Ultrasonic Cleaners

[kada33]

Photo of your new bit of kit please, the U/S cleaner,

 

OzzyO

Hi ozzyo

 

I only ordered it late yesterday afternoon, so when it arrives I'll put up a photo .

 

Dave

[kada33]

Also, can you get a Mk1 coach in it?

 

Mike.

Hi Mike

 

I only model in O Gauge and you wouldn't get an O Gauge coach in it, whether an OO Gauge coach would fit maybe someone else could answer that one.

 

I also meant to add yesterday that there is still one of these model (JPL 8050D-H) for sale on Ebay at £75.

 

Dave

[Kev_Lewis]

I've got the same model. Also purchased from eBay, but not that cheap!

 

 

Works very well.

 

The internal dimensions are 9 1/2" x 5 3/4" x 2 1/2". So you won't get a OO MK1 coach in it. I find it idea for O gauge wagons and tank loco's.

[kada33]

Hi All

 

Well my US arrived this morning, there's no point in me putting up a photo as the one Kev_Lewis listed is identical to mine.

 

Question for Ozzy, where can I buy Citranox from in the UK it appears to be an American product? I've found Green Cillit Bang but not their red product?

 

Also a general question, what temperature should the temperature be for spraying on grey cellulose primer. (outside shed) not indoors.

 

Kada33 (Dave)

[ozzyo]

Hello Dave, all,

 

if you put in Citranox UK in to your search engine it should bring up Cole-Parmer the price at the moment is £43.20 inc VAT. plus P&P. It may sound a lot but this will make up to 10 gallons of the fluid, and you can use the stuff more than once.

 

Cillit bang, the top is a bit more orang than red (it's the grime and lime cleaner), you should be able to get at Tesco, Asda, etc.

 

For spraying paint out doors, just a warm dry and calm day,

 

OzzyO.

[kada33]

Hello Dave, all,

 

if you put in Citranox UK in to your search engine it should bring up Cole-Parmer the price at the moment is £43.20 inc VAT. plus P&P. It may sound a lot but this will make up to 10 gallons of the fluid, and you can use the stuff more than once.

 

Cillit bang, the top is a bit more orang than red (it's the grime and lime cleaner), you should be able to get at Tesco, Asda, etc.

 

For spraying paint out doors, just a warm dry and calm day,

 

OzzyO.

Thanks Ozzy

 

I also meant to tell you me and my wife went to see ThinkFloyd last Thursday in Kings Lynn. It is 40years since the release of DSoTM so they played all the album plus lots of other works. Magic!!

 

Dave

Edited October 25, 2013 by kada33

[kada33]

Thank Ozzy

 

I also meant to tell you me and my wife went to see ThinkFloyd last Thursday in Kings Lynn. It is 40years since the release of DSoTM so they played all the album plus lots of other works. Magic!!

 

Dave

Hi ozzy

 

They also do a 4lb box of Citranox in white power that makes up to 52gals for £18.00, as I shall not not be using the US that often I take this would suffice for the time being.

 

Having checked again on this item, it is £18 + P&P + Vat = £32.34! So for the time being I think I'll give this one a miss.

 

Dave

Edited October 29, 2013 by kada33

[The Nth Degree]

Citranox is just a brand of citric acid, with an added detergent. There are UK supplies of citric acid for less than £2 per 250g and if you use cheap (additive-free) washing up liquid you've pretty much reproduced it. An alternative would be to use white vinegar with a little salt and the same cheap washing up liquid.

 

I use white vinegar on its own for cleaning after soldering but it doesn't always clean tarnishing, and that led me to thinking about using an ultrasonic cleaner as an agitator for the cleaning solution to work much better, but I've not seen any absolute proof that an ultrasonic cleaner is better than a soak in a cleaning solution for a couple hours. Speed is an obvious bonus but a side-by-side comparison would be a real clincher either way.

[Osgood]

the pitting of the white metal is due to the quality of the white metal, one thing that I have noticed is that I don't tend to get any pitting after I've used the grit blaster first or it maybe just the quality of the white metal used in the kits that I build?

