Hearing / watching an ultrasonic cleaner clean clock parts
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- Опубликовано: 22 янв 2019
- As I say in this video (though you can barely hear), a lot of clock repairers talk about their ultrasonic cleaners, but few show one running. This video gives you an idea of the noise and results to expect.
I recently bought a mini ultrasonic cleaner (which they no longer seem to sell) from TimeSavers: timesavers.com/c-326073-tools... and took it for a spin cleaning my Ansonia Kitchen clock.
From the clock repair videos I'd seen, I expected even the most gunky and rusted parts to come out like new after a few minutes in the cleaner - not so.
Since then I've done some research and found many repairers do a first cleaning by hand with soap, water, and either a brass brush or an SOS pad (steel wool), then follow up with a run in the ultrasonic cleaner.
I used 3 Tablespoons of Vigor ultrasonic cleaner (timesavers.com/i-9500945-vigo...) to 1.120 Liters of tap water - I've read distilled water isn't as good - and run at 25 degrees C for 15 minutes.
That cleaning got rid of much of the gunk, and certainly made a dent in the deposits that I can't get to with a brush, but some remained that I had to clean up with a brass brush, SOS pad, and water.
Of course, after each cleaning, I followed up by rinsing the parts under the cold water tap, patting dry, then finishing the drying by wiping with paper towels soaked in isopropol alcohol.
I'm actually happy with the results, now that I know to start with a short by-hand cleaning before the ultrasonic cleaning. 
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A cautionary note: Matthew Read, a clock conservator I follow (ruclips.net/channel/UCq25FhgQkNLeNJOBcw9BOlAfeatured) recommends not using ultrasonic cleaners because they can damage/wear very fragile clocks - good advice if you are working on antique/valuable clocks that you want to last another hundred years.
It sounds like it’s electrocuting the clock
did it come clean?
Good question - thanks for reminding me that I didn't show the results - oops! On the "no" side, there are some pits in this probably-century-old Ansonia clock movement that still have some rust or such in them; you can see those pits early in the video, in the part of the back plate that's above the water line. On the "yes" side, I'm delighted at how clean the pivot holes and lantern pinion trundles are; the ultransonic cleaner does a great job of cleaning out those inaccessible spots. I'm also giddy about how the cleaner revealed the bluing on the verge arbor and the bolts - that never would have shown up with by-hand cleaning. I'll probably experiment as I clean the next few clocks. In particular the next one is a rusty cuckoo clock movement, so I'm very interested in how all the rust will fare against my hand-cleaning and the ultrasonic cleaner.
Another indication of how well the ultrasonic cleaner cleaned: when unused, the cleaning solution is as transparent as water; when I was finished running this clock through the cleaner, the water was so murky I couldn't even see half way down into the basket. Also, when I dumped the used cleaning solution, there was a lot of grit at the bottom of the cleaner - evidence that a lot of nasty dirt and oil came off the movement.
did you add any solution with ammonia? It looks like plain water to me.
I currently use about 2 Tablespoons of Vigor ultrasonic cleaning solution to 1.12 Liters water (filling the cleaner to the 'full' line). I've been happy with the results I get from Vigor, but it looks like Timesavers no longer carries it. See timesavers.com/c-325525-chemicals-adhesives-soldering-cleaning-polishing-ultrasonic-cleaning-solutions-rinses.html
Terrible audio.
It is horrible, isn't it? . I recorded this video to give people an idea of how noisy and irritating an ultrasonic cleaner can be. If you watch other clock repair videos, you may get the impression that they make only a slight hum.