IMPORTANT!: To the many people who have emphasised the importance of placing grommets around the cabling going through the metal chassis, rest assured THIS HAS BEEN DONE, it just doesn't appear in the video. The chassis has also been earthed.
I'm sorry this video was a little disappointing from a safety perspective. I was crinching at this project nearing the end with the same two issues everyone was mentioning - the poor mains cable management and the lack of overall earthing. This project is an earth leakage and shock potential nightmare. You really should put a disclaimer at the start of the video even though in the comments here you say you have done all of this which is gfreat. It is so important. To not know to do this (the earthing especially), or understand the requirement to do so from the very start doesn't give much confidence. Harsh words I know and I'm sorry. Please understand, that those driver boards don't appear to have isolation on the primary side (I need to see the PCB underside) so any failure of a transducer (letting the smoke out) could easily cause the sink and stand to become live so proper earthing is paramount.
That's fine, but you need to make the need for earthing clear in your video and on your schematic. Other people may follow this method and not think about it. This is a particularly hazardous project with a metal chassis containing water, and mains power beneath. A low power control panel using 12v to drive relays switching the mains power would also have been a nice safety feature. Otherwise - great project.
4:48 When using multiple transducers with separate power supplies, they may not run in sync, leading to destructive interference and reduced cavitation due to mutual cancellation rather than constructive interference for amplification. The outcome can be a bit of a hit-or-miss situation. To enhance the performance of multiple transducers, synchronization is generally advisable. Additionally, you might explore a more advanced approach, such as optimizing the transducer positions in the bath and calculating wave propagation through the liquid. By strategically offsetting synchronization between transducers, you could potentially achieve a targeted "aiming" effect, thus increasing cleaning power in specific regions.
Maybe some ultrasonic drivers offer a way to synchronize the frequency with other drivers? Also I wonder if you could tune the sink and water combination so they resonate at the cleaning frequency
The distance between the transducers is much greater than the wavelength anyhow. There’s going to be nodes and anti nodes throughout that tank. I suspect it would be a problem if you had transducers much closer to each other than the height of the water column, but I doubt it matters here. I’m more worried that if these are self-resonant drivers, will they work with two transducers on them each.
@@JayWye52 The wavelength is on the order of 3cm, so that’s plausible. Having some forced water flow would cause the contents to not remain in one place and hence never sit in a hot-spot for long, same reason microwave ovens have a turntable.
Please use some nylon bushings for the holes where your AC cables pass through, the vibrations overtime will wear through the insulation on the cables. Also make sure you earth the housing, and the tub if you can.
@@BranchusCreations I've always used automotive heater and fuel/gasoline hose for stuff like that. Split it lengthwise, wrap what you need, then ziptie, hoseclamp, whatever to clamp it over what you want to protect. fuel hose for smaller stuff, heater for larger. fuel hose is 2 different types of rubber tube with rope fibers woven in, very strong, abrasion resistant stuff for pretty cheap. Useful for a TON of stuff. Same for vibration resistant standoffs, isolators, etc Edit: FWIW, on future silver soldering you do in the future, the bolts were way too cold. You want to see what's called "the flash". You don't want to lay a sausage of half melted solder down, then keep blasting it and melt it fully on the part. You want the parts hot enough (both bolt and base) that the moment the solder is touched to the metal, the METAL melts the solder, and it instantly gets sucked into the gap. A bead of silver 'flashes' around the full circumference of the bolt. Then you can add more if you like for a larger fillet. By heating it that way then melting it, you can have a pocket of air / trapped flux under the bolt. Oh also, you didn't know which pin was for L and which for N. The fuse to the bottom right of the AC in connector, will go to L. So look at the traces at the bottom of the PCB. Chances are the bottom (in your video where you show the 3 boards) pin is Live, since the fuse is right there. Opposite of what you chose. That means if the DC - is connected to neutral (non-isolated topology), even if the fuse pops, the tank could be LIVE!
Here in Au these are called cable “glands”. Any electrical wholesaler will help with these. Please get some asap and run your AC cable through the chassis using these.
@@tronicit Ah, I meant in general, not specifically through a holes sharp metal edges, though it would work. I'm in agreement about cable glands. The hose method I said above is about anywhere abrasion can happen in general, in which this build has MANY!
something my shop teacher taught me way back in the day. You can fill your ultrasonic cleaner with just generic water. then put your cleaning solution into a mason jar (glass jar) with a loosely fit top not falling off loose but closed enough if the bottle tips over the solution wont mix. the glass wont shatter, and your cleaning solution isnt 50l of waste. plus you can have multiple cleaning solutions/strengths in the same tub and not have to waste time for one thing at a time. hope this helps super cool you got this workin good luck with everything. wish that was in my garage.
Nice tutorial! I know soldering tips are a dime a dozen but by my experience the easiest way for this type of application is to cut and wrap a little piece of the soldering wire around your stud and cover it with flux before heating. That protects the solder itself from oxidizing and it'll flow into the joint as soon as the heat is right.
It never ceases to amaze me how this tech community has such similar interests. The number of "random" videos I've seen you comment always surprises me!
Great build! I worked in Pharma industry for about 40 years & we had several large ultrasonic cleaners. Your foil test is a great way to show performance. From experience, I would add a couple thoughts: 1. If possible, place items in a basket which does not touch the bottom of the tank. Heavy items resting directly on the tank dampen the vibrations. 2. Be careful to never drop items into the tank. The epoxy bond on the transducers may break and destroy the transducers and/or drivers. Using a basket reduces this risk.
Very cool! If this was a commercial product I'd definitely buy it! Seems like spot welding those studs on to the tub would be way easier than brazing them on... They sell cheap stud welders that are intended for welding 'pulling studs' onto panels when pulling dents out of a car in an auto body shop, might be a great tool to make that job easier if you have to do it again!
I came here to say the same! I'd forgotten about those dent puller rigs. I have used stud welders to support my wire ways while building ships. They were basically a combo MIG/spot welder.
@@Hawk7886 Yes I understand that. But apart from this one I've never seen one that actually doubles as a sink, which I think is a very clever idea! That's what I was referring to when I said "I would buy this if it was a commercial product". I already have several smaller ultrasonic cleaners, and they're often a pain to use because changing fluids in them is annoying. This design solves that problem very nicely!
This is an awesome project. I have an idea about using this behemoth. When you have small parts to clean perhaps requiring chemicals and you don't want to "contaminate" the entire tank, put the items in a plastic bag like a zip-lock to isolate it from the media in the tank. Then you won't waste cleaner agent / solvents in the 4 or 5 gallon tank. I have a very small unit that I have never had to clean by doing this and I use tap water as the media in the tank. The ultrasonic energy goes right through the bag and cleans what ever is inside. It also prevents the family jewels from going down the drain!
I've seen suggestions to use small glass beakers, as the glass doesn't dampen any vibration. The soft plastic bags don't reduce the effectiveness noticeably?
@@somebodyelse6673 Well glass has mass that has to be moved back and forth and that takes energy so glass does dampen the vibration converting it to heat. The plastic is low mass and very flexible and therefore mostly transparent to the vibrations.
@@Bodhi1satva Yes I put H2O in the tank and then put the bag of items and whatever solvent, soap or scrubbing agent in the sealed bag. Then that goes into the tank of water.
please start using wire grommets i know its frustrating but it adds so much peace of mind whether it be for the wire shielding or your hands...and since it vibrates sharp edges will have fun over months till one day pop bang ow
I worked for CAE Utlrasonics you are spot on except we spot welded the bolts to the tank then used a formaldehyde based epoxy. Well done! my job was to repair the electronic Generators as they were called.
I had a newly restored Triumph Spitfire, and the bonnet (hood) went 'boing' over every bump. Dad got one spot in the middle of (my newly painted) bonnet hot, and hit the bump flat with a hammer and dolly. No more 'boing'. £200 pounds for the respray . I was 19 and out of cash.......
A heat gun, some dry ice, and a hard plastic mallet might have shrunk your bonnet enough to get the stress out of the stretched metal without marring the paint. It’s a process but it works once you understand it
Sir, this is fantastic. I love how you include all of the details as well as all of the examples of possible pitfalls. For me, you have a perfect demeanor and an enjoyable method of conveying the information. I look forward to watching more of your content.
Save cleanup time by applying the flux to the bolt and then the bolt to the sink. More is just more cleanup and not better. Only the gap between the bolt and the sink needs flux because only that area benefits from solder.