 

I guess the grit blasting effectively 'peens' the surface of the whitemetal (possibly making it tougher), closing up any minute openings into which u/s vibes might penetrate.  Seems a good policy to blast before cleaning (if you have the gear).  Great info thread by the way!  Now to read the blasting thread!!

Edited February 16, 2014 by Osgood

[Jub45565]

To drag this topic kicking and screaming back to life, I am looking at the JPL8050 or 8060.  Does anyone have either of these and would you recommend them?  Online reviews elsewhere are all a bit mixed but there are a lot of people out there trying to either clean carburettors... Should be large enough for a 4mm mark 1 if the tray basket isn't in place.

 

I am looking at using it for cleaning etched kits - I might experiment with whitemetal later on but if that does suffer from pitting I would look at other options for cleaning, I have enough etched cleaning work to do to warrant a purchase.

 

By the looks of it the extra features of the 8060 are worth going for - the built in drain & degassing facility especially.

[ozzyo]

It's a bit hard to give any advice on any thing when all you have is a number JPL 8050 or 8060. Could you show a photo of the model Etc.

 

I would always say that it's a good idea to have the drain tap.

 

OzzyO.

[Arthur]

 

The 8050D is discussed, briefly, earlier in this thread, starts here;

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/53956-ultrasonic-cleaners/?p=1200269

 

Nothing said about how well they work unfortunately.

[Jub45565]

Hi OzzyO,

 

Yes it is these two:

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/jpl-8050-h-professional-ultrasonic-cleaner-25l-a74jk

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/jpl-8060-h-professional-ultrasonic-cleaner-3-l-a91lw

 

Both available a bit cheaper either on Amazon or via eBay.  I gathered from earlier sections if this topic that the drain valve and degassing features would be worth having, but as Arthur notes while there is discussion on the availability of these models within the topic there isn't any feedback after purchase!

 

Cheers,

[ozzyo]

I would always say get the biggest one that you can A) afford and b) can fit in the workshop.

 

The drain is a good idea and one that I would always say to have.

 

I have only had two U/S cleaners and the second one is the better of the two.

 

OzzyO.

[Daddyman]

I've had a look at the first couple of pages of this thread and have my finger hovering over the "buy" button for a Maplin ultrasonic cleaner with a good-sized bath for I

£90: https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/jpl-8050-h-professional-ultrasonic-cleaner-25l-a74jk

 

At the same time I'm also looking at a Badger 260 mini sandblaster, and I suspect that those of you who can answer my USC question can also answer my question about gritblasting. 

 

Right, so I'm convinced that USCs get models clean. OzzyO's photos on the first page give incontrovertible evidence as to their effectiveness. But playing devil's advocate here a bit, I'm less convinced that models need to be that clean - do they? Is this just a solution in search of a problem? I can understand why jewellery needs to be untarnished, and why a dentist's tools need to be sterile - but models? What's the difference in terms of paint adherence (the only reason we clean models) between a model cleaned in the traditional way, and one cleaned in a USC? Or should I be thinking of the USC less in terms of reducing tarnishing and more in terms of getting crud out of tricky corners? 

 

Regarding the gritblaster, what is this actually capable of? I have a cheap Chinese one off ebay, and it's absolute junk. After two minutes it almost removes marks with a Sharpie on brass! I want something that will remove solder, especially in hard-to-get-at corners. I'd like the gritblaster to cut down on the number of fibre-glass refills I get through (Ian Rathbone said he'd never seen so many fibres on a loco he'd been given to paint! - perhaps this answers my USC question!). Am I right to expect this tool to be able to remove solder? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

[N15class]

As for needing to be clean yes it does brass is a difficult metal to get paint to stick.

If the grit blaster will remove solder it will destroy any white metal. Use less solder and remove most excess by using scrappers made from brass or steel sharpened like a wood chisel. Then polish with glass fibre brush and clean with grit blaster to give key for the paint.

[Daddyman]

As for needing to be clean yes it does brass is a difficult metal to get paint to stick.

If the grit blaster will remove solder it will destroy any white metal. Use less solder and remove most excess by using scrappers made from brass or steel sharpened like a wood chisel. Then polish with glass fibre brush and clean with grit blaster to give key for the paint.

