Thanks BB
I have a tank from Louis but I have no idea about welds perhaps he can confirm?
Got this today for £3.50 just waiting on my Tergikleen from USA
These types of small capacity SS trays/pans are generally all stamped, not welded.
B B
The tanks we use are 18:8 stainless steel (also known as 304 stainless steel). It appears, after research, that the amount of ions pulled from stainless steel is negligible.
I did find that using De-ionized water is reported to be suitable in Ultrasonic Cleaners, as it not only increases cavitation, but also helps remove contaminates.
Here is a link to this information:
Difference Between RO and DI Water for Parts Cleaning, Washing, and Rinsing
-Louis
I did find that using De-ionized water is reported to be suitable in Ultrasonic Cleaners, as it not only increases cavitation, but also helps remove contaminates.
Here is a link to this information:
Difference Between RO and DI Water for Parts Cleaning, Washing, and Rinsing
-Louis
Try it with just water first, then compare with TergiKleen cleaning and subsequent rinse. It's good to understand what different components/chemicals do for you.
Hello and thanx to all who have contributed to this DIY US cleaner thread. I am new here and have been trying to plow through this entire thread, however my eyes are nearly falling out and I'm only about 1/6th of the way through!! I am trying to find the recipes for the various cleaning solution concoctions that have delivered acceptable results, but so far have only found the proportions for the distilled water/IPA/photo-flo one. (Perhaps they are tabulated somewhere further along in this thread?) I am looking for quantitative information as my US unit is a 45 kHz, heated, with a 3 1/4 gallon tank. I am particularly interested in the info on the Alconox recipe as I have some on hand.
Also, as I have a small (about 5 gallons/day?) electric water distillation unit, I have access to as much as I can make, but I would prefer to minimize the volume of solution needed per tank fill which leads to another question that may have already been covered somewhere in this 180-some page thread......does anyone know of a way to decrease the tank capacity of my 3.25 gal. without affecting it's cleaning efficiency?
leoniru
Also, as I have a small (about 5 gallons/day?) electric water distillation unit, I have access to as much as I can make, but I would prefer to minimize the volume of solution needed per tank fill which leads to another question that may have already been covered somewhere in this 180-some page thread......does anyone know of a way to decrease the tank capacity of my 3.25 gal. without affecting it's cleaning efficiency?
leoniru
Hi Leoniru,
I don't use Alconox, but the manufacturer recommendation for this detergent is 10 grams per liter of water. I think you'll find that is way too much for ultrasonic cleaning.
If I were you, I'd start with about 1/10 that amount and see how things work. This type of detergent will require extensive rinsing. That is one reason I am a fan of isopropyl alcohol instead -- less rinsing is required to remove it, and what's left will evaporate. The salts in alconox will remain on the surface unless rinsed. These salts aren't really a danger to PVC, but you'd want to rinse them off.
As to the size of your tank, there isn't a great way to reduce volume without hurting efficiency. It presumably has more transducers than the typical 6 or 10 liter tanks most are using, so, depending on tank dimensions and power, maybe you can clean more records per cycle to up your efficiency.
Cheers,
B B
I don't use Alconox, but the manufacturer recommendation for this detergent is 10 grams per liter of water. I think you'll find that is way too much for ultrasonic cleaning.
If I were you, I'd start with about 1/10 that amount and see how things work. This type of detergent will require extensive rinsing. That is one reason I am a fan of isopropyl alcohol instead -- less rinsing is required to remove it, and what's left will evaporate. The salts in alconox will remain on the surface unless rinsed. These salts aren't really a danger to PVC, but you'd want to rinse them off.
As to the size of your tank, there isn't a great way to reduce volume without hurting efficiency. It presumably has more transducers than the typical 6 or 10 liter tanks most are using, so, depending on tank dimensions and power, maybe you can clean more records per cycle to up your efficiency.
Cheers,
B B
Thanx bbftx for the info. As I don't want to get bogged down with extended rinsing requirements, I'll likely be skipping the Alconox route.