Very sweet build, you have fixed a lot of the issues with your previous cleaner. Just a couple of suggestions though: 1. You're using cheap Chinese mains powered drivers so please braze a bolt to the tub to use as an earth. 2. Please do something about the cables running into the mains box. Either make the hole larger and use a grommet, or preferably use a nylon cable gland to prevent the cable being pulled out and water getting in. Single insulated mains wire up against metal edges is a recipe for disaster and I don't want you to die. 3. Instead of the ferrules, just strip a section out of the middle of the wire and solder it directly, it ends up a much neater job.
Thanks, very informative. I am experimenting with the idea of using ultrasonic cavitation to speed up cold brew coffee making in a five gallon keg. The keg is being slowly rotated so a battery source will need to be used (my dad was a slip ring engineer, not going that route). I doubt I will need the same capacity of an ultrasonic cleaner but just enough to vibrate the coffee grounds inside the keg. Coffee geeks have been experimenting with this idea for years...
This is a great video and an amazing project. Some quick tips about silver soldering. Solder tends not to flow where there is no flux. More flux is not helpful. When soldering parts that have different thicknesses, pre-heat the part with more mass to reduce distortion of the thinner part. Not applicable to your project but never solder parts that are under stress such as bent plumbing fittings or press fit pieces. This can cause a liquid metal fracture.
Love this, Bruce. We made our own 137-gallon ultra sonic tank. But, we need a lot more watts. Had 40 trunnions and 3600 watts. Probably going to buy three more generators at 2400 watts each.
Yet another excellent video. Others would do well to learn from you about how to present information. I just disassembled a small 4-cyl engine and it was covered in grease and grim, inside and out. I need an ultrasonic cleaner but the reviews for the "usual" ones have many negative comments. After watching both of your videos, I'm now confident enough to build my own kitchen sink cleaner. Thank you for sharing. I'll let you know how it goes.
I just came across your channel, and i watched all you ultrasonic cleaners videos one after another, great channel, well informative and you have a great skill of explaining things, i've always loved ultrasonic cleaners but i never knew or searched how it works, but now i know and that's my project for the next month, thank you sir, keep up the good work!!
Lots of fun watching your journey in building these ultrasonic cleaners. It seems that you do like to take them to the next level so I suggest using an Arduino to add a few functions: 1. digital flow meter for the tank filling with control and automatic selection of power required backed by 2 non contact liquid level sensors for alarms in overfilling or leak detection . 2. Turbidity sensor for replacement of dirty cleaning liquid in time. 3. I use some mild acids or caustics sometimes for cleaning and you can add a PH sensor and a dispensing pump for the solution to set the desired PH level. 4. Last but not least remote monitoring and control so you can reactivate the cycle if you are away from the cleaner and doing something else e.g. the cleaner is in the workshop and you decided to do some gardening. Now, to really get Sci-Fi I would set up a system for automated drain and filtering of the cleaning solution and refill with a rinse agent. I would then set up some halogen lights on the lid so when the lid is reverts you turn the inside into a dryer. This way you would have a multi purpose 3 in 1 device, Ultrasonic cleaner, rinse and dryer. Now that would free up some serious gardening time! I love to overengineer my projects to max! Why? Because it is possible and fun!
Hi Bruce. Great video! Just a thought when using multiple transducers -- before 'deploying' them, it might be a good idea to take a multimeter and measure the resistance of each transducer and write it somewhere on the transducer body. This would facilitate two things. First, one could arrange the transducers from low to high resistance, and pair them into sets of two accordingly so that each pair is "matched" to one another. Secondly, if you develop a problem in the future with one of the pairs, it would be easy enough to unsolder a wire from one of the terminals on a suspect transducer, measure its resistance, and compare its "new" reading to the original resistance written on the transducer. That might help in troubleshooting defective (open, shorted, etc.) transducers. Also, if the transducers do indeed exhibit a polarity, it might be good to measure the resistance with the multimeter leads connected one way, and then reverse the leads to measure the resistance in the opposite direction. Given that they are designed to work with high [ultrasonic] frequency alternating current, I doubt they would exhibit any kind of DC polarity, but rather the "positive" (+) and "negative" (-) terminals allow for correct phasing of the AC signal to each transducer. Again, thanks for the great video. -- Ken
@@oliverer3 Resistance is still one part of impedance. Measuring the reactance might be a bit to much asked from a non EE. Getting at least the resistance matched might help pair transducers with a ballpark estimate.
Measuring the DC resistance wouldn’t be useful. Capacitance would be mildly useful if these were broadband transducers but these are high Q resonant piezo stacks that are tuned by the bolt tension. The only useful measurements would be the resonance frequency and admittance at that frequency of each driver after installation. Some of the ultrasonic cleaners I have worked with will auto match to the most efficient frequency corresponding to the transducers resonance peak. In this case matching transducers resonant frequency is essential.
@@depthsounderdave You're absolutely correct. I should have realized the devices were capacitive or piezoelectric, such that simple DC resistance measurements would be meaningless. Thanks for the correction to my incomplete logic process.
Great build, I remember SC had an article on a build a little while ago, I am still putting mine together, I have a largrer one, I managed to obtain a old very thick double laundry sink from a metal scrap yard in Sydney a while back.
I've really enjoyed going on this journey with you. Showing your mistakes and missteps is really important. Making errors is the only way to learn, and is something that building and prototyping really teaches you: the importance of failing. Thanks for the videos, tutorials, and the correct pronunciation of "solder"
The waves will cancel out to some degree and more so when they become 180 degrees out of phase from one another. You may mitigate the problem by spacing and aiming the transducers so that there are fewer cancellations.The spacing will depend on the frequencies you intend to run them and this is assuming you are placing them so as the all face the same direction. Changing the angles of the transducers would add more or less modes in three dimensions and make the math a little more trickier. While the math exists to find the specific spacing, one could experiment by using a plate with sand on top. Place two transducers vibrating underneath the plate. You will see the modes in action and where the sound is at its highest amplitude and in which spot. If you want to see this in action, you can look up "modes audio sand" in RUclips to see some examples. At least thats what I remember from an acoustics class I took three or four years ago. Although, we were working in the 20 Hz to 20000 Hz of the human hearing range. May work different in the land of ultrasonics as the wavelengths are shorter which may make for more complicated models.
destructive interference being any real problem - yeah no, that will not happen. For that the drivers would need to be in sync, so at best it could happen to 2 emitters being driven by 1 driver, and even then only for very small regions and those will also constantly change place. So nah, not a problem. Even for the audible range it is the same. Having many people playing the same notes on a Violine right next to each other will not lead to any perceivable destructive interference. To get that you basically need to have 1 pure signal that you are sending to 2 speakers and then be at a very exact position.
What most people don't realize as well is that each transducer is oscillating at a slightly different frequency, and likely drifting very slightly as well. The driver boards are not quartz-locked. As a result there will actually be phasing going on, so at some points the waves will be adding and at others they'll be subtracting but never cancelling. At 40 kHz, these effects won't even matter.
Wow that's a great video. Thank you. Really really interesting to see how these work are. I use small ultrasonic cleaners a lot of the time but I've never bothered to see what is actually inside the box of tricks., it really is quite simple to knock one up yourself by the looks of it. Thanks a lot for the excellent tutorial. Watching this I really think I am going to make one for myself, the prices of the pieces are not that expensive and you do not need to be so elaborate in the wiring as the original poster has been. He even supplies the 3D printed files for free. Amazing poster. Thanks a million.
All is in a name; what is yours? Precise, concise, to the point, good cinematography, well shown and perfectly tested. Thanks; it must have taken time to elaborate. I appreciate.EDIT: sorry, Bruce. I just saw your OTHER video.
When soldering electronic, I pre-solder (tinning) the contact and wire. That could be done here. Solder applies to the sink and to the nut, then the nut is added to the sink and soldered again. Should make a better contact as solder doesn't have to try and flow between the nut and sink.
They work I used 2 cold mist humidifier transducers and drivers and it does work the problem is putting your hand in the water .it can be very painful but if you remember to shut it off before you stuck your fingers in it works
I used to make these out of 30L restaurant mixing bowls and reclaimed cabinets. The circuit boards/drivers were about the only part it took me a while to source until they started making kits for this. While shopping for a third set some years ago, I saw an industrial unit on ebay and threw out some stupid lowball number to the seller, fully expecting a no. Yeah, it went into my home lab and works so well that I've never turned on the heater. It will easily heat up the huge tank to 45*C just running for 30 minutes. Takes about 3 hours to drain through the pitiful drain cock, so pumps are necessary. That's about the only part I miss vs the big bowl (though your drain exit would solve that problem even better). Totally dig this approach though, and it's a lot smarter to use a sink basin. Corner filling old cabinets is a bit of a pain. 👍
Earthing on tub and stand is absolutely necessary and you should bush the holes where cables pass through the sheet metal. The enclosures you made for the drivers don’t seem to have any ventilation holes apart from the fan mounting but you’ll need air flow to get any benefit from the fans. Likely you would get far less distortion of the the stainless tub by using a TIG welder to apply quick spot welds to the mounting studs. Interesting project, it will be interesting to see how it performs and how reliable the components are
There is ventilation under the board, so the fan pulls air from under the board and then up and out through the fan hole. You are the first person to mention that, so congrats on your observation skills. I now have grommets around the wires that pass through the metal, I just don't show it in the video.