Thanks, Peter. 

[Sandy Harper]

I've had a look at the first couple of pages of this thread and have my finger hovering over the "buy" button for a Maplin ultrasonic cleaner with a good-sized bath for I

£90: https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/jpl-8050-h-professional-ultrasonic-cleaner-25l-a74jk

 

At the same time I'm also looking at a Badger 260 mini sandblaster, and I suspect that those of you who can answer my USC question can also answer my question about gritblasting. 

 

Right, so I'm convinced that USCs get models clean. OzzyO's photos on the first page give incontrovertible evidence as to their effectiveness. But playing devil's advocate here a bit, I'm less convinced that models need to be that clean - do they? Is this just a solution in search of a problem? I can understand why jewellery needs to be untarnished, and why a dentist's tools need to be sterile - but models? What's the difference in terms of paint adherence (the only reason we clean models) between a model cleaned in the traditional way, and one cleaned in a USC? Or should I be thinking of the USC less in terms of reducing tarnishing and more in terms of getting crud out of tricky corners? 

 

Regarding the gritblaster, what is this actually capable of? I have a cheap Chinese one off ebay, and it's absolute junk. After two minutes it almost removes marks with a Sharpie on brass! I want something that will remove solder, especially in hard-to-get-at corners. I'd like the gritblaster to cut down on the number of fibre-glass refills I get through (Ian Rathbone said he'd never seen so many fibres on a loco he'd been given to paint! - perhaps this answers my USC question!). Am I right to expect this tool to be able to remove solder? 

 

Thanks in advance! 

Cheap grit blasters are rubbish. You need the industrial variety with an enclosed box and a powerful compressor. The value of a USC is made obvious by the amount of crud left in the bottom of the bath after a cleaning session, and that is after the usual scrubbing in Viakal etc!!!

Sandy

[EKR]

Check the size of the items you want to clean before you buy.

The internal basket will be your limiting factor.

[Bucoops]

Hi All, quick question - any reason why you can't use a smaller tanked cleaner and use it to clean one end then the other? Or does the piece have to be totally immersed?

 

Thanks

[Siberian Snooper]

Hi All, quick question - any reason why you can't use a smaller tanked cleaner and use it to clean one end then the other? Or does the piece have to be totally immersed?

 

Thanks

I to do that with my longer coaches, but is a bit of a pain as it needs 4 passes, right way up each end and upside down for each end. If you can get one long enough to get your longest vehicle in, in one go I would go for it.

[Bucoops]

I to do that with my longer coaches, but is a bit of a pain as it needs 4 passes, right way up each end and upside down for each end. If you can get one long enough to get your longest vehicle in, in one go I would go for it.

 

Thank you - as much as I'd like to, I want to be able to build Mk1s and maybe even Mk2s at some point so that would mean a usable length of ~270mm - which if you rule out the cheapo Chinese unbranded units gets very expensive

[jdb82]

I'm considering buying an ultrasonic cleaner to prepare my models for painting. This is possibly a daft question, so apologies for my ignorance.....

My current project definitely has plenty of general muck and grime that an ultrasonic cleaner would remove, but does it also remove the general tarnishing of the brass you get as you handle it, and the brass oxidises? I suppose what I'm asking is, can I just pop my tarnished bare brass (as it were....) into the cleaner for x minutes and have it come out all gleaming and shiny? That sounds far too simple!! As always, your advice would be treasured :-)

[Enterprisingwestern]

A USC will only remove dirt and crud loosely attached to the surface of the metal, eg, flux, filings and such like, fingerprints etc are a chemical reaction which it won't deal with, but, having said that, if you are spraying the brass after immersion it won't matter.

 

Mike.

[jdb82]

A USC will only remove dirt and crud loosely attached to the surface of the metal, eg, flux, filings and such like, fingerprints etc are a chemical reaction which it won't deal with, but, having said that, if you are spraying the brass after immersion it won't matter.

 

Mike.

Thanks - that’s helpful :-) So just to confirm then, that a bit of tarnishing has no effect once airbrushed with primer? If you’ve not guessed, I’m a painting virgin.....just working on my first loco currently. Loving it, but learning as I go!