Ultrasonic Chip Cleaning (26 Viewers)

[BearMetal]

As a follow up, I saw no visible problems/issues with putting @Gear labels through the ultrasonic. The next question is - can you oil chips with gear labels?

Yes you can; gear has a faq on it. I'll find it and link it.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...them-first-can-labelled-chips-be-oiled.54525/

 

[Goldfish]

Yes you can; gear has a faq on it. I'll find it and link it.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...them-first-can-labelled-chips-be-oiled.54525/

Nice, thanks! What type of oil should I use?

 

[BearMetal]

Nice, thanks! What type of oil should I use?

Unscented mineral oil. And we're talking like 1-2 drops per barrel (or less once the area on the cloth has been used for a few barrels)

 

[BearMetal]

In New Jersey, there's actually 5 seasons. Winter, Spring, Summer, Ultrasonic, and Fall.

We're currently in "Ultrasonic", that 2 week period where it's 70 degrees outside and perfect for cleaning.

600+ chips, 90 minutes, Vevor 6L, 42c, 6 TBSP TSP.

 

[Goldfish]

Question - can you put plastic chips (sin-fly, matsui, BJ, abbaiti, etc.) in the ultrasonic? do I need to do something differently? Anyone have a bad experience? Let me know. Thanks!

 

[BearMetal]

Question - can you put plastic chips (sin-fly, matsui, BJ, abbaiti, etc.) in the ultrasonic? do I need to do something differently? Anyone have a bad experience? Let me know. Thanks!

Because plastic chips do not absorb any of the oils like clay chips do, they can get really slippery and grimy quickly. After only a few sessions with my SunFly chips, they were kind of greasy. So I decided to throw them in my ultrasonic with simple green instead of TSP because I was worried about damaging them.

I didn't have any issues and they cleaned up squeaky clean. However, I'm assuming that I could have just put them in a giant tub of dawn and gotten basically the same effect.

 

[Goldfish]

Because plastic chips do not absorb any of the oils like clay chips do, they can get really slippery and grimy quickly. After only a few sessions with my SunFly chips, they were kind of greasy. So I decided to throw them in my ultrasonic with simple green instead of TSP because I was worried about damaging them.

I didn't have any issues and they cleaned up squeaky clean. However, I'm assuming that I could have just put them in a giant tub of dawn and gotten basically the same effect.

So I should not use TSP?

 

[BearMetal]

So I should not use TSP?

The only reason I didn't is because I have no idea what the TSP substitute would have done to them. And I know that simple green probably wouldn't mess them up at all.

You could absolutely test one out, but I would also like to hear if anyone here has used TSP. As far as the ultrasonic goes, when using something less harsh like simple green, I didn't see any issues with hard plastic chips.

Note that this does not mean the same thing as dye sublimated ceramics. Because the dye sublimation process is different from injection molded plastic, they could react completely differently. So when you say that you were curious about washing plastics, that means that we're excluding dye sublimated chips from places like BR pro, right?

 

[calfdemon]

I threw some assorted plastics in with a batch of other chips as a test to see what would happen in the TSP bath. All that happened was they got clean. Since then, I have been throwing my plastic chips in with all the others. No problems at all.

And to be clear, I am talking about hot stamped suits mold type of plastics... I have not thrown any dye sub chips in the ultrasonic.

 

[Marius L]

Had an ultrasonic accident when cleaning chips yesterday. Got a bit impatient and jacked the heat up more than I should. It caused 3 casualties, with this one getting the worst damage by far.

It fell out of the ultrasonic basket when I stirred the chips around, and it must have sat on the bottom for several minutes. That has happened multiple times before as well without issue, but I usually run the cleaning at about 45°c, but yesterday I jacked it up to 53°c. I think that level of heat might actually be fine as well, but the problem was that the bottom of the tank was substantially warmer than the rest (must have been warmer than the 53°c, reason being the heater was turned on because the water in the tank was lower temp. I Guess the heater is on the bottom of the tank, leading the chip lying there to get super hot. The heat lead the inlay to start curling up and pop out on one side.

Moment of silence, please. RIP

 

[TwoHomie]

Had an ultrasonic accident when cleaning chips yesterday. Got a bit impatient and jacked the heat up more than I should. It caused 3 casualties, with this one getting the worst damage by far.

It fell out of the ultrasonic basket when I stirred the chips around, and it must have sat on the bottom for several minutes. That has happened multiple times before as well without issue, but I usually run the cleaning at about 45°c, but yesterday I jacked it up to 53°c. I think that level of heat might actually be fine as well, but the problem was that the bottom of the tank was substantially warmer than the rest (must have been warmer than the 53°c, reason being the heater was turned on because the water in the tank was lower temp. I Guess the heater is on the bottom of the tank, leading the chip lying there to get super hot. The heat lead the inlay to start curling up and pop out on one side.
View attachment 1029621

Moment of silence, please. RIP

Alt caption: New murdering technique

(Sorry for your loss )

 

[BearMetal]

@Marius L that looks only like the inlay lifted. Where is the laminate that went on top of it?

 

[Barberp]

I’ll gladly purchase your damaged Le 25s and any other le25s you no longer want.

 

[Marius L]

Alt caption: New murdering technique

(Sorry for your loss )

Not gonna work I believe, the chip itself was also very much damaged. "Mooshed" if that's a word in English, lol. Look at this from straight on. This side was laying directly on the heat source.

Opposite side is only ever so slightly "mooshed" as well.

@Marius L that looks only like the inlay lifted. Where is the laminate that went on top of it?