About the polarity and cancelling each other out, that would matter if they were all on the same controller. Because they use 6 different controllers with no sync, they likely drift in and out of sync and cancelling randomly. Their oscillators will all be running at slightly different speeds. There is also the speed of sound in water, distance apart etc. I wouldn't worry about it.
The output from the driver to the transducers is not DC but high frequency AC. The + and - signs are probably there to indicate the phase in similar manner to loudspeaker terminals. I wonder if the ultrasonic power could be increased if the outputs from the drivers could be somehow synchronized instead of each one running with independent oscillator.
WOW that came out REALLY professional looking, very nice. By the way it beat up the aluminum it works really good to. I have a good sized ultrasonic cleaner that I keep only water in, all the parts I clean go into heavy duty zip lock bags or plastic containers with my cleaning agent in them. This saves me from wasting expensive cleaners and having to dispose of large amounts of cleaner. Hopefully this wasn't an old tip to you or is a new tip to others that read this. Thank you for the video 😊
This is a great guide to making a larger sized ultrasonic cleaner. It would be interesting to see the foil test done with different combiations of transducer switched on - does it only clean in certain places or is it just "gentler" overall, and how does it affect the amount of fluid you can place in the sink?
I've recently discovered the din rail terminal blocks. Now every problem looks like it would like to be solved with this specific nail. I'd probably done the distribution and driver/PSU in din rail enclosures, and would have run individual wires to each driver. That way the pattern is easily rewireable without soldering, just changing over a few contacts on the terminal block. There are also premade meanwell PSUs for din rail. Also, since you got two holes for taps, you could use one of them to store cleaning solutions you commonly use in a jug underneath with a small pump to feed it back up into the tub. That way you could drain the solution into the jug after using, and no dust or debris falls into the sink, it remains usable as a normal sink until need it to clean again, where you can quickly rinse the tub to get rid of the previously airborne dust, then pump the cleaning solution back up from the jug, and start cleaning. Of cause that requires diversion in the drain, but could be scalable to a few different kinds of solvent-soaked solutions, choosable with a flick of a switch ;)
The connectors on the transducers are clearly made for some kind of ring terminal and a bolt/nut fastening scheme. A little loctite on those should make them hold.
From my experience here in Brazil, with ultrasonic bathtubs, over time, the metals that are cleaned will release residues and the vibration of the residues in the water will sand the sink until the metal becomes very thin and the weight of the speakers will collapse the sink. Ultrasonic bathtubs that use professional water inlets and outlets have a much longer useful life, because the water circulates inside the sink and the dirty water is carried away, so the dirt does not sand the sink. Therefore, given the power you used, it would be more interesting to have a constant water inlet and a constant water flow to prevent the sink from collapsing, increasing the useful life of the system.
when you show your video on the operation of the tub please show the grounding and other safety issues, you are running electrical power under the same sink as all that wiring so keeping it safe is key. I hope to see the follow on soon, this is a great build as I am in the process of gathering materials to do exactly the same thing! I have to learn how to silvver solder, had not planned on that, but I am learning from your pain! thanks
Great video. Thanks for posting. The only thing I would recommend is to make sure to put some protective shielding on the rough edges of the pass through holes from your control panel into the main cabinet to prevent the sharp edges from chafing away at the wire insulation.
Watched both of your DIY videos on building a sonic cleaners. It appears that you have done quite a bit of research and development on this project. I'm now a subscriber because of your professional presentation. I've just realized that most of my YT subscriptions are for Aussie creators. Not sure what that means, just an observation.
Came up just in time on my feed. Building an ultrasonic cleaner/whiskey aging device soon, just waiting on the rest of the parts. I did wonder about attaching the transducers... figured *just* epoxy wouldnt be right. Fortunately we have silver solder and flux in the workshop already!
Hey mate, great vid. At the end, it says watch future vids to see you testing different things getting cleaned, but i can't find any of your testing vids for this DIY sink, did you end up making one? Cheers
You should ensure that the air inside the base is ventilated. (It is not clear from the video). The individual fans area good idea but if they are circulating air to and from a stagnant enclosure then the air will heat up. Suggest that you install a fan to ventilate the base with ambient air.
Ya know, why not make my sink an ultrasonic cleaner too. Kinda brilliant. Definitely want to see it tested as a laundry machine. If it can clean clothes gently and effectively I'm definitely building one.
close to the end of the video it showed wires going through holes drilled in metal. you want a plastic jacket ir some electrical tape to protect the wires. Over time the jacket will wear and youll get a dead short. I love this project.
I like the design I think you did a good job the only issue I can see right now is you didn't use grommets to run the wires through the metal housing of the base which could eventually rub and short out.
Nice project. Thanks. Quick comment re your soldering of the transducers.... I agree that high heat and fast application is the way to go, but your technique belies that. You're applying heat twice where only once is needed. The tabs are tinned. you don't need to "blob" them (a quick rub with sandpaper will remove any oxide that might have built up if that is one of your reasons for blobbing). More importantly though, you're not making a mechanical connection. That's what the hole in the tab is for. Pass the wire through, twist to make sure that it has a good mechanical and electrical connection and then a fast in and out with the soldering iron - one hit of heat. Solder is primarily a means of holding things in place and shouldn't be the primary means of enabling current flow. Solder connections are sensitive to both degradation/corrosion of the solder and mechanical problems (which, given the environment that you're using the transducers in, is highly likely). The joint can also be supported with a heat shrink sleeve (or rubber sleeve) to reduce those problems. One last thought. You're permanently fixing a transducer without testing it first. That makes me uncomfortable 🙂. Not sure how you might test them safely, but it could potentially save a lot of grief down the line.
Your "little connectors" are called Molex connectors. I used them by the ton in Amateur Radio. Also, instead of soldering the wiring to the transducers, have you thought about using heavy gauge terminal connectors? You could crimp the wires into the connectors (add a bit of solder if you like just for good measure) and then just slip the terminal connector over the lug of the transducer. If the terminal connector is a bit wiggly you can crimp them down a bit for a snugger fit. No heat involved and easily removable if, for any reason, you should want to do so.
Never solder crimp terminals or ferrules. It it electrically not required but increases the risk of fatigue fractures of the copper strands, especially in applications that are exposed to vibrations.
Is there a reason not to use crimped ring terminals to connect the wires to the transducers, using machine screws, nuts and lock washers? Soldering is fun, but might this be simpler and easier to service? Just a thought, Thanks for the excellent video.
Only thing I can think of is vibration. The vibration might shake the bolt/nuts loose. But then again, with a proper tightened bolt/nut, that shouldn't be an issue anyways. And also, with a bad solder joint, you'd have exactly the same problem: that too can shake loose/crack under vibrations, so no benefits there (in fact it would be worse as the wire would fall off immediately and flap around making contact with stuff it isn't suppose to. With a loose wirenut the wire would spark, but would at least still be fastened to the eyelet, at first).... So, yeah, I would simply use ring terminals with bolt/nut and lock washers, and make sure the bolts are a bit longer than needed with an extra locknut so in case they do come loose, they don't fall off immediately.
@notfiveo The arching is not the issue here. You'll get that either way. eg: broken soldering joint. Which might be even way worse since the wire will now be flapping about loose in the enclosure and can make contact with anything, including the tub itself. This is much more dangerous than just arching between a wire and its respective inducer, if the wire itself is still attached to the inducer via the screw/nut. However, from tests I've done, I've seen some broken soldering joints (from bad soldering in the first place maybe). But _none_ of the _proper_ attachments made with screw/locknuts have come loose after prolonged running of the inducer. Of course you need to tiden them properly. I'm not saying they will _never_ come loose. But IF they come loose, it would be way more safe than solder joints braking. And if they come loose (you'll hear them ratling, and/or something electrical brakes like your driver), it is time to fix.... That said, I am interested in having driver automatically detect if something is wrong. Would that be possible? Like checking the resistance over the inducer, eg. I assume, when a loose joint is there, it will also be detected since the arching introduces more(?) resistance and/or peak power usages. Ether way, I'm not convinced at all that just soldering is stronger (as in: less prone to failure + the lesser safety issue) than a _proper_ mechanical joint with long bold and locknuts. More specific testing needs to be done. (note, I'm not talking industrial strength ultrasonics though... those... yeah, they can shake anything loose, apart or even atomize)
Suggestion: A good mechanical connection is also good before soldering. I would wrap the wire around the connection and then put some flux on it then solder it. Your way will work too, of course.
