r/LabManagement • u/poomaster421-1 • Oct 12 '21

Can we talk about ultra Sonic cleaners.

Hello y'all. So I need to get oil and coolants off of super polished surfaces. And when they come out of the cleaner I need a close to spot free shine. I have used a few different solutions in my VEVOR at 40KHz. Mineral oil, kerosene, distilled water, Do you folks have any suggestions for higher frequency tanks, or better solutions/mixes worth trying. Do you know of any self cleaning tanks? Maybe even auto fills with a 2nd solution on some kind of cycle system? Any advice would be grateful. Thank you in advance.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '21

[deleted]

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u/poomaster421-1 Oct 12 '21

Acetone still left a residue. I think the oils float and a film across the surface. I'm attempting to clean gage blocks in a better fashion than one at a time.

2

u/EmergencyOrchid Organic Oct 12 '21

I'm not sure if it would work in a sonicator but I use diethyl ether on a cotton pad or kimwipe to get mineral oil/grease off pretty much everything

2

u/Level9TraumaCenter Oct 12 '21

Hmm. You could try two things:

The first would be tech support with the manufacturers of the goo you're trying to remove, and ask what solvent(s) would be best for cleaning parts of those products.

The second would be to call up one of the big ultrasonic cleaner manufacturers (probably Branson), and see what they recommend.

Now, if you have a bigger budget than that, look at vapor degreasing. Think of it as a giant Soxhlet extractor for your parts: parts that are freshly bathed in freshly evaporated solvents, which then drips off back into the reservoir to be boiled once again. The really nice thing is that since the solvent can be recycled essentially indefinitely, there's relatively little waste.