Ultrasonic & HSIs (1 Viewer)

[allforcharity]

Oil - the great equalizer!

 

[ChipTalker]

Ok so first off I took a pic of what we used, someone else can look up the chemical compound to confirm if like TSP.
Next I took some pics of the 1 Rack I have that was not new and so was cleaned for 2 min at 40 degrees with a few caps of Simple Green to a full tank of 6L vevor water. You already saw the pics @seyff45 posted of his other denoms that we did with same method.

 

[BearMetal]

@ChipTalker thank you so much for contributing that information to this post. I think I'm definitely going to have to try that since it's cheap and easy to obtain. It looks like your results are better than that of using the red devil TSP. There seems to be absolutely no fading with yours, even after 2 minutes.

one thing that's curious to me is whether or not the chips feel greasy or slick after. One thing about the TSP is that it does get them squeaky clean. There's no residual oils.

 

[seyff45]

From my experience (cleaning w Chiptalker) they were squeaky clean post US pre Oil.

Oiling them up afterwards had them looking perfect.

 

[BearMetal]

@seyff45 but is oiling necessary with your method? From the pics posted there seems to be no fading after cleaning.

 

[seyff45]

Necessary? I would say no, but that's totally up to you.

I did a light oiling for protection and so the colors would pop

 

[warma]

Ok so first off I took a pic of what we used, someone else can look up the chemical compound to confirm if like TSP.
Next I took some pics of the 1 Rack I have that was not new and so was cleaned for 2 min at 40 degrees with a few caps of Simple Green to a full tank of 6L vevor water. You already saw the pics @seyff45 posted of his other denoms that we did with same method.
View attachment 560084View attachment 560082View attachment 560081View attachment 560083

Did you salad-spin them? Or leave them on the basket tray?

 

[ChipTalker]

The chips do not feel greasy or slick after cleaning, they feel roughly the same as a hand cleaned chip but maybe slightly more chalky since some of the oils were likely removed in the US. I am totally sympathetic though because up until now I did not like the results in the US either. I feel like it is very easy to make a US mistake so we must have just found a sweet spot for these chips.

 

[ChipTalker]

Did you salad-spin them? Or leave them on the basket tray?

Slight stir with a spoon or whatever was handy.

 

[ChipTalker]

so @seyff45 picked up a barrel of used whites and we did some pics.
White is the worst color to test this out on but it is what we had so ...

First up you have Dirty Used vs Brand New.

Then we cleaned the dirty barrel in the US for 2 min at 40 degrees C with 5 caps fulls of the simple green.
As I mentioned before for some reason ONLY on the whites the inner rims need a quick magic eraser, just a few swirls will do.
This pic shows brand new vs cleaned and a magic eraser vs cleaned (again the magic eraser was not needed on other colors just the white chips)

conclusion, the used chips spot color is still darker (from hooker juice oils I presume that have not all stripped out) than the brand new chips.
Maybe that will lighten up slightly as the chips air dry for a longer period of time but not much.
No other pics but we had mentally noted this pattern during our initial cleaning hence why we believe we achieved no fading this go around on the HSI chips.

 

[BearMetal]

@ChipTalker thank you so much for your great post in this thread! I hope it helps others out and perhaps have them try using simple green. I almost want to purchase a cheap rack of HSIs just to try it on...

I have noticed that after air-drying, the U/S cleaned chips do lighten, so I would suspect yours might lighten a little too. But still, these results are pretty damn good!

What does the water of the U/S look like after cleaning with simple green? After cleaning with Red Devil TSP, my water is always dark grey/brown with a slight hint of the color that I cleaned (if I only cleaned 1 color)

 

[ChipTalker]

the water starts with a tint of green because the simple green is actually a green color, then after each barrel 1 at a time it turns a murky dirty grey. The water is gross after 3 or 4 barrels and we dump it and start over.