When brazing - continuously try to add the brazing rod until its melting on the surface.. you'll know you've applied enough heat when the brazing rod wicks into the joint. It's no different to what you see when soldering with a cold vs wet joint. That way you aren't turning things cherry red and potentially tempering the steel. You want to avoid things glowing red if possible.
Agree with your comment, I seem to recall during my apprentice training half a century ago the part on silver soldering included the comment; when looking at a silver solder joint (rather than brazing which is different) what you can see isn't doing anything! i.e. the silver solder will follow the heat, only the silver solder underneath the stud is doing any work.
@@DangarousMandarineLP You can't spot weld a stud.. A spot welder melts the material between the contact points of the electrodes. It's not going to make enough heat to melt a stud to stainless (ignoring that it would be nearly impossible to find a spot welder that can clamp wide enough to fit the stud between the probes). Do you mean tack welds?
@@ryanokeefe12 No, what I meant was stud welding. That was lost in translation. Basically a spot welder made for welding internally or externally threaded studs to things. You insert the stud in the gun and weld it to the material with an electronic discharge.
I've had really good luck just letting the silver soldered joint sit overnight in a humid area. In the morning the flux is like a powdery substance that rinses off with cool water very easily. It seems to absorb the moisture slowly.
Is there a follow up video for this? I am not seeing one. I was hoping to see a video and if there were any down sides or if this is actually using more power than just a standard washing machine.
Awesome idea! Love the video as well as the comments - may have to try something like this myself. Ultrasonic cleaners rock and can be used for all kinds of things. There are sinks with the drains offset, but since you have to have multiple transducers the drain in the center didn't seem to be that big of an obstacle to overcome.
Great video! You mentioned that you shut off some of your transducers. Would you be able to answer a question for me? I have a 3L ultrasonic cleaner with 2 transducers but one is dead. Is it ok (safe?) to run with just the one working transducer? My uneducated guess would say that it would work but just wouldn't be very efficient. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Carlo! Do you know if it's a dead transducer, or a dead driver? If it's the transducer, you should disconnect it first, as a failed transducer can damage the driver. Once disconnected, the cleaner should operate fine, but you may need to put a little less water in it to compensate for the reduced power output.
@BranchusCreations Thanks for the quick response! It's definitely the transducer. The cleaner ("won" in an online auction) arrived with one transducer detached. I reattached with JB Weld and did the tinfoil test and there was no pitting on the reattached transducer side. I will definitely disconnect the bad one and use less water. Fingers crossed!
Nice build. I've been making do with my little 2ltr unit, but I'm going to need bigger. Now I'll make rather than buy. Should give me a much larger unit. Cheers for the tips.
I like it! Thanks.2 things... I've found it handy to use MAPP gas for silver solder. And a sort-of question: transducer placement... The part of the maker community that makes flat-panel speakers has gotten great results from careful acoustic driver placement, I wonder if a similar analysis would be useful here, or if the frequency being so much higher mitigates the kind of effect that they see.
A tip for silver solder is to form a ring of solder and wrap it around the part you are soldering to. Once the part gets warm enough, the solder will melt and it will let you use less heat on the part and have a cleaner solder joint.
AC plug not grounded to the metal chassis of the whole assembly? Also wires through metal walls without grommets? (edit: I see other comments already covered that) Otherwise it all looks awesome! I wonder if electric welding of the studs is possible for these, they use Copper studs though, so probably not
A technique I’ve seen myfordboy use is to cut small bits of the solder and place them on the work piece before heating. The solder flows when it’s supposed to. I tried a similar technique last week repairing some copper pipe and it seems to work.
Anyone who says the waves (when all in the same polarity ) cancel doesn't understand how waves act, if anything the waves interacting can multiply the output, but next time some one says 'no they'll cancel out'.. ask them if they stand in the middle of a set of speakers do they cancel each other out? Or if they watch a wave generator do the waves cancel each other out.. Neat project.
What most people don't realize as well is that each transducer is oscillating at a slightly different frequency, and likely drifting very slightly as well. The driver boards are not quartz-locked. As a result there will actually be phasing going on, so at some points the waves will be adding and at others they'll be subtracting but never cancelling. At 40 kHz, these effects won't even matter.
Anyone who says they can't cancel out does not understand how waves work. They do. That's exactly how noise cancelling headphones work. Its called constructive interference, and destructive interference.
For transducer, its better to use U shape terminal connector and physically clamp the cable (you can also soldering after just in case) before connect it with screw and nut. Because if you run it continuously for long period of time, the transducer will still get too hot and the soldering joint will eventually loose because of the ultrasonic action and heat.
Very nice job! One thing though, you might consider deburring the holes in the cabinet where the AC cables pass through. It looked like there were some sizable burrs around the holes, and you don't want them cutting through the insulation. Might even add grommets. (not Wallace and Grommet though)!
Loved your video. If you had it available, and Oxy Acetylene torch would have been a better choice for Silver Solder. it would deliver more heat to your area allowing the parts to fuse together more quickly. You did manage to get the job done with a propane torch which probably avoided burning a hole in your sink.
Bruce, seeing your previous videos started me on the path you are going down now so I can not wait to see you’re results. I’ve been looking on marketplace to see if I can find a similar sized tank or sink for this purpose. I hope this works out well!!
Great video - I'm working on my first build. Can I ask what / where your primary power connection to the board is? I need one (the white female on the end of your primary power cord).
IMPORTANT!: To the many people who have emphasised the importance of placing grommets around the cabling going through the metal chassis, rest assured THIS HAS BEEN DONE, it just doesn't appear in the video. The chassis has also been earthed.
I pleased to see this reply, I was more than a little concerned about the earth connection as it wasn't mentioned in the video. Great job
I'm sorry this video was a little disappointing from a safety perspective. I was crinching at this project nearing the end with the same two issues everyone was mentioning - the poor mains cable management and the lack of overall earthing. This project is an earth leakage and shock potential nightmare. You really should put a disclaimer at the start of the video even though in the comments here you say you have done all of this which is gfreat. It is so important.
To not know to do this (the earthing especially), or understand the requirement to do so from the very start doesn't give much confidence. Harsh words I know and I'm sorry. Please understand, that those driver boards don't appear to have isolation on the primary side (I need to see the PCB underside) so any failure of a transducer (letting the smoke out) could easily cause the sink and stand to become live so proper earthing is paramount.
That's fine, but you need to make the need for earthing clear in your video and on your schematic. Other people may follow this method and not think about it. This is a particularly hazardous project with a metal chassis containing water, and mains power beneath. A low power control panel using 12v to drive relays switching the mains power would also have been a nice safety feature. Otherwise - great project.
Glad you mentioned that you grounded it! I completely missed that during the video at a glimpse! :)
Even the mains bus bars are sketchy, it should have physical isolation between them
4:48
When using multiple transducers with separate power supplies, they may not run in sync, leading to destructive interference and reduced cavitation due to mutual cancellation rather than constructive interference for amplification. The outcome can be a bit of a hit-or-miss situation. To enhance the performance of multiple transducers, synchronization is generally advisable. Additionally, you might explore a more advanced approach, such as optimizing the transducer positions in the bath and calculating wave propagation through the liquid. By strategically offsetting synchronization between transducers, you could potentially achieve a targeted "aiming" effect, thus increasing cleaning power in specific regions.
Maybe some ultrasonic drivers offer a way to synchronize the frequency with other drivers? Also I wonder if you could tune the sink and water combination so they resonate at the cleaning frequency
The distance between the transducers is much greater than the wavelength anyhow. There’s going to be nodes and anti nodes throughout that tank. I suspect it would be a problem if you had transducers much closer to each other than the height of the water column, but I doubt it matters here.
I’m more worried that if these are self-resonant drivers, will they work with two transducers on them each.
@@Scrogan the areas of cancellation or reinforcement may be why his aluminum foil was so torn up.
@@JayWye52
The wavelength is on the order of 3cm, so that’s plausible. Having some forced water flow would cause the contents to not remain in one place and hence never sit in a hot-spot for long, same reason microwave ovens have a turntable.
Well done however I’m disappointed that we didn’t get to see you test the cleaning power on your socks or a T shirt with a food stain on it.
