Ultrasonic Cleaner. Yea or nay??

[partyanimallighting]

Hi all. I'm considering buying an ultra-sonic cleaner to deal with grimy circuit boards. A lot of the PCBs I have to deal with sometimes have a lot of corrosion, moisture damage or baked-on dust/crud from fans etc. Are these cleaners any good at dealing with this or are they a waste of time? Is there a chance the the boards could be damaged during the cleaning process? What's the recommended cleaning solution to use? A home-made brew or something easily available off the hardware/electronics store shelf?

[indyld]

I don't, it's cleaning at a level I don't need and I wouldn't put a filthy board as would rather hand scrub the worst off first and not clog up the cleaning agent first go. So, I just scrub the board with IPA and call it good. Having said that, ultrasonic will do a bang up job on a board. 

Use distilled water, IPA, or water THEN IPA. With water, comprehensive drying is important.

To combat corrosion, is there any mileage in using a spray conformal coating? I've used it for a few things. 

Edited August 10 by indyld

[Robin D]

Make sure you don't waste good beer on it though. That would make the board rather sticky. 🤣

 

 

[pmiller056]

IPA is flammable. There will be an IPA mist around the cleaner during and after use which will be easily ignited by a stray spark, such as a switch operating. IPA fumes won't do you any good. If you really have to use IPA in an Ultrasonic cleaner (I would not), then you need to use it in a really well ventilated area.

[alistermorton]

Don't know if it's directly relevant but for cleaning vinyl records in ultrasonic cleaners a mix of distilled water, a little IPA and a little surfactant is usually recommended, followed by drying. 

[partyanimallighting]

Wow!! Thanks for all the responses! indyld, what you're saying that it will clean and clean thoroughly. That's what I'm looking for. I normally do the same as you mentioned, go at the pcb with a 10MM paintbrush with the bristles cut down a bit to give it a little stiffness, then follow that up with the old toothbrush. Unfortunately pure IPA is not readily available here so I use Acetone, which works really well. I read pmiller056's response and that stray spark scenario I do not need in my life right now so I would think acetone's also a no-no as that's also very flammable. Right now I'm working on a Chauvet Geyser RGB pcb (in another post in Blue Room) and this pcb is coated in that clear acrylic crud which is flaking off hence this post. If the ultrasonic cleaner can remove that acrylic and a fresh coat re-applied (if the pcb is repaired that is), that would be great.

RobinD, I'm in the south of the Caribbean. Rum is the choice here......would that work? THAT would be a waste! 🤣

Any other recommendations as per cleaning agent? Distilled water is obviously the safest bet for sure but what about adding something to the water like diluting in some type of degreaser or acetic acid or the fluid sold for these cleaners for jewelry? Non-flammable is what I'm looking for here.

Here's another interesting thought I just had. Would this ultrasonic cleaner possibly clear a clog out of a fog machine heater? I've posted before about clogged heaters and it's something that I deal with regularly. Maybe if the heater block is put into the cleaner and the heater's fluid line pressurized externally via a fluid pump, the vibrations and pressure may clear the clog. Any thoughts on my science?

alistermorton, your post is not wasted. I have a good friend who has a collection of thousands of vinyl records so I will pass this information onto him and see if he's tried this before.

[indyld]

I don't like acetone for these jobs, it's very aggressive and the fumes are terrible. I don't trust it not to attack some plastics either.  For me, IPA is a lot more friendly to whatever it is used on - I have a nail technician type dispenser of it on my bench and it's used for all kinds of cleaning by hand. Most lighting and other gear companies in the UK use IPA spraycans in the warehouse for all kinds of cleaning, not least removing Sharpie from PAL labels on road cases. At no point has anyone caused an explosion.

If you can't get it, I would see how you get on with distilled water but take care with drying stuff and not just causing additional water damage.

Am not convinced that a UC will help much with a clogged heat exchanger but then have never tried it either.

As an aside, I use vinegar for removing corrosion in battery compartments due to the acid. You just need to work out what will act as a solvent for whatever your are trying to remove. At home, I don't really much in the way of modern cleaning products at all. Most things can be done with vinegar, bicarb, soda crystals, and other such things. Maybe you could dream up an additive for your water that would be equally friendly.