 

[jbomb1018]

Awesome! Thank you for the info, im going to be doing 1600 36mm wsop Cincinnati chips and don't have TSP so was wondering what I could use in its place. Think I'm going to buy some simple green and try it out and see what happens.

 

[Josh Kifer]

Tsp - 2T to 8 cup distilled - 60 sec

 

[upNdown]

I wonder if there’s a difference between fading and just dried out? I’ve seen chips faded by oxiclean, and I’ve seen chips just dried out by a good tsp and dawn hand-cleaning (I have no US experience; you guys can keep your infernal machines.)
Oiling restores the color to dried out chips. Oiling does not fix fading.
That’s my theory, anyway.
Was that a theory, or just rambling?

 

[Moxie Mike]

the water starts with a tint of green because the simple green is actually a green color, then after each barrel 1 at a time it turns a murky dirty grey. The water is gross after 3 or 4 barrels and we dump it and start over.

I have a 6L ultrasonic. Probably the one everyone here has. Couple quick notes:

1) You can clean more than one barrel at a time depending on the size of the basket. I routinely clean 40-50 chips per 2-minute cycle while continuously stirring without issue.

2) You don't have to change the water. As you've pointed out the water gets nasty to where you can't even see the chips submerged after only a few cycles... however you can wash several hundred chips with the same water. After about 500 chips I'll usually drop another tablespoon of TSB in the water - but I'm not even sure if that's necessary.

I wonder if there’s a difference between fading and just dried out? I’ve seen chips faded by oxiclean, and I’ve seen chips just dried out by a good tsp and dawn hand-cleaning (I have no US experience; you guys can keep your infernal machines.)
Oiling restores the color to dried out chips. Oiling does not fix fading.
That’s my theory, anyway.
Was that a theory, or just rambling?

There always seems to be a little color transfer when oiling after an US bath. I think fading is a natural phenomenon with all used chips over time. Fading occurs in all sorts of finishes... kitchen cabinets, painted surfaces, etc. In theory, a poker chip shouldn't fade as a result of cleaning since it's a solid material.

 

[allforcharity]

I have a 6L ultrasonic. Probably the one everyone here has. Couple quick notes:

1) You can clean more than one barrel at a time depending on the size of the basket. I routinely clean 40-50 chips per 2-minute cycle while continuously stirring without issue.

2) You don't have to change the water. As you've pointed out the water gets nasty to where you can't even see the chips submerged after only a few cycles... however you can wash several hundred chips with the same water. After about 500 chips I'll usually drop another tablespoon of TSB in the water - but I'm not even sure if that's necessary.



There always seems to be a little color transfer when oiling after an US bath. I think fading is a natural phenomenon with all used chips over time. Fading occurs in all sorts of finishes... kitchen cabinets, painted surfaces, etc. In theory, a poker chip shouldn't fade as a result of cleaning since it's a solid material.

Most often I clean 2 barrels at a time in the 6L Vevor with salad spinner.

You are correct that you don't have to change the detergent liquid. But you should change your rinse water if you're not using a continuous stream. I don't think it's necessary to add more detergent unless you're continuously cleaning for more than 3-4 hours.

 

[BigSlick4523]

I need to buy a US Im thinking of a 10l for another $30 or is that too big ? Also I dont wanna use TSP I dont want to have a hazmat suit on when cleaning chips lol I use dawn and a detailed brush hand scrubbing my cleveland chips but it truly sucks what can I use besides TSP to get the chips clean?

 

[Moxie Mike]

Most often I clean 2 barrels at a time in the 6L Vevor with salad spinner.

You are correct that you don't have to change the detergent liquid. But you should change your rinse water if you're not using a continuous stream. I don't think it's necessary to add more detergent unless you're continuously cleaning for more than 3-4 hours.

LOL you guys and your salad spinners. Who knew cleaning poker chips would require such complex engineering

I need to buy a US Im thinking of a 10l for another $30 or is that too big ? Also I dont wanna use TSP I dont want to have a hazmat suit on when cleaning chips lol I use dawn and a detailed brush hand scrubbing my cleveland chips but it truly sucks what can I use besides TSP to get the chips clean?