Please use some nylon bushings for the holes where your AC cables pass through, the vibrations overtime will wear through the insulation on the cables. Also make sure you earth the housing, and the tub if you can.
That's good advice, and is my plan.
@@BranchusCreations I've always used automotive heater and fuel/gasoline hose for stuff like that. Split it lengthwise, wrap what you need, then ziptie, hoseclamp, whatever to clamp it over what you want to protect. fuel hose for smaller stuff, heater for larger. fuel hose is 2 different types of rubber tube with rope fibers woven in, very strong, abrasion resistant stuff for pretty cheap. Useful for a TON of stuff. Same for vibration resistant standoffs, isolators, etc
Edit: FWIW, on future silver soldering you do in the future, the bolts were way too cold. You want to see what's called "the flash". You don't want to lay a sausage of half melted solder down, then keep blasting it and melt it fully on the part. You want the parts hot enough (both bolt and base) that the moment the solder is touched to the metal, the METAL melts the solder, and it instantly gets sucked into the gap. A bead of silver 'flashes' around the full circumference of the bolt. Then you can add more if you like for a larger fillet. By heating it that way then melting it, you can have a pocket of air / trapped flux under the bolt. Oh also, you didn't know which pin was for L and which for N. The fuse to the bottom right of the AC in connector, will go to L. So look at the traces at the bottom of the PCB. Chances are the bottom (in your video where you show the 3 boards) pin is Live, since the fuse is right there. Opposite of what you chose. That means if the DC - is connected to neutral (non-isolated topology), even if the fuse pops, the tank could be LIVE!
Here in Au these are called cable “glands”. Any electrical wholesaler will help with these. Please get some asap and run your AC cable through the chassis using these.
@@tronicit Ah, I meant in general, not specifically through a holes sharp metal edges, though it would work. I'm in agreement about cable glands. The hose method I said above is about anywhere abrasion can happen in general, in which this build has MANY!
@@tronicit glands are not what you want. They seal around the cable and stick out a lot, nylon bushings sit flush and just cover the metal. Im in Aus.
You should use glands where cable goes through steel to protect the cables from damage or a rubber grommet
something my shop teacher taught me way back in the day. You can fill your ultrasonic cleaner with just generic water. then put your cleaning solution into a mason jar (glass jar) with a loosely fit top not falling off loose but closed enough if the bottle tips over the solution wont mix. the glass wont shatter, and your cleaning solution isnt 50l of waste. plus you can have multiple cleaning solutions/strengths in the same tub and not have to waste time for one thing at a time. hope this helps super cool you got this workin good luck with everything. wish that was in my garage.
I just learned the same recently. I've never had one, but that's a brilliant solution (yes, pun intended).
Yes if you can keep the item and cleaning fluid contained and the whole device don't need cleaning fluid or to be cleaned after. It is a top tip
Nice tutorial! I know soldering tips are a dime a dozen but by my experience the easiest way for this type of application is to cut and wrap a little piece of the soldering wire around your stud and cover it with flux before heating. That protects the solder itself from oxidizing and it'll flow into the joint as soon as the heat is right.
It never ceases to amaze me how this tech community has such similar interests. The number of "random" videos I've seen you comment always surprises me!
@@lotmom messiah
Great build! I worked in Pharma industry for about 40 years & we had several large ultrasonic cleaners. Your foil test is a great way to show performance. From experience, I would add a couple thoughts:
1. If possible, place items in a basket which does not touch the bottom of the tank. Heavy items resting directly on the tank dampen the vibrations.
2. Be careful to never drop items into the tank. The epoxy bond on the transducers may break and destroy the transducers and/or drivers. Using a basket reduces this risk.
Very cool! If this was a commercial product I'd definitely buy it!
Seems like spot welding those studs on to the tub would be way easier than brazing them on... They sell cheap stud welders that are intended for welding 'pulling studs' onto panels when pulling dents out of a car in an auto body shop, might be a great tool to make that job easier if you have to do it again!
I came here to say the same! I'd forgotten about those dent puller rigs. I have used stud welders to support my wire ways while building ships. They were basically a combo MIG/spot welder.
Ultrasonic cleaners are already available commercially. One the size of an actual kitchen sink would be pretty expensive, though.
@@Hawk7886 Yes I understand that. But apart from this one I've never seen one that actually doubles as a sink, which I think is a very clever idea! That's what I was referring to when I said "I would buy this if it was a commercial product". I already have several smaller ultrasonic cleaners, and they're often a pain to use because changing fluids in them is annoying. This design solves that problem very nicely!
It is very thin , you need an master welder !
This is an awesome project. I have an idea about using this behemoth. When you have small parts to clean perhaps requiring chemicals and you don't want to "contaminate" the entire tank, put the items in a plastic bag like a zip-lock to isolate it from the media in the tank. Then you won't waste cleaner agent / solvents in the 4 or 5 gallon tank. I have a very small unit that I have never had to clean by doing this and I use tap water as the media in the tank. The ultrasonic energy goes right through the bag and cleans what ever is inside. It also prevents the family jewels from going down the drain!
BRILLIANT!
I've seen suggestions to use small glass beakers, as the glass doesn't dampen any vibration. The soft plastic bags don't reduce the effectiveness noticeably?
Do you put any liquid or solvent in the bag? If not where does the dirt, grease, rust etc. go, does it all just fall off into a dry bag?
@@somebodyelse6673 Well glass has mass that has to be moved back and forth and that takes energy so glass does dampen the vibration converting it to heat. The plastic is low mass and very flexible and therefore mostly transparent to the vibrations.
@@Bodhi1satva Yes I put H2O in the tank and then put the bag of items and whatever solvent, soap or scrubbing agent in the sealed bag. Then that goes into the tank of water.
please start using wire grommets i know its frustrating but it adds so much peace of mind whether it be for the wire shielding or your hands...and since it vibrates sharp edges will have fun over months till one day pop bang ow
Lots of comments on this already. This has already been done.
great video 21:12 the sign of a good 3d part designer of making the screw hole tapered so as to avoid supports
With all sincerity, I thank you for noticing!
Great idea. Going to make one for my wife too, dishes will be a snap now.
LOL - great idea!
I swear every video i watch of this guy the quality gets better and better (video and audio). Then the DIY creations keep improving.
Thank you, I try!
Watched this video after the first cleaner diy. Totally agree, super impressive.
I worked for CAE Utlrasonics you are spot on except we spot welded the bolts to the tank then used a formaldehyde based epoxy. Well done! my job was to repair the electronic Generators as they were called.
The time lapse showing the tub flexing under the solder flame heat load is oddly fascinating.
I had a newly restored Triumph Spitfire, and the bonnet (hood) went 'boing' over every bump. Dad got one spot in the middle of (my newly painted) bonnet hot, and hit the bump flat with a hammer and dolly. No more 'boing'. £200 pounds for the respray . I was 19 and out of cash.......
A heat gun, some dry ice, and a hard plastic mallet might have shrunk your bonnet enough to get the stress out of the stretched metal without marring the paint. It’s a process but it works once you understand it
Sir, this is fantastic. I love how you include all of the details as well as all of the examples of possible pitfalls. For me, you have a perfect demeanor and an enjoyable method of conveying the information. I look forward to watching more of your content.
Save cleanup time by applying the flux to the bolt and then the bolt to the sink. More is just more cleanup and not better. Only the gap between the bolt and the sink needs flux because only that area benefits from solder.
Good to know!
Very sweet build, you have fixed a lot of the issues with your previous cleaner.
Just a couple of suggestions though:
1. You're using cheap Chinese mains powered drivers so please braze a bolt to the tub to use as an earth.
2. Please do something about the cables running into the mains box. Either make the hole larger and use a grommet, or preferably use a nylon cable gland to prevent the cable being pulled out and water getting in. Single insulated mains wire up against metal edges is a recipe for disaster and I don't want you to die.
3. Instead of the ferrules, just strip a section out of the middle of the wire and solder it directly, it ends up a much neater job.
Thanks, very informative. I am experimenting with the idea of using ultrasonic cavitation to speed up cold brew coffee making in a five gallon keg. The keg is being slowly rotated so a battery source will need to be used (my dad was a slip ring engineer, not going that route). I doubt I will need the same capacity of an ultrasonic cleaner but just enough to vibrate the coffee grounds inside the keg. Coffee geeks have been experimenting with this idea for years...
This is a great video and an amazing project. Some quick tips about silver soldering. Solder tends not to flow where there is no flux. More flux is not helpful. When soldering parts that have different thicknesses, pre-heat the part with more mass to reduce distortion of the thinner part. Not applicable to your project but never solder parts that are under stress such as bent plumbing fittings or press fit pieces. This can cause a liquid metal fracture.
