Ultrasonic Chip Cleaning (31 Viewers)

[Taghkanic]

View attachment 1121913if this doesnt prove you are a legend i dont know what would.

I use the salad spinner method (two minutes, hot but not scald in hot water, two tablespoons of faux TSP to 10 cups liquid, a spurt of dish liquid, stir with a flat silicone spatula partway through to make sure chips aren’t sticking together).

I can do two racks at a time. I find this gets all but the dirtiest chips clean on the first try. It’s fast, and I never worry about damage.*

Honestly I think the TSP does most of the work. I’d ultrasound only on chips which still look dirty after two soaks/spins.

The bottom of the spinner and the basket are also great for using the water oiling method.

—-
* The one caveat I have, whether soaking or spinning or ultra sounding, is with hotstamps that are already partially worn. The faux TSP can further wear or tarnish these. I haven’t had that issue with hotstamps in prime condition, but one should always test first, and I use half the amount of faux TSP on hotstamps.

 

[Rooster410]

I use the salad spinner method (two minutes, hot but not too hot, water, two tablespoons of faux TSP to 10 cups liquid, a spurt of dish liquid, stir with a flat silicone spatula partway through to make sure chips aren’t sticking together).

I can do two racks at a time. I find this gets all but the dirtiest chips clean on the first try. It’s fast, and I never worry about damage.*

The bottom of the spinner and the basket are also great for using the water oiling method.

—-
* The one caveat I have, whether soaking or spinning or ultra sounding, is with hotstamps that are already partially worn. The faux TSP can further wear or tarnish these. I haven’t had that issue with hotstamps in prime condition, but one should always test first, and I use half the amount of faux TSP on hotstamps.

Do you stir the chips with the spatula while the ultrasonic cleaner is on?

 

[Taghkanic]

I’m using the spatula in the salad spinner.

 

[CDC]

I wonder, is it the movement of the chips inside the cleaner that is important or that the (sound) waves reach them by separating the chips?


Probably both?

 

[BearMetal]

Has anyone had any experience cleaning Borgata Bud Jones chips in the U/S? I did a thing this weekend and, uh, need some cleaned.

Mostly I'm wondering how to get some of the yellowing out of the $1s and the general de-hookering of the $5s.

 

[philhut]

I wanted to see how the ultrasonic would work before milling 600 chips. Now I will mill, clean, label and then oil.

The seal on the rim of the label must have been poor. Out if thousands of chips I only lost one label the same way. The chip where the label peeled was very used so thinking the edge was compromised to allow water inside.

 

[Rooster410]

Yeah these roulettes are VERY used. But they look great once milled, cleaned and oiled though!

 

[2punch]

Well written and very informative. You’ve convinced me to get a ultrasonic cleaner…

 

[QueYo]

I ordered my ultrasonic cleaner today from Amazon. I've seen this on here before, but wanted to confirm that as of today, it is still the case:

(I didn't search for or order a salad spinner.)

 

[WhiteMamba1646]

Gotta love that nice gunk at the bottem of the cleaner when your finished lol

 

[Taghkanic]

Results, please!

 

[allforcharity]

I haven't had to clean chips that nasty in quite some time.

 

[WhiteMamba1646]

 

[Pinkdan]

View attachment 1151551

How do you dry that many chips at once?

 

[WhiteMamba1646]

Lay 300 of em out on a table on a towel, run another towel over them and do the next batch while they dry, then rinse n repeat the process

 

[horseshoez]

Lay 300 of em out on a table on a towel, run another towel over them and do the next batch while they dry, then rinse n repeat the process

Nobody gives a rats ass. Now stop wasting time and sell me your 43mm cash set. Thanks.

 

[Barberp]

I ordered my ultrasonic cleaner today from Amazon. I've seen this on here before, but wanted to confirm that as of today, it is still the case:
View attachment 1127783
(I didn't search for or order a salad spinner.)

i just wonder what little old betty thinks when she orders her 1980s salad spinner and gets a recommendation to buy an industrial cleaning agent.