IMO a 10L is overkill. Unless you have a large quantity of chips to clean and need to do so frequently I don't think you need an US that size. I can wash, rinse and lay out to dry 1000+ chips in 2 hrs with a 6L unit washing 40-50 at a time in 2 minute intervals.

There are alternatives to TSP that have been discussed in various threads if you look around. But is a pair of latex gloves and some eye protection that big of deal? It sure beats the hell out of scrubbing chips by hand.

 

[BearMetal]

LOL you guys and your salad spinners. Who knew cleaning poker chips would require such complex engineering

Yes, but when I'm told that I have to eat salad for dinner, I can say that the salad spinner is occupied.

 

[allforcharity]

LOL you guys and your salad spinners. Who knew cleaning poker chips would require such complex engineering

I like the salad spinner because it minimizes splashing versus stirring with a long implement.

 

[BigSlick4523]

LOL you guys and your salad spinners. Who knew cleaning poker chips would require such complex engineering

IMO a 10L is overkill. Unless you have a large quantity of chips to clean and need to do so frequently I don't think you need an US that size. I can wash, rinse and lay out to dry 1000+ chips in 2 hrs with a 6L unit washing 40-50 at a time in 2 minute intervals.

There are alternatives to TSP that have been discussed in various threads if you look around. But is a pair of latex gloves and some eye protection that big of deal? It sure beats the hell out of scrubbing chips by hand.

I seen someone talking about covering your whole counter space and all this crazyness with using TSP I dont know I have never done it before I hand scrub but it's getting out of control with these dirty ass Clevelands getting sick of it so I got to figure something out cause I am about done scrubbing these Cleveland $1s they are horrible

 

[TwoHomie]

My ultrasonic delivered this week! Was planning to use the lundmark TSP, but reading this thread, think I’m going to use simple green instead. Looks like simple green gets similar cleaning results with a bit less potential for fading. Feels lower risk. Will report back!

 

[TwoHomie]

Good things are happening! About 200 chips in, using 40c, a 2ish oz of Simple Green, and 90 seconds. Did 2 minutes on the whites since they were the grossest.

Some are a bit dry, but doesn’t look like any fading, and they oil well. I bought the lundmark tsp, but honestly don’t even think I’ll use it or try it. 90s seems to get all but a tiny bit of gunk. To me, that’s a worth while trade off to avoid the worry of tsp possibly fading my chips.

 

[TwoHomie]

Left to right
dirty/cleaned/new (uncleaned)

 

[TwoHomie]

With flash

 

[allforcharity]

Good things are happening! About 200 chips in, using 40c, a 2ish oz of Simple Green, and 90 seconds. Did 2 minutes on the whites since they were the grossest.

Some are a bit dry, but doesn’t look like any fading, and they oil well. I bought the lundmark tsp, but honestly don’t even think I’ll use it or try it. 90s seems to get all but a tiny bit of gunk. To me, that’s a worth while trade off to avoid the worry of tsp possibly fading my chips.

Good job. I may experiment with Simple Green and my vintage ASMs a little later in spring or summer when I have some time.

 

[TwoHomie]

Day 2! I would say the 40c Simple green method does good, but not great, for the primary 1s. These were pretty grody (definitely the worst of all denoms), and even at 3 minutes in the salad spinner, they’ll probably need a quick hit with the magic eraser. Some come out looking great, but it’s not consistent.

In hindsight I probably shoulda broken out the tsp for these, but I’m enjoying being able to do this on my floor and not worry about ruining anything with tsp.

 

[allforcharity]

White base colour chips are always the hardest to get clean. Almost always needs magic eraser if there's any history of regular use.

 

[TwoHomie]

White base colour chips are always the hardest to get clean. Almost always needs magic eraser if there's any history of regular use.

Good to know it’s not just me!