As I have more money than time at the moment, I cheated a bit by purchasing one of the Vinyl Stack setups. I will be adding filtration at some point as well. Will be finishing off after the US cycle with a Loricraft vacuum unit that I picked up several years ago but have yet to use as I've only recently been able to dig out my system after 15 years of storage.
Was hoping that someone somewhere along in this thread had tabulated the various 'soup' recipes that have shown promise for US cleaning and their merits and disadvantages. I've tried the search function but it doesn't seem to save me any time from reading through this thread page by page. Guess I'll plow through as I have time to do so.
As I have more money than time at the moment, I cheated a bit by purchasing one of the Vinyl Stack setups. I will be adding filtration at some point as well. Will be finishing off after the US cycle with a Loricraft vacuum unit that I picked up several years ago but have yet to use as I've only recently been able to dig out my system after 15 years of storage.
Was hoping that someone somewhere along in this thread had tabulated the various 'soup' recipes that have shown promise for US cleaning and their merits and disadvantages. I've tried the search function but it doesn't seem to save me any time from reading through this thread page by page. Guess I'll plow through as I have time to do so.
any review on this? KirmussAudio Model KA-RC-1 Ultrasonic Vinyl Restoration System (On Sale)
Here you go. Starts at 43:23. Very intriguing.
YouTube
This is Amazon link.
Amazon.com: iSonic Commercial Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner, P4875II-4T+VRC, 2 gal/7.5L, 110V: Industrial & Scientific
YouTube
This is Amazon link.
Amazon.com: iSonic Commercial Ultrasonic Vinyl Record Cleaner, P4875II-4T+VRC, 2 gal/7.5L, 110V: Industrial & Scientific
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Rotation is too fast to allow effective cavitation cleaning. Had a 36 KHZ unit it was worthless for cleaning records. Kind of a snake oil sales pitch, cleaning the record "applying" the snake oil anti fungal cleaner.
Design is ok and Decent price point. Too bad they didn't use 60 KHZ and 1/10th RPM motor.
Design is ok and Decent price point. Too bad they didn't use 60 KHZ and 1/10th RPM motor.
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I agree with Zg's comments and would add the Kirmuss ad copy is particularly troubling. Trying to look scientific, they claim on their website: "In an ultrasonic cleaning machine, explosions occur millions of times per second, removing contaminants."
This is absolutely NOT what happens. The cleaning mechanism is Implosions, not Explosions, and there is an enormous difference between the two.
Also, this doesn't occur "millions of times per second," it happens about 35,000 times per second in their machine if you believe that spec.
Elsewhere on their site, they talk about the cleaner coming with "blotting paper" to dry the records after they emerge from the machine. Blotting paper, seriously?
They also claim higher frequencies damage the tank and records to justify their choice of a cheap 35k underlying ultrasonic machine. Absolutely not true and not supported by any evidence.
B B
This is absolutely NOT what happens. The cleaning mechanism is Implosions, not Explosions, and there is an enormous difference between the two.
Also, this doesn't occur "millions of times per second," it happens about 35,000 times per second in their machine if you believe that spec.
Elsewhere on their site, they talk about the cleaner coming with "blotting paper" to dry the records after they emerge from the machine. Blotting paper, seriously?
They also claim higher frequencies damage the tank and records to justify their choice of a cheap 35k underlying ultrasonic machine. Absolutely not true and not supported by any evidence.
B B
I agree with you! And from myself I'll add that it's just marketing that tries to justify the applied power of 35 kHz and so on! We all have been experimenting for a long time and came to the conclusion that 40 kHz and above are very suitable for our tasks. In addition to the quality and speed of cleaning, the speed of rotation of the engine, the capacity and the thickness of the walls of the bath, as well as the power of the ultrasonic generator unit affect the cleaning.
P/s
I came to the conclusion that if you use the power of the ultrasonic unit of the generator 180w and the operating frequency of the generator of 40 kHz for faster cleaning, a slower speed of the engine 1 rpm is needed in this case the vinyl is longer in continuous cavitation mode and is accordingly cleaned during the same period of operation better.
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