Edited August 12 by indyld

[partyanimallighting]

Thanks indyld, the only IPA I've come across here is available in pharmacies and medical supply stores and it's diluted down so there's no instant evaporation as in the case of acetone. So it's trial and error then to find my cleaner or cleaners of choice. I'll definitely give one a try....if only to test it on a clogged heater. If it actually works that would be great! Replacement heaters run between USD120.00 ~ USD500.00 depending on brand and model before overseas shipping and heaters are not lightweight so that would be some serious savings.

[timsabre]

I have only ever successfully fixed a clogged smoke machine block twice. Once was by repeatedly pumping vinegar/acetic acid through the block (very stinky). The other way was to get the block hot (all pipework, lagging etc removed) then dump it in a tank of cold water, repeated a few times. This forcefully sucks the water into the tubing and can dislodge a blockage.
I've tried quite a few other times and not been able to unclog them. It's narrow piping and the residue can be very sticky/gooey and not easily moved.

[alistermorton]

When I worked on an assembly bench we used trichlorethane to remove residues, then that changed to trichlorotrifluoroethane IIRC, neither of which are as aggressive as acetone but are still not particularly nice in terms of fumes so exercise care and use good ventilation. 

[sunray]

1 hour ago, timsabre said:

I have only ever successfully fixed a clogged smoke machine block twice. Once was by repeatedly pumping vinegar/acetic acid through the block (very stinky). The other way was to get the block hot (all pipework, lagging etc removed) then dump it in a tank of cold water, repeated a few times. This forcefully sucks the water into the tubing and can dislodge a blockage.
I've tried quite a few other times and not been able to unclog them. It's narrow piping and the residue can be very sticky/gooey and not easily moved.

I used to find the unblockable heaters were a hard substance.

The sticky blockages usually cleared with a fluid which smelled like an amonia base. I used to take the heater out and hang it vertical with a small reservoir feeding it. It usually cleared within a couple of days. If not I'd try applying pressure and heat but success was not common.

[partyanimallighting]

4 hours ago, timsabre said:

I have only ever successfully fixed a clogged smoke machine block twice. Once was by repeatedly pumping vinegar/acetic acid through the block (very stinky). The other way was to get the block hot (all pipework, lagging etc removed) then dump it in a tank of cold water, repeated a few times. This forcefully sucks the water into the tubing and can dislodge a blockage.
I've tried quite a few other times and not been able to unclog them. It's narrow piping and the residue can be very sticky/gooey and not easily moved.

Hi timsabre, I have had some success using a variety of methods which I posted some time previously and the reason for that post was to seek other methods which were successful with other persons. That "heat then cool" method is new to me but it will be tested by me quite soon. Here's a link to my post:

 

[Junior8]

7 hours ago, alistermorton said:

When I worked on an assembly bench we used trichlorethane to remove residues, then that changed to trichlorotrifluoroethane IIRC, neither of which are as aggressive as acetone but are still not particularly nice in terms of fumes so exercise care and use good ventilation. 

I wouldn't use  either IMHO. There are sellers who supply Triclone as it used to be called on the internet but I wouldn't recommend using the stuff. It is extremely volatile and very nasty. We used to use it in paint finishing when I was a student vac worker for de-greasing as a condensed mist believe it or not.  Once you've smelt Triclone or Perclone it's as identifiable as Celulose Thinners and it can be detected in by smell in groundwater at one part per million. I think these derivatives shouldn't be touched  with a barge pole for home use to be honest. For a start you can't pour it into any main drain or indeed anywhere. It can only be handled by Licensed Waste Contractors.

Edited August 13 by Junior8

[ANDYLASER]

You can get PCB specific cleaning solution for ultrasonic cleaners.

https://www.allendale-ultrasonics.co.uk/ultrasonic-cleaning-solutions-and-powders/all-ultrasonic-cleaning-solutions/flux-remover-and-pcb-ultrasonic-cleaner-solution-1-litre-cleaning-fluid

After the ultrasonic, I douse with IPA (get a big spray bottle) which helps remove any water, then place on a radiator for 24 hours to thoroughly dry out. I use the cleaner at 50C temperature. The latent heat in the PCB after this helps with drying.

 

 

 

[alistermorton]

I'd agree with junior8 - those solvents aren't nice and need proper industrial style disposal and ventilation facilities. 

Edited August 13 by alistermorton