Serious about cleaning

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
It became obvious to me that I needed to up my workshop game a little, particularly with a suitable way to clean large models. The only sensible way to do that, it seemed, was to invest in a nice big ultrasonic bath.

IMG_4667.JPG

This should do the job. Rough back-of-an-envelope calculations tell me I ought to be able to completely immerse 7mm scale models up to the equivalent of about 60ft or so.

IMG_4668.JPG

That's one of the broad gauge coaches I'm working on, lost in the vastness.

This unit, made inevitably in China, includes a heater unit and programmable timer, as well as the stainless steel bath (with plug 'ole) and a basket to contain items. All I need now is space in the Big Shed to install it and run it. Without running water, I will be trekking up and down with a bucket, I suppose.
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
That looks just the kiddie, do you have any more details on the type and where you got it form would be handy to know as well, ideally I'd need one that can get a scale 70' in.

MD
 

daifly

Western Thunderer
I suspect that emptying might be trickier than filling. It is suitably provisioned for easy draining?
Dave
 

ceejaydee

Western Thunderer
Useful bit of kit and not just for modelling - would like one someday.

Do you know what cleaning agents or solvents you will use Heather?
 

Neill

Active Member
The idea of ultrasonic cleaning models is new to me, I will be interested to see some before and after shots.
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
This model is a 20 litre one. The tank is 500mm x 300mm x 150mm, and has a drain hole with a tap, and a big union for proper plumbing to be attached. Presumably, it would be possible to fill the tank through the tap as well. The heater works up to 80 degrees C, and timer goes from a minute to 99 minutes.

I bought this one through Amazon at a reasonable £255 delivered. There is a 27 litre model.

The instruction booklet assumes just normal water, with a dash of detergent for really grubby items. As I'm hoping to use the thing to clean up flux residues in the main, I shall do some experiments to see what works best. I fully expect the ultrasonics to reveal my shonky soldering, and for bits to fall off! I've even been warned that there is potential for (poor quality) whitemetal castings to burst. :eek:
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Heather,

I have a very similar cleaner, same control panel, slightly smaller tank version. It has a habit of heating the water irrespective of the temperature control settings, albeit, the display seems to give an accurate temperature reading. If left to its own devices it can get silly hot, which may cause pain, or failure of lowmelt!

I didn't bother to change it, as I simply turn it off at the wall when not in use.

Hopefully yours will not have the same fault, but forearmed...

Best
Simon
 

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Heather,
I've got a much smaller one that's unheated.

I use plain water and small dash of detergent or IPA to kill the surface tension. First thing to note is that the very action of the thing will raise the temperature of the water; it can become unbearably hot.
Solder joints generally don't fail; glue can go for a wander if your surface preparation isn't what it should be.

And yes, it's possible for whitemetal castings to come out with a very rough surface finish if they're suffering from porosity; I've never had one burst or completely break up on me though.

Steph
 

simond

Western Thunderer
Steph,

I'm surprised that they get that hot "just" running. My cheapo Maplin one got warm, but never hot. (Until it died, of course)

This one seems to have a fault, the heater is on, irrespective of the heater control settings, or the ultrasonic being switched on, whenever it's plugged in. As I said, not a problem, I just unplug it!

Best
Simon
 

Heather Kay

Western Thunderer
I'm running some tests at the moment. It's a noisy beggar, though not oppressively so.

First surprise: isn't 20 litres a lot of water!

The various panel controls work the heater and timer. I've not tested the heater thoroughly, but I note it seems to show the ambient temperature even when not actually running. Operation generally is straightforward.

I've tested a couple of non-modelling items for cleaning. A badly tea-stained mug didn't show much improvement, so perhaps needs more than four minutes. Likewise with a couple of elderly copper coins. In these cases, perhaps some heating would also be beneficial.

I dunked the carcass of a brass Stanier tender, and a fair bit of detritus was left in the bottom of the tank. I've washed some JLTRT resin coach parts. After an eight minute session, the ambient temperature rose to 32 degrees from the roughly 24 it had been when I started.

I see some rippling on the surface of the water. The instructions say this isn't bad, but means cleaning isn't as thorough as it could be. I need to do some experiments to determine how to overcome the rippling, I think.

There's a rather endearing squeak as you switch off the mains. It's like it's crying out "don't switch me off!"
 

Tim Humphreys ex Mudhen

Western Thunderer
I have a small version and use it for cleaning sub assemblies. I do find it needs several cycles to achieve a thorough clean, best using warm water and a little detergent of some sort in it; washing powder is quite good.
Tim
 

iak63

Western Thunderer
Having used them professionally, when I had a profession :rant: , the best thing to use is Neutracon. This is a laboratory cleaner which will breakdown all the gunk, flux and rubbish. A good rinse and Bert is your Auntie.
Detergents will leave residues which can be a pain to rinse off.
Plain water with a dash of IPA is an excellent thing to use if a little gentle.
Must try that degeaser mind....
 

Brian McKenzie

Western Thunderer
When I was but a lad in the workplace, machining the end walls of copper radar waveguide tubes to a thickness of about three thou of one inch, an ultrasonic cleaner was used to clean out the gunk remaining from having filled the tube with Cerrobend before machining. The vibrations caused the copper to work harden to the point that the thin walls disintegrated.
Might be worth doing a test with some thinly etched components?

A not un-similar effect occurs when grit blasting brass sheet components - where the material work hardens and flatness is lost - unless the other side is also blasted to compensate.

-Brian McK.
 

Yorkshire Dave

Western Thunderer
First thing to note is that the very action of the thing will raise the temperature of the water; it can become unbearably hot.

Here the water molecules are being excited by the sound waves causing heat. Somehow I don't think these transmitters generate sufficient ultrasonic acoustic power or generate a low enough frequency to split water into it's elements. All interesting stuff - sonar waves and cavitation.


I'd need one that can get a scale 70'.

Oooh errr... that's large tank. Isn't a scale 70' 70' ? :p :D.......
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Steve, yup I've had that page bookmarked for some time, it was posted up here a while ago by Osgood but the price keeps the wallet shut for the time being.

Looking at the spec of heathers it has a tank space of 500 mm long by the look of things and by my reckoning that's a good scale 70' clearance, especially in 1:48 ;) A class 70 is just over 71' and a SD70MAC is 74' so that's my criteria limits, one in 1:43.5 the other in 1:48.

The plus side of the carb one is its slimness if all you want to do is long thin objects, which most model railway stuff is.

You can get cheaper 21L units from Ebay, again all from China and probably the same factory truth be told. Pays your money and takes your choice really.

MD
 

Ian_C

Western Thunderer
I have a small heated tank. Never damaged anything. Never undone a soldered joint. Adhesive joints can be a challenge, even with good surface prep. Slight watch out - with hot solution an some detergents you can get some electrochemical leaching from nickel silver which leaves a sort of coppery sheen on etched parts. Not really a problem unless you like everything super shiny. Also think about how you're going to place the part in the tank, you want to orient things so that the loosend crud can fall to the bottom of the tank. Sometimes it pays to do it one way up and then the other. Yes - it's amazing to watch the dirt from a 'clean' model come clouding out in the tank. Bonus -you could do your feet in that tank!
 

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
Hello all,

have a look over on the other side in kit building and scratch building there's a thread about 6 pages long on them.

It will probable quicker just to use the search putting in ultrasonic cleaner.

OzzyO.
 
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