There are hundreds of different ultrasonic cleaning systems on the market today, made by dozens of manufacturers, and they’re all competing for your hard-earned cash. So before you lock into one particular design or manufacturer of ultrasonic cleaners based on cost, make sure you consider all of the following characteristics that can vary dramatically between makers, and see if you’re really getting a quality cleaner. Pick a quality cleaner and save yourself time and money.

Tank Size – All things being equal, smaller capacity ultrasonic cleaners will cost less than bigger units. But depending on what you’re trying to clean, a small tank may crowd the parts and prevent the ultrasonic waves from properly penetrating the parts, leaving contamination behind and forcing you to run the unit longer. The tank must be properly sized to allow enough space around the parts for proper ultrasonic cleaning to occur.

Tank Wall Thickness – Almost all ultrasonic cleaners are made with stainless steel holding tanks, and stainless steel is expensive. Some manufacturers cut costs by reducing the thickness of the tank wall. Initially, this may not be a problem, but the high frequency vibration of the transducers will stress the stainless steel over time, and thinner gauge material may actually start to crack and leak. The stainless near the transducers is also subject to cavitation erosion, and thinner-walled tanks may develop pinhole leaks or worse quickly when this occurs.

Number of transducers – The more transducers that act on the fluid in the tank, the more complete the cleaning process. Sound waves will reach the parts from all angles, ensuring thorough cleaning of every surface. Lower-cost ultrasonic cleaners minimize the number of transducers to keep the cost down, meaning you will either have to clean the parts longer, or that the parts may not get completely cleaned at all.

Temperature control – Ultrasonic cleaning is usually faster and more thorough if the solution temperature is slightly elevated from around 110 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Cheaper ultrasonic cleaners might not have any sort of solution heating mechanism at all, or it may be an inexpensive controller that doesn’t maintain a constant temperature. In either case, cleaning times from batch to batch will vary dramatically as the solution heats and cools, forcing you to always run the unit longer to ensure proper cleaning. A thermostat or heater that overheats the solution may actually damage some types of parts.

Circulating Filtration System – During ultrasonic cleaning, contaminants that are removed from the parts will fall to the bottom of the tank as sludge, float around in the cleaning solution, or float on top of the solution (like oils and greases). Eventually, these contaminants will build up and affect the ability of the detergent to do its job, requiring it to be changed out.

An ultrasonic cleaner with built-in circulating filtration can pass the solution through filters and remove most of the contaminants, allowing the solution to be used longer between change-outs. It isn’t absolutely necessary that ultrasonic cleaners have this feature, but it does save on the cost of detergent and the time it takes to drain, refill, and degas the new solution.

Accessories – Some ultrasonic cleaners come with added accessories that must be purchased separately if you buy a cheap system. Parts cannot be placed on the floor of the tank, so there must be some sort of basket or tray available to hold them. This is an added cost if the unit you’re considering doesn’t include one. Also, a tank cover is almost essential to keep dust and dirt out of the solution when it’s not in use. If your new, inexpensive ultrasonic cleaner comes without a cover, you’ll have to shell out for that separately as well.

You don’t have to buy the most expensive cleaner on the market to get one that does a great job cleaning your parts. The type of parts, quantity of parts, types of contaminants, and expected usage all factor into choosing the right system. Be sure you know what you’re paying for before you lay down your money, or you may be sorely disappointed.

Contact us if you or your facility is looking for a convenient, compact, and economical solution for your ultrasonic cleaning system needs. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

What you may not know, however, is that there are a number of things you can and should do to optimize your parts cleaner to keep it running at peak performance.

Listed below are a number of these “best practices,” offered with the intent of helping you save money, reduce your cleaning time, and maximize your investment.

Keep your ultrasonic cleaner clean – That sounds like a redundant statement, but it’s not. If you expect to have parts that are free of dirt, oil and debris when they are removed from ultrasonic cleaners, the parts cleaner must also remain clean. This means periodically changing the cleaning solution, and wiping out the tank while the detergent is drained. The detergent must be changed occasionally to keep it from losing its effectiveness, while wiping out the container removes all the sludge that has accumulated in the bottom, which can reduce the effectiveness of the transducers.