 

[RansomStoddard]

i just wonder what little old betty thinks when she orders her 1980s salad spinner and gets a recommendation to buy an industrial cleaning agent.

My guess is that she adds it to her cart and then becomes the toast of the neighborhood for bringing salads to the potlucks that just *sparkle*

 

[allforcharity]

Racks clean up nicely in the ultrasonic, too. Won't remove the scratches, but will help clean the dirt and gunk that accumulates in them.

 

[Mondaynight]

Just used this method and it worked like a charm.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Very impressive! Here’s the setup…

And the final money shot.

 

[Hairy_Crocodile]

I’m about to clean my relabeled set for the first time this week. I’m so nervous I’m going to ruin the labels on them.

Going to read through this thread once over again since it’s been so long since I’ve done this. Hopefully my gear labels don’t come off

I’ll try and remember to take before and after pics

Wish me luck!

 

[ChipTalker]

I just did my gear re-labels and had no trouble. I did 40 degrees C and a few caps of simple green in a half filled 6L unit. Did 25 chips at a time. Here is a shot of 1 clean and 1 still to go. They were both the same amount of dirty before.

Fyi i know the spots look lighter in the clean rack but that is just an optical illusion likely from the sub coming in on that side of the picture. You can see from the side by side barrels they are the same. I like to go light on the solution and not too hot to minimize and changes to the chip. Also note I have not oiled these.

EDIT just took a new pic in full natural light. 2 used relabel racks and 1 new unlabeled rack. I mixed and matched the barrel. The middle barrel of the 2 flat racks is the new unlabeled barrel. As you can see the gear labels are better than the originals from the start.

One last note these were all new to start with and the dirt was just from my home game.

 

[Hairy_Crocodile]

I cleaned 600 of my chips last night.
I did 45C at a minute per cycle while shaking the little basket in the ultrasonic cleaner. I used a tablespoon or two of TSP

The @Gear labels held up just fine, they are awesome. I’m so happy, the reputation the labels have hold true

I’m so happy I bought this cleaner a while back, it saves so much time and effort.

I changed the water twice. The picture of dirty water is the second batch, and it’s cleaner than the first one I dumped!

 

[PLOdonk]

I cleaned 600 of my chips last night.
I did 45C at a minute per cycle while shaking the little basket in the ultrasonic cleaner. I used a tablespoon or two of TSP

The @Gear labels held up just fine, they are awesome. I’m so happy, the reputation the labels have hold true

I’m so happy I bought this cleaner a while back, it saves so much time and effort.

I changed the water twice. The picture of dirty water is the second batch, and it’s cleaner than the first one I dumped!

View attachment 1166050View attachment 1166051View attachment 1166052View attachment 1166053View attachment 1166054View attachment 1166055View attachment 1166056View attachment 1166057View attachment 1166058View attachment 1166059View attachment 1166061

That artwork and theme is amazing.

 

[Hairy_Crocodile]

That artwork and theme is amazing.

Thank you! I’m happy someone like it!

 

[Wockets]

Is there a video of this ultrasonic cleaning

 

[allforcharity]

Cleanliness is next to chip-godliness, or so they say.

 

[Rooster410]

This thread will be busy after next weeks TCR sale

 

[BigSlick4523]

my dumba*s bought a 15l US like a year and a half ago or so and never used it LOL

 

[glynn]

Looking for some advice. I bought two racks of off-white IOC Bossier City T1s from one seller and three barrels from another seller. It wasn't until after I oiled all of them (derp) that I realized that the three barrels are noticeably darker / yellower. These are hot stamps btw.

What would be your strategy if you wanted to bring the darker chips closer to the lighter chips? I have melamine pads (MagicEraser). I do not have an ultrasonic cleaner. It's hard to capture in a photo, but here is a lighter chip between some darker ones:

Thanks for any guidance. @allforcharity tagging you cause it sounds like you have a lot of hot stamp experience.

Edit: Sounds like hydrogen peroxide is good for chip stains. I will try that in a few weeks.