Lidl ultrasonic cleaner, what do you use yours for

[2mm Andy]

If you're worried about using chemicals in the ultrasonic bath for cleaning small bits and pieces you can put the item to be cleaned in a jar with the chemicals and then put that in the basket and fill the tank with plain water. I've used this technique a few times now and it seems to work OK. The main issue is stopping the jar from floating!

 

Not an option if you want to clean something big or awkwardly-shaped admittedly, but useful for smaller bits and pieces.

 

Andy

[Phatbob]

14 hours ago, Damo666 said:

Do you just place the tin of paint in the pan with the lid on, or do you add any liquid to the pan? I thought you should only used ultrasonic cleaners with a liquid, but maybe I'm mistaken.

Oh yes, I should have mentioned that there is cold water in the ultrasonic cleaner.  Add as much as you can before the tinlet starts to float.  The tinlet needs to sit on the bottom.
HTH
Bob

[mike morley]

16 hours ago, Damo666 said:

Do you just place the tin of paint in the pan with the lid on, or do you add any liquid to the pan?

 

Without adding liquid you risk burning out the heating element I only recently realised they had.

[Torper]

3 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

 

I've been impressed with what they can do, they're all a generic make but I looked at a few youtube videos of them working before committing to purchasing one.

This was the machine I picked up, It was listed for about £102 but I tried an offer and we settled on about £95. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/6L-Double-frequency-Digital-Stainless-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-Machine-Timer-Heater-CE/392927223837?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

This was the cleaner I purchased to try.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Premium-Ultrasonic-PCB-Cleaning-Fluid-and-Flux-Remover-Free-U-K-Postage/221986529977?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=520861707842&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

 

The one you bought that was listed at £102 is now listed at £121!  Like you I wanted one that would accept the coaches I build and for that i reckoned I'd want a tank width of not less than 250mm.  Most of the 3L ones were 240mm wide which would have been a tight squeeze, probably insufficient if the coach had its corridor connections fitted.  The 6L one I bought is 300mm wide and I got it for just over £80 (it hasn't got such a powerful heating element as yours).

 

The cleaning fluid I bought cost about the same as yours although it has since gone up to £14 for a litre.  Curiously, 5L of the same stuff is only £23!  Maybe I'd better get some before Brexit.....

 

DT

[bigherb]

I have a 3L eBay jobbie, use it for cleaning carburettors.

 

Come out nice and clean.

[ianLMS]

I have an ultrasonic cleaner from Amazon. Large enough for a OO loco but not for a coach. Just ordered some cleaning fluid for removing flux etc

 

https://www.bestultrasonic.co.uk/flux-remover-44-c.asp

 

Will report on results when cleaning my next kit build

[Torper]

On 12/12/2020 at 11:54, Mick Bonwick said:

I have used it to clean (other people's!) hardened acrylic paint from airbrushes. Just dunk the disassembled components into IPA and the magic follows on. I have been warned off using it with white spirit for hardened enamel paint because of the adverse effects on the plastic parts of the cleaner.

 

I recently decided to remove some "weathering" I had inflicted on some innocent Hornby Dublo wagons many years ago before I knew better.  Basically I'd just smothered them with thinned brown enamel paint.  Anyway, I'd just got some new "general purpose" ultrasonic cleaning fluid from Allendale Ultrasonics and i added that at a rather high concentration of 10% to tapwater in my very ordinary Lidl ultrasonic bath.  I ran it through a couple of 480-second cycles and was astonished to find that most of the paint had been removed without any harm at all to the body.   I don't know what's in the fluid - the label however contains serious warnings as to the consequences of misusing it.

 

DT

[Torper]

I mentioned above that I had successfully used my old Lidl ultrasonic bath as a paint stripper.  Having now acquired a 6L one, I thought I'd see if it would work as well.  I have some old Triang plastic coach sides that I use for testing paint colours on, so over time they acquire a variety of hues, the paints being largely enamel.  So I put half a dozen of these into the ultrasonic bath, added some of the Allendale cleaning fluid, and ran three 15 minute cycles at about 45 degrees.  The water in the ultrasonic bath had turned red by that time, but most of the paint had been removed and any stubborn bits yielded quickly to a scrubbing with a toothbrush.  Below you can see a before-and -after picture.

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

One thing I have noticed with these cleaners is that the more expensive, dual power with long timer and similarly sized bath which I purchased to replace the Lidl one, actually performs far better than the cheaper version, I didn't expect it to be so much of an improvement, so maybe the Lidl is Ok rather than good.

 

Mike.

[SM42]

Mine has done more service cleaning parts from the coffee machine than the models it was bought for.

 

Seems to do a reasonable job though.

 

Andy