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Are "ultrasonic cleaners" worth it or effective?

cstanton

I am no stranger from having to clean fiddly, awkward things, from electronics to jewellery to other items.

Often my approach to cleaning such items is a bit of good old elbow grease, a small brush, perhaps some form of polish, iso-propyl alcohol, and perhaps something stronger if the materials are not under threat of breaking down. Sometimes I resort to a bit of soap and water.

Which brings me to the appeal of ultrasonic cleaners, if youtube shorts, tiktok videos and the appeal of random adverts are to tell the truth, I can dunk an item that is ingrained with difficult to clean muck, and with a bit of time and the right liquids, I'll see all of that gunk shake off and result in something nice and shiny.

My experience with some models of these though, have been less than stellar.

I'm therefore looking for recommendations and anecdotal or evidence based experiences with these, and links of where to buy if anyone can advise. Ideally the budget would be sub £150 but frankly if this means you're "getting what you pay for" then I'd consider higher. Delivery to the UK would be necessarily possible!

Thanks!

  • 0

    Hello Chris,

    I have a reasonable size ultrasonic cleaner that I use for pcbs. Much less now than I used to because I mainly use no-clean solderpaste.

    The results you get depend on the media in the cleaner (I use SafeWash on pcbs  - it does a not bad job if used with a brush !).

    The ultrasonics can help cleaning in small gaps and crevices.

    I occasionally use mine on other things but only with SafeWash (far too much hassle to empty it and re-fill.)

    If you have a test sample in mind that I can replicate I can try it for you.

    MK

  • 0

    Anecdotal: I have heard that ceramic capacitors (MLCC) are subject to failure if the ultrasonic energy is too high. But no personal experience either way. 

    Also electromechanical components such as quartz crystals or MEMS oscillators/sensors could be damaged if the ultrasonic frequency is resonant to the part. Crystals in the kHz range are more affected than MHz parts.

  • 0

    Not what you asked, but after experimenting a few years ago, I can tell you that an ultrasonic cleaner is no substitute for a bubble tank for PCB etching. (In case you were worried, I used a separate container of FeCl3 in the cleaners water bath, rather than pouring FeCl3 directly into the bath!)

  • 0 in reply to Fred27

    I think that the FECl needs the air in the bubbles to help in the reaction.

    Certainly the huge inprovement in etch rate if you jiggle the bath about seems more than you would expect from just agitation.

    MK

  • 0

    As you say there's loads of random stuff online. I did watch this YouTube video (by GreatScott) the other day and I thought it provided some interesting insights...

  • 0 in reply to anniel747
    anniel747 said:
    Size?

    Appropriate to be on a workbench.

    anniel747 said:
    Heater?

    If that helps with the cleaning, I wouldn't know.

    anniel747 said:
    Frequency?

    What's the deciding factor for that? do some frequencies clean better than others? Is it to protect what's being cleaned?

    anniel747 said:
    MicroBlasting is also very effective, look at Comco.

    Woah, I was not aware of that at all. Thanks. I believe that's a bit more industrial than what I need, and probably more abrasive than I'd want!

  • 0 in reply to Fred27
    Fred27 said:
    bubble tank for PCB etching

    Wha? I'm going to need some visual examples :D

  • 0 in reply to BigG

    I wonder how well these work?

    image

    Mini-dishwasher....

  • 0 in reply to michaelkellett
    michaelkellett said:
    SafeWash on pcbs

    Is that the outdoor cleaner?

    michaelkellett said:

    If you have a test sample in mind that I can replicate I can try it for you.

    Y'know I'd be tempted to put my spectacles in it to see how well they clean up. I think in my mind I was considering something multi purpose since I'm not exactly in the position for constant PCB fabrication/use/testing (something I should also get on top of)

    michaelkellett said:
    I have a reasonable size ultrasonic cleaner that I use for pcbs

    What do you have?