Laminate and inlay all in one is lifted.

 

[Nanook]

.......It fell out of the ultrasonic basket when I stirred the chips around, and it must have sat on the bottom for several minutes. That has happened multiple times before as well without issue, ......

Bummer...
Too much heat for too long is a compression chips demise....

I suppose it could have happened anyway. My experience with removing a lot of inlays is that there is a massive difference in how securely some are attached vs others. If it wasn't secured very well to start with, it may have come loose anyway, but that mushed look is for sure evidence of too much heart for too long

 

[Marius L]

Bummer...
Too much heat for too long is a compression chips demise....

I suppose it could have happened anyway. My experience with removing a lot of inlays is that there is a massive difference in how securely some are attached vs others. If it wasn't secured very well to start with, it may have come loose anyway, but that mushed look is for sure evidence of too much heart for too long

Definitely too much heat. No doubt about it. 80+ other chips made it just fine, but this one and to a much lesser degree two other chips got this result after laying flat straight on the heating element of the US for too long.

 

[allforcharity]

Ouchies

 

[philhut]

I cook my chips at 42 celcius in the ultrasonic. Any hotter and you risk warping. If just using the basket just clean 10-20/lot and run for 10-20second toothbrush then 10-20 seconds more. Older leaded chips have less heat/wear tolerances.

 

[allforcharity]

I run about 40-41C for most chips but for red clay I drop it to 36-37C.

 

[philhut]

I run about 40-41C for most chips but for red clay I drop it to 36-37C.

Interesting observation, I may try that as well. With one of my sets i got a certain amount of trace chip residue after about 300 through.....they were older leaded Clay's.... I am definately more careful with older and leaded Clay's...ie less shake time overall....but also I may consider temp too thanks.

 

[allforcharity]

Interesting observation, I may try that as well. With one of my sets i got a certain amount of trace chip residue after about 300 through.....they were older leaded Clay's.... I am definately more careful with older and leaded Clay's...ie less shake time overall....but also I may consider temp too thanks.

I started doing the temp drop when I noticed red-tinged detergent after cleaning red chips over several different batches. Not sure if it's consistent across leaded and unleaded. Hasn't really reoccurred since.

 

[Pony]

With a bunch of been-used Jumers on their way, I bit on this cleaner (have essentially cleaned by hand and stuff up to now)(not gonna do that with like 1200 chips!). It is a bit smaller than a 6l - but obviously bigger than a 3l. And it does has 3 transducers. I've also got the ability to return as it's sold through Amazon if it's not worth it. For $89 bucks delivered, I'll try it. And report back with results. In checking pricing history, this is the lowest it's ever sold for, new.

 

[behrguitar]

Can anyone confirm. Is ultrasonic with a touch of TSP safe for Chipco ceramic chips?

 

[allforcharity]

I never owned Chipco ceramics. All other ceramics I've tried have been fine.

 

[tabletalker7]

Can anyone confirm. Is ultrasonic with a touch of TSP safe for Chipco ceramic chips?

Safe? Yes. Complete Overkill? Definitely.

These ultrasonic cleaners are great for Paulson chips because the material is porous and the chips have nooks and crannies, all of it leading to filth getting really embedded in them. Chipcos don't have either of those factors working against them. So is it safe to do it? Yes. Absolutely. Is it worth the expense to get this equipment for Chipco chips? No. The dawn dishwashing soap and brushing that people do to "pretreat" their Paulsons prior to the ultrasonic will clean Chipcos quite nicely.

 

[behrguitar]

Safe? Yes. Complete Overkill? Definitely.

These ultrasonic cleaners are great for Paulson chips because the material is porous and the chips have nooks and crannies, all of it leading to filth getting really embedded in them. Chipcos don't have either of those factors working against them. So is it safe to do it? Yes. Absolutely. Is it worth the expense to get this equipment for Chipco chips? No. The dawn dishwashing soap and brushing that people do to "pretreat" their Paulsons prior to the ultrasonic will clean Chipcos quite nicely.

I already have the ultrasonic, so just looking for speed and getting the job done

 

[tabletalker7]

I already have the ultrasonic, so just looking for speed and getting the job done

Oh - well yeah it'll get the job done.

 

[Pony]

Update: had time this afternoon to test out the ultrasonic cleaner as referenced a few posts up. Followed instructions from OP on first page. Ended up using the Savogran TSP phosphate-free stuff that is readily available at Home Depot.

Tested with a bunch of really, really, really gunky and well used THC's. Decided to use a slotted flat-end wooden spoon to stir the chips with. Ended up having to run them for about 2 minutes. Cold water rinse, then resting/dabbing off towel, then off to drying towel on table (wifey ain't home at the moment).

All I can say is - I'm impressed. My ultrasonic held solution temp, and the water was just brown gunk after I'd cleaned about 160 chips of varying colors/types.

 

[toothpic]

I now use one of these in conjunction with a quick run through the ultrasonic. The ultrasonic gets some gunk off and shakes the rest loose. The scrubber really gets the chip clean and allows me to reduce the time in the ultrasonic for more sensitive chips like red base which tend to come out looking really dry and thirsty afterwards.

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Scrubb...1061287&sprefix=sonic+scrubber,aps,104&sr=8-5

 

[Pony]

After running the roulette chips, I ran a batch of recently acquired Jumers. Even with the solution looking like mud, they cleaned up pretty nice. NOTE: I did not do any pre-soaking, pre-cleaning or anything like that. I did end up tossing chips back into the cleaner for another 30 seconds or so if they didn't come out the cleanest, which seemed to be fine.