Love this, Bruce. We made our own 137-gallon ultra sonic tank. But, we need a lot more watts. Had 40 trunnions and 3600 watts. Probably going to buy three more generators at 2400 watts each.
Wow that's massive! What do you clean that you need that much space? Engine blocks?
@@RapTapTap69 following
Yet another excellent video. Others would do well to learn from you about how to present information. I just disassembled a small 4-cyl engine and it was covered in grease and grim, inside and out. I need an ultrasonic cleaner but the reviews for the "usual" ones have many negative comments. After watching both of your videos, I'm now confident enough to build my own kitchen sink cleaner. Thank you for sharing. I'll let you know how it goes.
I don't quite know why I find these ultrasonic cleaner videos so satisfying, but I do and I'm excited for the test/demo video!
Where is the follow up video to this, showing it in action? I cant see it in your playlist.
The fan in each driver case pushes ambient air into the case. What about an exhaust path for the heated air to exit? There doesn't appear to be one.
I just came across your channel, and i watched all you ultrasonic cleaners videos one after another, great channel, well informative and you have a great skill of explaining things, i've always loved ultrasonic cleaners but i never knew or searched how it works, but now i know and that's my project for the next month, thank you sir, keep up the good work!!
Lots of fun watching your journey in building these ultrasonic cleaners. It seems that you do like to take them to the next level so I suggest using an Arduino to add a few functions: 1. digital flow meter for the tank filling with control and automatic selection of power required backed by 2 non contact liquid level sensors for alarms in overfilling or leak detection . 2. Turbidity sensor for replacement of dirty cleaning liquid in time. 3. I use some mild acids or caustics sometimes for cleaning and you can add a PH sensor and a dispensing pump for the solution to set the desired PH level. 4. Last but not least remote monitoring and control so you can reactivate the cycle if you are away from the cleaner and doing something else e.g. the cleaner is in the workshop and you decided to do some gardening. Now, to really get Sci-Fi I would set up a system for automated drain and filtering of the cleaning solution and refill with a rinse agent. I would then set up some halogen lights on the lid so when the lid is reverts you turn the inside into a dryer. This way you would have a multi purpose 3 in 1 device, Ultrasonic cleaner, rinse and dryer. Now that would free up some serious gardening time! I love to overengineer my projects to max! Why? Because it is possible and fun!
Hi Bruce. Great video! Just a thought when using multiple transducers -- before 'deploying' them, it might be a good idea to take a multimeter and measure the resistance of each transducer and write it somewhere on the transducer body. This would facilitate two things. First, one could arrange the transducers from low to high resistance, and pair them into sets of two accordingly so that each pair is "matched" to one another. Secondly, if you develop a problem in the future with one of the pairs, it would be easy enough to unsolder a wire from one of the terminals on a suspect transducer, measure its resistance, and compare its "new" reading to the original resistance written on the transducer. That might help in troubleshooting defective (open, shorted, etc.) transducers. Also, if the transducers do indeed exhibit a polarity, it might be good to measure the resistance with the multimeter leads connected one way, and then reverse the leads to measure the resistance in the opposite direction. Given that they are designed to work with high [ultrasonic] frequency alternating current, I doubt they would exhibit any kind of DC polarity, but rather the "positive" (+) and "negative" (-) terminals allow for correct phasing of the AC signal to each transducer. Again, thanks for the great video. -- Ken
That is a good idea.
Ultrasonic transducer are either capacitive or piezoelectric so I'm not sure if measuring their resistance would actually grant you much insight.
@@oliverer3 Resistance is still one part of impedance. Measuring the reactance might be a bit to much asked from a non EE.
Getting at least the resistance matched might help pair transducers with a ballpark estimate.
Measuring the DC resistance wouldn’t be useful. Capacitance would be mildly useful if these were broadband transducers but these are high Q resonant piezo stacks that are tuned by the bolt tension. The only useful measurements would be the resonance frequency and admittance at that frequency of each driver after installation. Some of the ultrasonic cleaners I have worked with will auto match to the most efficient frequency corresponding to the transducers resonance peak. In this case matching transducers resonant frequency is essential.
@@depthsounderdave You're absolutely correct. I should have realized the devices were capacitive or piezoelectric, such that simple DC resistance measurements would be meaningless. Thanks for the correction to my incomplete logic process.
I told you on one of the live feeds man, everyone needs an ultrasonic cleaner.
Great build, I remember SC had an article on a build a little while ago, I am still putting mine together, I have a largrer one, I managed to obtain a old very thick double laundry sink from a metal scrap yard in Sydney a while back.
I've really enjoyed going on this journey with you.
Showing your mistakes and missteps is really important.
Making errors is the only way to learn, and is something that building and prototyping really teaches you: the importance of failing.
Thanks for the videos, tutorials, and the correct pronunciation of "solder"
The waves will cancel out to some degree and more so when they become 180 degrees out of phase from one another. You may mitigate the problem by spacing and aiming the transducers so that there are fewer cancellations.The spacing will depend on the frequencies you intend to run them and this is assuming you are placing them so as the all face the same direction. Changing the angles of the transducers would add more or less modes in three dimensions and make the math a little more trickier.
While the math exists to find the specific spacing, one could experiment by using a plate with sand on top. Place two transducers vibrating underneath the plate. You will see the modes in action and where the sound is at its highest amplitude and in which spot. If you want to see this in action, you can look up "modes audio sand" in RUclips to see some examples.
At least thats what I remember from an acoustics class I took three or four years ago. Although, we were working in the 20 Hz to 20000 Hz of the human hearing range. May work different in the land of ultrasonics as the wavelengths are shorter which may make for more complicated models.
destructive interference being any real problem - yeah no, that will not happen.
For that the drivers would need to be in sync, so at best it could happen to 2 emitters being driven by 1 driver, and even then only for very small regions and those will also constantly change place. So nah, not a problem.
Even for the audible range it is the same. Having many people playing the same notes on a Violine right next to each other will not lead to any perceivable destructive interference. To get that you basically need to have 1 pure signal that you are sending to 2 speakers and then be at a very exact position.
What most people don't realize as well is that each transducer is oscillating at a slightly different frequency, and likely drifting very slightly as well. The driver boards are not quartz-locked. As a result there will actually be phasing going on, so at some points the waves will be adding and at others they'll be subtracting but never cancelling. At 40 kHz, these effects won't even matter.
Wow that's a great video. Thank you. Really really interesting to see how these work are. I use small ultrasonic cleaners a lot of the time but I've never bothered to see what is actually inside the box of tricks., it really is quite simple to knock one up yourself by the looks of it. Thanks a lot for the excellent tutorial. Watching this I really think I am going to make one for myself, the prices of the pieces are not that expensive and you do not need to be so elaborate in the wiring as the original poster has been. He even supplies the 3D printed files for free. Amazing poster. Thanks a million.
All is in a name; what is yours? Precise, concise, to the point, good cinematography, well shown and perfectly tested. Thanks; it must have taken time to elaborate. I appreciate.EDIT: sorry, Bruce. I just saw your OTHER video.
When soldering electronic, I pre-solder (tinning) the contact and wire. That could be done here. Solder applies to the sink and to the nut, then the nut is added to the sink and soldered again. Should make a better contact as solder doesn't have to try and flow between the nut and sink.
I'll try that next time. I do that with electronics soldering all the time, so I should have applied it to this.
They work I used 2 cold mist humidifier transducers and drivers and it does work the problem is putting your hand in the water .it can be very painful but if you remember to shut it off before you stuck your fingers in it works
I used to make these out of 30L restaurant mixing bowls and reclaimed cabinets. The circuit boards/drivers were about the only part it took me a while to source until they started making kits for this. While shopping for a third set some years ago, I saw an industrial unit on ebay and threw out some stupid lowball number to the seller, fully expecting a no.
Yeah, it went into my home lab and works so well that I've never turned on the heater. It will easily heat up the huge tank to 45*C just running for 30 minutes. Takes about 3 hours to drain through the pitiful drain cock, so pumps are necessary. That's about the only part I miss vs the big bowl (though your drain exit would solve that problem even better).
Totally dig this approach though, and it's a lot smarter to use a sink basin. Corner filling old cabinets is a bit of a pain. 👍
Earthing on tub and stand is absolutely necessary and you should bush the holes where cables pass through the sheet metal.
The enclosures you made for the drivers don’t seem to have any ventilation holes apart from the fan mounting but you’ll need air flow to get any benefit from the fans.