Maintain your filtration system – Some ultrasonic cleaners are equipped with filtration systems that remove the floating oils and debris from the detergent while parts are being cleaned. These systems contain filters that trap the dirt and oil, and these filters must be changed occasionally, since they eventually fill with contaminants and block the circulating fluid.

Optimize the time and temperature – In order to save both time and money, take the time to do some experimenting with your ultrasonic cleaners to find the perfect time and temperature combination, in addition to the correct detergent. Running the parts cleaner for a long time at a high temperature may effectively clean parts, but it’s costing you extra electricity and wasted time.

Keep the unit covered when not in use – Some ultrasonic cleaners come equipped with covers to protect the cleaning solution, while others do not. Regardless, you should always keep your parts cleaner covered when not in use, since the air is full of dust, pollen, and small dirt particles that can accumulate in the cleaning solution and prematurely contaminate it. These airborne particles will accumulate in the solution just like the particles removed during the cleaning process, reducing the effectiveness of the detergent and the cleaner.

Pre-clean extra-dirty parts – Ultrasonic cleaners will remove all of the unwanted contaminants from a part’s surface, but all of those contaminants go somewhere, either into solution with the detergent or to the cleaner floor. In both cases, the effectiveness of the cleaner gets reduced over time. If the parts to be cleaned contain loose materials like mud, dust, or dirt that can easily be removed before they are placed in the cleaner, take the time to do a pre-rinse.

For more information on ultrasonic cleaners visit the Omegasonics website. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Whether you’re a hobbyist, shade-tree mechanic, or you run a small repair business, ultrasonic cleaners have a place in your garage.

Hobbyists and homeowners can make great use of ultrasonic cleaners. A small tabletop unit is fantastic for cleaning silver, brass, copper, gold, platinum, and expensive home decorations, yet is gentle enough to safely clean hand-painted dishes and jewelry. If you’re a hobbyist that commonly works with electronics and circuit boards or almost any other hard-surfaced material, ultrasonic cleaners remove oils, solvents, fluxes, metal chips, dust, and dirt safely and effectively.

Ultrasonic cleaners are perfect for the home mechanic or shade-tree mechanic. Imagine being able to rebuild a carburetor without being elbow deep in deglazers and cleaning solutions, hand-polishing jets and needle valves, and hand-cleaning fuel bowls and ports.

By just dropping the disassembled unit into an ultrasonic cleaner, the parts come out looking good as new, and you’re ready to start the rebuild process immediately.

The same is true for nearly any other car part, in addition to woodworking tools, metalworking tools, garden tool motors, and boat, personal watercraft, snowmobile, and 4-wheeler components. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, very few appliances make life easier than ultrasonic cleaners to get parts cleaned of rust, oil, scale, grease, fuel, solvents, dirt, debris, or oxidation.

Small ultrasonic cleaners are invaluable for the small business owner who specializes in repair and refurbishment. Whether your establishment specializes in restoring fire or flood-damaged items, restoring and reselling antique items, repairing small motors and equipment, or electronics and computer repair, ultrasonic cleaners can get all the parts prepared for the repair process.

Ultrasonic cleaners are equally at home in workshops and garages as well as large industrial and commercial facilities. They clean gently and thoroughly, use safe detergents for cleaning, and are compact enough to set on a table in the corner of your workroom.

Having a small unit available can save you a ton of time and money over hand-cleaning those items, regardless of their subsequent use.

For more information on ultrasonic cleaners visit the Omegasonics website. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Obviously, not all parts need to be cleaned to the same degree—it depends on what you’re going to do with them later.

Whether you’re using ultra sonic cleaning to restore the luster on treasured heirlooms, or cleaning parts to remove oil, grease, or wax, there are a number of tests you can do to fine-tune your cleaning process.

