Ultrasonic Cleaners

[G8VAT Wolfman]

You should have seen the great clouds of goo that flowed into the water when I put my carbs in the jewellery one, it definitely works I was ready to scrap one of the carbs until that point, I did do them for several three minute cycles each.

My larger bath would have done the same sort of job in probably about the same time but has a timer for up to an hour, I've not looked yet but I would imagine that these turn up on Ebay (oh dear I said it).

I suppose if you have worked with a serious piece of kit like the Gas board one, most Health and safety conscious manufactured ones will seem pretty tame, but then if they don't do what you expect they're not worth it.

[flyingtech55]

I got one from, I think, Lidl. I clean my spectacles in it. It brings them up like new. Warm water and just a touch of detergent.

TimR

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Gents, be a bit carefull with soft metals in these tanks. The standard test of a tank was to put a piece of kitchen foil vertically in the tank for 30 secs, a good one would fill the foil with holes in that time.
Additionally do not put pearls or opel in there as they will be erroded. Diamond rings and all glass like stones are perfectly safe ~ go and renew the sparkle on your wife's engagement ring in 15 secs!

Ed

[Don Collie jnr]

I`d love to have one, but really need one with a big enough tank to totally immerse the likes of a RA17, and that will clean it in only a few minutes. As it stands, when I`m doing up a new rig, I put the whole thing in the bath filled with hot water and "Dual" floor cleaner. I use a paintbrush to scrub every surface, and then rinse and dry for 6 hours in front of a fan heater. The results probably aren`t as good as an ultrasonic cleaner, but it`s better than working on a dirty set. BTW, I remove stuff like meters, and speakers before washing. The crunch comes when it`s time to turn the set on, after drying. If you`ve dried it thoroughly there`s usually no problem, but sometimes you get a component failure due to the stress of bathing the old girl. Tektronix wash their scopes in a similar way - with detergent and water,............................................ .......................Don.

[G8VAT Wolfman]

I've never had a fear of washing electronics, many years ago some friends brought me their VCR when the kids had spilt pop inside, I immediately took out the servo panel and gave it a dam good flushing and brushing in the sink (I could see them weeping in the background), hairdryer then then left it in the airing cupboard for a week, refitted and no problemo.

It gave them several good years service after it, Mastercare had quoted them £150 for a new panel without even sending the eng out!!

Another case was when a friend bought a quite expensive 'waterproof' watch on holiday, went for a swim in the sea and came back with it full of sea water.. so, batteries out straight away and in a glass of tap water at the bar. same again, left it warming for a few days and hey presto.. sorted.

I can imagine in the case of sea water that a lot of ruined items could have been saved simply by a quick flush with clean water but people tend to just leave them to dry out... aagh!

[julie_m]

Originally Posted by GrimJosef

Of course I still have a couple of litres of filthy paraffin to dispose of. If I can't find a better route I'll soak it into some rags and get rid of them in the next garden bonfire !

You could put it in someone's central heating tank.