Likely you would get far less distortion of the the stainless tub by using a TIG welder to apply quick spot welds to the mounting studs.
Interesting project, it will be interesting to see how it performs and how reliable the components are
There is ventilation under the board, so the fan pulls air from under the board and then up and out through the fan hole. You are the first person to mention that, so congrats on your observation skills. I now have grommets around the wires that pass through the metal, I just don't show it in the video.
The term "solder sausage" is amazing, and I'll be using it to describe that phenomenon from now on
About the polarity and cancelling each other out, that would matter if they were all on the same controller. Because they use 6 different controllers with no sync, they likely drift in and out of sync and cancelling randomly. Their oscillators will all be running at slightly different speeds. There is also the speed of sound in water, distance apart etc. I wouldn't worry about it.
Fantastic build you could plumb it in and use as a regular wash basin too! I noticed you could do with some rubber grommets at 22:09
Great video! Amazing. You must BUSH the mains cables through the sheet metal.
The output from the driver to the transducers is not DC but high frequency AC. The + and - signs are probably there to indicate the phase in similar manner to loudspeaker terminals.
I wonder if the ultrasonic power could be increased if the outputs from the drivers could be somehow synchronized instead of each one running with independent oscillator.
WOW that came out REALLY professional looking, very nice.
By the way it beat up the aluminum it works really good to.
I have a good sized ultrasonic cleaner that I keep only water in, all the parts I clean go into heavy duty zip lock bags or plastic containers with my cleaning agent in them. This saves me from wasting expensive cleaners and having to dispose of large amounts of cleaner. Hopefully this wasn't an old tip to you or is a new tip to others that read this. Thank you for the video 😊
Yes, always use lead in any application where vibration will be present as tin solder is like glass.
amazing love it. by far my favorite video of 2023 so far. cannot thank you enough
This is a great guide to making a larger sized ultrasonic cleaner. It would be interesting to see the foil test done with different combiations of transducer switched on - does it only clean in certain places or is it just "gentler" overall, and how does it affect the amount of fluid you can place in the sink?
FYI lumpy heat stretch metal can be brought back to flat by reheating and spraying water from a spray bottle
Good tip, thank you!
I've recently discovered the din rail terminal blocks. Now every problem looks like it would like to be solved with this specific nail.
I'd probably done the distribution and driver/PSU in din rail enclosures, and would have run individual wires to each driver. That way the pattern is easily rewireable without soldering, just changing over a few contacts on the terminal block. There are also premade meanwell PSUs for din rail.
Also, since you got two holes for taps, you could use one of them to store cleaning solutions you commonly use in a jug underneath with a small pump to feed it back up into the tub. That way you could drain the solution into the jug after using, and no dust or debris falls into the sink, it remains usable as a normal sink until need it to clean again, where you can quickly rinse the tub to get rid of the previously airborne dust, then pump the cleaning solution back up from the jug, and start cleaning. Of cause that requires diversion in the drain, but could be scalable to a few different kinds of solvent-soaked solutions, choosable with a flick of a switch ;)
Good advice!
The connectors on the transducers are clearly made for some kind of ring terminal and a bolt/nut fastening scheme. A little loctite on those should make them hold.
From my experience here in Brazil, with ultrasonic bathtubs, over time, the metals that are cleaned will release residues and the vibration of the residues in the water will sand the sink until the metal becomes very thin and the weight of the speakers will collapse the sink.
Ultrasonic bathtubs that use professional water inlets and outlets have a much longer useful life, because the water circulates inside the sink and the dirty water is carried away, so the dirt does not sand the sink.
Therefore, given the power you used, it would be more interesting to have a constant water inlet and a constant water flow to prevent the sink from collapsing, increasing the useful life of the system.
when you show your video on the operation of the tub please show the grounding and other safety issues, you are running electrical power under the same sink as all that wiring so keeping it safe is key. I hope to see the follow on soon, this is a great build as I am in the process of gathering materials to do exactly the same thing! I have to learn how to silvver solder, had not planned on that, but I am learning from your pain! thanks
Great job on this Bruce. You’ve become the go-to source for ultrasonic DIY!
Great so far. But is the followup demonstration video ever going to come? Without that, its hard to know if project was.a success.
Great video. Thanks for posting. The only thing I would recommend is to make sure to put some protective shielding on the rough edges of the pass through holes from your control panel into the main cabinet to prevent the sharp edges from chafing away at the wire insulation.
Watched both of your DIY videos on building a sonic cleaners. It appears that you have done quite a bit of research and development on this project. I'm now a subscriber because of your professional presentation. I've just realized that most of my YT subscriptions are for Aussie creators. Not sure what that means, just an observation.
Vincent van Gogh Starry Night Over The Rhone is what it looks like. Minus the cataracts of course. Thank you for the build
You’re very thorough, and informative! I really appreciate your sharing and research! Blessings from alberta Canada!
Came up just in time on my feed. Building an ultrasonic cleaner/whiskey aging device soon, just waiting on the rest of the parts. I did wonder about attaching the transducers... figured *just* epoxy wouldnt be right. Fortunately we have silver solder and flux in the workshop already!
Whiskey aging device? I’m curious.
If it's worth doing it, worth over doing. Love it.
Awk, grommets and ground enclosure!
Already done!
Hey mate, great vid. At the end, it says watch future vids to see you testing different things getting cleaned, but i can't find any of your testing vids for this DIY sink, did you end up making one? Cheers
Not yet, I got sidetracked by other projects, but it will be made!
@@BranchusCreations cheers mate, appreciate the response. Great vid by the way, I'm looking to build one for car parts. Cheers
You should ensure that the air inside the base is ventilated. (It is not clear from the video). The individual fans area good idea but if they are circulating air to and from a stagnant enclosure then the air will heat up. Suggest that you install a fan to ventilate the base with ambient air.
The back of the base is open. When it's installed, I'll be able to put a small ventilation hole in the wall behind the sink.
Ya know, why not make my sink an ultrasonic cleaner too. Kinda brilliant. Definitely want to see it tested as a laundry machine. If it can clean clothes gently and effectively I'm definitely building one.
close to the end of the video it showed wires going through holes drilled in metal. you want a plastic jacket ir some electrical tape to protect the wires. Over time the jacket will wear and youll get a dead short. I love this project.
Thanks, this has been done.
I really like the control panel and the wiring behind it Bruce. Neat build !
I like the design I think you did a good job the only issue I can see right now is you didn't use grommets to run the wires through the metal housing of the base which could eventually rub and short out.
23:51 Where's the testing video?
Very television level professional presenter. 👏
Thank you!
Nice project. Thanks.
Quick comment re your soldering of the transducers....
I agree that high heat and fast application is the way to go, but your technique belies that. You're applying heat twice where only once is needed. The tabs are tinned. you don't need to "blob" them (a quick rub with sandpaper will remove any oxide that might have built up if that is one of your reasons for blobbing). More importantly though, you're not making a mechanical connection. That's what the hole in the tab is for. Pass the wire through, twist to make sure that it has a good mechanical and electrical connection and then a fast in and out with the soldering iron - one hit of heat. Solder is primarily a means of holding things in place and shouldn't be the primary means of enabling current flow. Solder connections are sensitive to both degradation/corrosion of the solder and mechanical problems (which, given the environment that you're using the transducers in, is highly likely). The joint can also be supported with a heat shrink sleeve (or rubber sleeve) to reduce those problems.
One last thought. You're permanently fixing a transducer without testing it first. That makes me uncomfortable 🙂. Not sure how you might test them safely, but it could potentially save a lot of grief down the line.
@22:08 if this thing creates vibration, or not, you need some kind of protection for those wires coming in thru those holes.
Your "little connectors" are called Molex connectors. I used them by the ton in Amateur Radio.
Also, instead of soldering the wiring to the transducers, have you thought about using heavy gauge terminal connectors? You could crimp the wires into the connectors (add a bit of solder if you like just for good measure) and then just slip the terminal connector over the lug of the transducer. If the terminal connector is a bit wiggly you can crimp them down a bit for a snugger fit. No heat involved and easily removable if, for any reason, you should want to do so.
Never solder crimp terminals or ferrules. It it electrically not required but increases the risk of fatigue fractures of the copper strands, especially in applications that are exposed to vibrations.
Is there a reason not to use crimped ring terminals to connect the wires to the transducers, using machine screws, nuts and lock washers? Soldering is fun, but might this be simpler and easier to service? Just a thought, Thanks for the excellent video.
Only thing I can think of is vibration.