Here are some tests you can do to check how clean your parts are after ultrasonic cleaning:

Visual – The simplest test is a visual test. When the pieces are done being cleaned, do they look good to you? Do they shine, sparkle, and have luster?  Sometimes, this is the only test you need to determine if your parts are clean enough, particularly if you’re working with family heirlooms or personal belongs, such as silver sets, china, crystal, or jewelry. A test doesn’t have to be complicated to prove results.

White glove – Another simple test is the white-glove test, and the procedure is exactly what it sounds like—wiping down the parts with a white-gloved hand after they have been in ultra sonic cleaners. If the glove is clean, try washing the next group of parts for a little less time. You can reduce your cleaning cycle in this way, and save time.

Tape Lift-off – This test requires a little more scrutiny to make sure parts have been cleaned properly in ultra sonic cleaners. After the part has dried, wrap the part in clear tape (packing tape works great) and press it down hard against the surface with your hand. Then, pull the tape back off, being careful not to touch the sticky side with your fingers. Examine the tape by holding it up to light, and look for metal shavings, dirt, oil, or grease. If any particles are found, you may need to do additional ultra sonic cleaning based on the size and quantity of contaminants.

Atomized water – Thin films of oil and grease are difficult to detect on a surface. One of the easier tests to perform when looking for light coatings of oil or grease is an atomizer test. In this test, distilled water from a spray bottle is misted onto the part, and the water film is examined. If the part is completely clean, the water will spread evenly across the part. Where oil or grease is present, the water will either bead up or separate.

Florescence and Solvent Rewashing – If a part must be completely free of oils, greases, and waxes, or completely particle-free, it may be necessary to perform a more in-depth test like florescence or solvent rewashing. Because most oil films “fluoresce,” shining a UV-light on the part in a darkened room will show any oil or grease present on the part.

To look for fine particles that were not detected by the tape lift-off method, as a secondary non-ultrasonic rinse cleaning the part a second time using a solvent like isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits, and capturing the runoff in a clean tray for examination, will reveal any particle contamination left behind. Tests this involved are not usually necessary, but they are available and used in certain circumstances.

Cleanliness is application-specific, and over-cleaning parts in ultra sonic cleaners will waste time and cost you money in unnecessary power usage. You must make sure the parts are clean enough to perform successfully in the final product or next process step; anything beyond that is icing on the cake.

For more information on ultrasonic cleaners visit the Omegasonics website. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

6.   Reliable – The lack of rotating equipment in an ultrasonic cleaner keeps it running reliably for a long time. There are few moving parts to wear out compared with other systems, which may have any number of pumps, agitators, and fans, all  with bearings, seals, and electric motors.

7.   Thorough Cleaning – The pulse waves in an ultrasonic cleaner come from a number of different angle and travel at varying frequencies, which means parts in the washer get hit from different angles all the time with pressure waves. This random, high frequency action ensures that the entire surface of the part is cleaned evenly, something that other cleaning systems can’t claim.

8.   Environmentally Friendly – The detergents used in ultrasonic cleaners are non-hazardous and environmentally safe. Plus, as we’ve mentioned, the low power consumption and rapid cleaning time means less electricity is used in our systems.

9.   Mold and Bacteria Removal – On top of the contaminants we listed above, ultrasonic cleaners are also excellent at removing mold and bacteria from surfaces. This makes them perfect for cleaning parts for equipment used in food preparation and processing, as well as instruments, devices, and equipment used in the medical community.

10.  Wide Range of Sizes – Ultrasonic cleaners come in many sizes, ranging from tabletop units to large, industrial-sized machines. That means the exact right size unit can be purchased for every service, and we don’t have to waste energy or cleaning chemicals on a “one-size-fits-all” cleaning system.

So there we have it. In this two-part series, we’ve listed 10 reasons why ultrasonic cleaners make sense for our cleaning needs, regardless of our industry, type of part, or nature of the contaminant. Their versatility makes them perfect for any number uses, from homes and personal use to the small business to full-blown industrial facilities. The medical, aerospace, food manufacturing and processing, electronics,computer, and restoration industries have all discovered their benefits, and more industries are getting on board every day with ultrasonic cleaners for their most demanding cleaning needs.

For more information on ultrasonic cleaners, visit the Omegasonics website. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.