[Jewelry making - Article 00093] - Re: [Orchid] Ultrasonic cleaner

[Peter W . Rowe]

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>     I  am beginning to realise that the tiny particles of abrasive
>     compound are rubbing against 


    Richard, only the very finely divided compounds, like rouge, stay
    suspended in the cleaning liquid.  The coarser stuff forms a mud on
    the bottom of the cleaner.  Letting the liquid get dirty from
    accumulated polish compound does have an effect, but it's a reduction
    in cleaning efficiency, not scratching of the work.  Ultrasonics
    clean as well as they do because the sound waves are being driven
    through the liquid at a slightly faster speed than the liquid
    actually can sustain, which causes the liquid to literally fracture
    and break apart from the retreating waves.  Think "suction" on a
    small area, creating a little vacuum bubble, and you're on the right
    track.  This happens not so much in the main body of clean liquid, but
    instead at any boundary or "flaw". In short, it happens wherever the
    liquid meets something, including the dirt you're trying to clean off.
     This concentrating of what are called cavitation bubbles at
    surfaces, especially dirty ones, or at and around any small particle
    the solution contacts, is what makes the machines work so well:  the
    energy gets concentrated just where it's most needed, at the dirt. 
    However, this doesn't stop happening just because the dirt has been
    pulled/pushed away off the metal. So suspended particles of rouge in
    your solution end up just absorbing some of the energy of the
    ultrasonic cleaner, which would otherwise still be available to clean
    your work.  So as the cleaner gets more and more full of dirt, it's
    cleaning energy drops off quickly.   It's still plenty powerful,
    though, with most cleaners, to keep right on doing the job well
    enough, even with quite a bit of compound suspended in it.  In our
    shop, where we have a guy polishing all our work full time, the
    ultrasonic is almost always running, and usually with the latest batch
    of finished polished work therein.  By the end of the day, the
    solution, which is usually changed daily, though sometimes it skips
    a day, is pretty full of compound.    The work still gets cleaned
    just fine, and isn't scratched by the suspended compound.   Be sure
    to clean off coarse compounds before rouging the work, especially
    with very soft metals like silver.  And be sure the work is not in
    contact with other work, or with things like metal hooks or
    strainers, or the like.  And if you use a steam cleaner, be sure to
    flush it out with a good mineral deposit remover now and then.  I've
    seen steam cleaners with so much deposited minerals in the tanks that
    the steam was carrying a finely divided mist of that stuff right
    along with it, in effect turing it into a combination steam cleaner
    and slight sandblaster.    It's subtle, and you might not immediatly
    realize that the steamer is causing dull spots at the same time as
    it's doing it's job... 

Peter Rowe 

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