The vibration might shake the bolt/nuts loose. But then again, with a proper tightened bolt/nut, that shouldn't be an issue anyways. And also, with a bad solder joint, you'd have exactly the same problem: that too can shake loose/crack under vibrations, so no benefits there (in fact it would be worse as the wire would fall off immediately and flap around making contact with stuff it isn't suppose to. With a loose wirenut the wire would spark, but would at least still be fastened to the eyelet, at first)....
So, yeah, I would simply use ring terminals with bolt/nut and lock washers, and make sure the bolts are a bit longer than needed with an extra locknut so in case they do come loose, they don't fall off immediately.
Why not use an appropriately sized female spade connector, such as those in use for audio equipment for many years? 🤔
@notfiveo The arching is not the issue here. You'll get that either way.
eg: broken soldering joint. Which might be even way worse since the wire will now be flapping about loose in the enclosure and can make contact with anything, including the tub itself. This is much more dangerous than just arching between a wire and its respective inducer, if the wire itself is still attached to the inducer via the screw/nut.
However, from tests I've done, I've seen some broken soldering joints (from bad soldering in the first place maybe).
But _none_ of the _proper_ attachments made with screw/locknuts have come loose after prolonged running of the inducer. Of course you need to tiden them properly.
I'm not saying they will _never_ come loose. But IF they come loose, it would be way more safe than solder joints braking. And if they come loose (you'll hear them ratling, and/or something electrical brakes like your driver), it is time to fix....
That said, I am interested in having driver automatically detect if something is wrong. Would that be possible? Like checking the resistance over the inducer, eg. I assume, when a loose joint is there, it will also be detected since the arching introduces more(?) resistance and/or peak power usages. Ether way, I'm not convinced at all that just soldering is stronger (as in: less prone to failure + the lesser safety issue) than a _proper_ mechanical joint with long bold and locknuts. More specific testing needs to be done.
(note, I'm not talking industrial strength ultrasonics though... those... yeah, they can shake anything loose, apart or even atomize)
Suggestion: A good mechanical connection is also good before soldering. I would wrap the wire around the connection and then put some flux on it then solder it. Your way will work too, of course.
I would be curious to see this with a full tub and see it with just one driver turned on and then another and another, etc.
I'll be sure to do that in the next video.
Youre Doing a Bang up Job! my suggestion to accomodate all this electrical soldering, make a spot welder.
I enjoy soldering way too much to do that!
When brazing - continuously try to add the brazing rod until its melting on the surface.. you'll know you've applied enough heat when the brazing rod wicks into the joint. It's no different to what you see when soldering with a cold vs wet joint. That way you aren't turning things cherry red and potentially tempering the steel. You want to avoid things glowing red if possible.
Agree with your comment, I seem to recall during my apprentice training half a century ago the part on silver soldering included the comment; when looking at a silver solder joint (rather than brazing which is different) what you can see isn't doing anything! i.e. the silver solder will follow the heat, only the silver solder underneath the stud is doing any work.
Also with this thin metal minimizing and the amount of studs heat input is crucial. Spot welding might have been a better choice.
@@DangarousMandarineLP You can't spot weld a stud.. A spot welder melts the material between the contact points of the electrodes. It's not going to make enough heat to melt a stud to stainless (ignoring that it would be nearly impossible to find a spot welder that can clamp wide enough to fit the stud between the probes).
Do you mean tack welds?
@@ryanokeefe12 No, what I meant was stud welding. That was lost in translation. Basically a spot welder made for welding internally or externally threaded studs to things. You insert the stud in the gun and weld it to the material with an electronic discharge.
@@ryanokeefe12 check out stud welders used in body repair. =)
Great easy to follow video. I'm now inspired to go ahead and make one.
I've had really good luck just letting the silver soldered joint sit overnight in a humid area. In the morning the flux is like a powdery substance that rinses off with cool water very easily. It seems to absorb the moisture slowly.
Is there a follow up video for this? I am not seeing one. I was hoping to see a video and if there were any down sides or if this is actually using more power than just a standard washing machine.
Awesome idea! Love the video as well as the comments - may have to try something like this myself. Ultrasonic cleaners rock and can be used for all kinds of things.
There are sinks with the drains offset, but since you have to have multiple transducers the drain in the center didn't seem to be that big of an obstacle to overcome.
Great video! You mentioned that you shut off some of your transducers. Would you be able to answer a question for me? I have a 3L ultrasonic cleaner with 2 transducers but one is dead. Is it ok (safe?) to run with just the one working transducer? My uneducated guess would say that it would work but just wouldn't be very efficient. Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks Carlo! Do you know if it's a dead transducer, or a dead driver? If it's the transducer, you should disconnect it first, as a failed transducer can damage the driver. Once disconnected, the cleaner should operate fine, but you may need to put a little less water in it to compensate for the reduced power output.
@BranchusCreations Thanks for the quick response! It's definitely the transducer. The cleaner ("won" in an online auction) arrived with one transducer detached. I reattached with JB Weld and did the tinfoil test and there was no pitting on the reattached transducer side. I will definitely disconnect the bad one and use less water. Fingers crossed!
Nice build. I've been making do with my little 2ltr unit, but I'm going to need bigger. Now I'll make rather than buy. Should give me a much larger unit. Cheers for the tips.
Words elude me for your level of intelligence to build a project such as this. WOW!
I like it! Thanks.2 things... I've found it handy to use MAPP gas for silver solder.
And a sort-of question: transducer placement... The part of the maker community that makes flat-panel speakers has gotten great results from careful acoustic driver placement, I wonder if a similar analysis would be useful here, or if the frequency being so much higher mitigates the kind of effect that they see.
A tip for silver solder is to form a ring of solder and wrap it around the part you are soldering to. Once the part gets warm enough, the solder will melt and it will let you use less heat on the part and have a cleaner solder joint.
AC plug not grounded to the metal chassis of the whole assembly? Also wires through metal walls without grommets? (edit: I see other comments already covered that)
Otherwise it all looks awesome!
I wonder if electric welding of the studs is possible for these, they use Copper studs though, so probably not
It's grounded (now).
How many times did you grab the chain in the wrong place?
Thankfully none. I do a lot of electronics soldering, so I'm pretty mindful when working with hot stuff.
A technique I’ve seen myfordboy use is to cut small bits of the solder and place them on the work piece before heating. The solder flows when it’s supposed to. I tried a similar technique last week repairing some copper pipe and it seems to work.
Anyone who says the waves (when all in the same polarity ) cancel doesn't understand how waves act, if anything the waves interacting can multiply the output, but next time some one says 'no they'll cancel out'.. ask them if they stand in the middle of a set of speakers do they cancel each other out? Or if they watch a wave generator do the waves cancel each other out.. Neat project.
What most people don't realize as well is that each transducer is oscillating at a slightly different frequency, and likely drifting very slightly as well. The driver boards are not quartz-locked. As a result there will actually be phasing going on, so at some points the waves will be adding and at others they'll be subtracting but never cancelling. At 40 kHz, these effects won't even matter.
Anyone who says they can't cancel out does not understand how waves work. They do. That's exactly how noise cancelling headphones work. Its called constructive interference, and destructive interference.
That timelapse with the sink showing expansion and contraction is interesting.
Very informative.. I'm waiting for the video of the ultra sonic cleaner's work....hopefully it will work well...thank you
Coming soon!
Clean with degreaser after sanding. acetone is good easer welding
A small hemostat clamped in line between the element and solder joint to keep heat away from the piezo element.
For transducer, its better to use U shape terminal connector and physically clamp the cable (you can also soldering after just in case) before connect it with screw and nut. Because if you run it continuously for long period of time, the transducer will still get too hot and the soldering joint will eventually loose because of the ultrasonic action and heat.
Very nice job! One thing though, you might consider deburring the holes in the cabinet where the AC cables pass through. It looked like there were some sizable burrs around the holes, and you don't want them cutting through the insulation.
Might even add grommets. (not Wallace and Grommet though)!
Already done!
@@BranchusCreations GREAT! Thanks.
I'd use a thermaltronics soldering iron, it heats up instantly, and has a very fast recovery time.
Loved your video. If you had it available, and Oxy Acetylene torch would have been a better choice for Silver Solder. it would deliver more heat to your area allowing the parts to fuse together more quickly. You did manage to get the job done with a propane torch which probably avoided burning a hole in your sink.
Bruce, seeing your previous videos started me on the path you are going down now so I can not wait to see you’re results. I’ve been looking on marketplace to see if I can find a similar sized tank or sink for this purpose. I hope this works out well!!
Great video - I'm working on my first build. Can I ask what / where your primary power connection to the board is? I need one (the white female on the end of your primary power cord).
I also need that.. if anyone knows I would also be very appreciative.