sitting in a jug on a store shelf for days/weeks will have far less air/gas in it.

When I fill up my ultrasonic, I use warm tap water, add the TSP and stir to dissolve, and then I run the ultrasonic "empty" for 30 minutes to de-gas the solution. That is, with nothing in the reservoir but water + TSP. This appears to (greatly?) reduce the amount of air in the water -- you can tell because when you first turn it on, there are tons of bubbles forming and moving to the surface, but after a while their frequency and size decreases significantly.

If possible, I also like to let fresh ultrasonic solution sit overnight before actually using it to clean chips. This allows for even more de-gassing prior to use, although of course that could be a little inconvenient depending on where your machine is set up.
 
Interesting post, Chris. Something to think about.

One other concern I have is the rate of chemical degradation of metasilicates. I'm trying to do smaller batches, running max 1.5 to 2 hours, so that the emulsifier remains potent. Anybody notice loss of cleaning efficiency with long cleaning cycles?
 
@Gear that's quite an interesting idea; that the aeration is that problem. Shouldn't that mean that any bottled water, even reverse osmosis, would yield superior results to tap water?
 
Gear said:
One way to find out ;)
Click to expand...

I ended up not liking 2 barrels of chips that I cleaned last weekend. So I put them back in. I actually was out of distilled water, so I used Dasani. Came out pretty good. So I think you're onto something.

Ok, everybody send me one rack of Paulsons. I'll clean them using different types of water. It's for "science".
 
Bathtime chippies!!
88166348_10206746214410533_4456854685084549120_n.jpg

Not too bad but let's see what we can do...
88303426_10206746214930546_4773930572697305088_n.jpg

First drop - nice clean water.
88138035_10206746214010523_3585233467983527936_n.jpg

Highly recommended to have a Moxie Minion on the job!
88248421_10206746213290505_7527446823561068544_n.jpg

Ugghh. This was about halfway through. Bathtime was definitely necessary.
87469092_10206746212690490_53215392121749504_n.jpg

I promised him tacos for helping. #parentinghack
88237143_10206746212170477_1640409492522795008_n.jpg


More pics to come after oiling.
 
BearMetal said:
@Moxie Mike you compression oiling? Awesome parent hack, BTW. I promised my girls ox tail for helping me dry them all
Click to expand...

To oil I work it in with a paper towel, then wipe the excess (mostly from the inlay) 24 hours later. Not sure if that meets the exact definition of the 'compression method' but they always turn out good.
 
Moxie Mike said:
To oil I work it in with a paper towel, then wipe the excess (mostly from the inlay) 24 hours later. Not sure if that meets the exact definition of the 'compression method' but they always turn out good.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty close. I opted for oil and water this time just to try it out and it came out pretty good. But I'm going back to "compression" for my Royals. Have fun cleaning today!
 
Anyone got a link for an ultrasonic they purchased recently? I ordered one off eBay, was supposed to ship from China and arrive yesterday, but was never shipped. Not delayed or lost, they just didn't ship it. Got my refund, but really just want the cleaner.
 
doughboy63 said:
Excellent, thank you! Nice price as well. eBay says its in NJ, so hopefully this one arrives.
Click to expand...
Seller was quick. I paid a little more than it's going for now, but that's ok. They have a couple of different warehouses, so hopefully you'll have it by the end of this week.
 
How safe are ultrasonic cleaners on Paulson hot stamp chips?

I scored a set of the LL tournament chips and am now considering in what conditions I want to felt them.

If cleaning is no issue for the hotstamp then I will get them in regular rotation (4 times or so a year).

Thanks
Grant
 
grantc54 said:
How safe are ultrasonic cleaners on Paulson hot stamp chips?

I scored a set of the LL tournament chips and am now considering in what conditions I want to felt them.

If cleaning is no issue for the hotstamp then I will get them in regular rotation (4 times or so a year).

Thanks
Grant
Click to expand...

They are safe. Have literally done thousands.
 

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