Ultrasonic Cleaners

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steve howe
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby steve howe » Fri Jul 09, 2021 5:08 pm

I've been finishing a few long-unfinished etched kits lately. Iain Rice recommends dunking the article in a solution of washing soda at about 1 tablespoon in a pint of warm water at the end of the construction session to neutralise any acidic fluxes and clean off grease. Lacking any washing soda immediately to hand, I am wondering if sugar soap (which seems to be largely sodium carbonate) would do the job as effectively, and, possibly be useful in the ultrasonic cleaner?

Steve

andrewnummelin
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby andrewnummelin » Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:54 am

I was recently tempted to try Lotoxane HD for degreasing but for my use (wheel cleaning) I found the postage cost too high and am trying barbecue lighting fluid from our local hardware store. However for use on things like a whole model a solvent that will degrease and remove flux residues in an ultrasonic bath sounds very attractive.
https://www.arrowchem.com/products/lotoxane-hd/

Both Lotoxane and the barbecue lighter fluid are essentially higher molecular weight aliphatic hydrocarbons that will not damage most plastics in normal use. Soaking a piece of toughened polystyrene sheet in the barbecue fluid overnight showed no damage.
Regards,

Andrew Nummelin

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David B
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby David B » Sat Jul 10, 2021 11:43 am

I would suggest that, if using some of these chemicals, it might be better for your ultrasonic gadget if you contain the cleaner (and parts) in a second container and only put water in the tank. You might remember water baths in science lessons at school. The ultrasonics will do their job. This is a useful thing to do when you have smaller parts and you use the cleaners more economically.

Steve Carter
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby Steve Carter » Sat Jul 10, 2021 12:28 pm

David B wrote:I would suggest that, if using some of these chemicals, it might be better for your ultrasonic gadget if you contain the cleaner (and parts) in a second container and only put water in the tank. You might remember water baths in science lessons at school. The ultrasonics will do their job. This is a useful thing to do when you have smaller parts and you use the cleaners more economically.


I'm with David on this.
I use my ultrasonic for the final clean with only water. It seems to do the trick :thumb
Steve Carter

David Thorpe

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby David Thorpe » Sat Jul 10, 2021 6:34 pm

You could of course use a cleaning fluid specifically made for ultrasonic baths. There's a wide range available from, say, Allendale Ultrasonics (https://www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk ... and-fluids) which includes one specifically for flux removal. I've also found that their general purpose solution, used in the ultrasonic bath at 10% with warm water, is an excellent paint stripper.

DT

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Winander
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby Winander » Sat Jul 10, 2021 8:39 pm

David Thorpe wrote: an excellent paint stripper.


David,

That may be useful, but what kind of paint, acrylic, enamel or cellulose?
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David Thorpe

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby David Thorpe » Sat Jul 10, 2021 9:40 pm

I've only ever tried it with enamels although it has also worked on some factory finishes, albeit old ones. As an example, see the image below. I've got some old Tri-ang Caledonian coach sides, and I use them for trying out various paint colours and finishes. The picture below shows one such side before and after immersion in the ultrasonic bath. It did take quite a long time - I seem to recall it was something like two 20-minute sessions - but after that all the paint was off except for a few stubborn bits which a quick scrub with a toothbrush got rid of. As stated in my post above I used Allendales general purpose ultrasonic cleaning fluid, mixed at 10% with warm-to-hot tap water. I've also used this method to remove enamel paint from a white-metal loco as well as various items of freight stock.

DT

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Daddyman
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby Daddyman » Sun Jul 11, 2021 7:16 am

Winander wrote:
David Thorpe wrote: an excellent paint stripper.


David,

That may be useful, but what kind of paint, acrylic, enamel or cellulose?

Precision Paints two-part etching primer. Discovering that was a surprise, I can tell you! But the water was hot (from the tap).

When used with hot water, the USC will also nibble away at Milliput.

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Rod Cameron
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Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby Rod Cameron » Sun Jul 11, 2021 10:22 am

David Thorpe wrote: As an example, see the image below. I've got some old Tri-ang Caledonian coach sides, and I use them for trying out various paint colours and finishes.
DT



So what USC do you use that can accommodate coach sides?
Rod

David Thorpe

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaners

Postby David Thorpe » Sun Jul 11, 2021 11:08 am

The one I bought was a 6L one from ebay. Search for "6L ultrasonic cleaners" and you'll find a whole host of them on both ebay and Amazon, many appearing to be identical. The one I bought is pretty much identical to the £89.99 CO-Z one shown on this page:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=6l+ultraso ... nb_sb_noss .
You'll note that there are lots of others, seemingly identical. It's got a timer and heating element and it accommodates coach sides, at least of the size I build. It hasn't been subjected to an awful lot of work, but so far I'm very happy with it. The heating element is slow, so it's best to put hot water in it to start as that speeds things up quite a lot.

DT


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