UltraSonic Cleaners & grit blasters.

mickoo

Western Thunderer
We have a shot blaster at work;) but I don't think there'd be much left of the model after a few minutes in there LOL, of the tools on my list, the shot blaster is expendable, the U/S cleaner I'm not sure on.

I've just revised my cleaning methods with Viakal and was politely impressed with the results, it still doesn't get in the tiniest of spaces like I have on the EMD Spartan cab around the latch handles, that is where the U/S cleaner will win hands down.
 

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
As for shot/grit blasters - that's one I'll give a miss after a couple of bad experiences with them. I dare say it may well have been down to operator error but I'm not willing to take the risk again. It was a couple of tenders I'd built which were then cleaned with a grit blaster, unfortunately the grit blaster deformed the tender sides. It was nickel-silver rather than brass and the tender sides ended up being bowed out in the middle. I think what I ended up doing was effectively shot peening one side of the metal, this stretched the metal on the outside resulting in the bowed sides. As I say perhaps I was using the wrong grit or the wrong pressure, although I started off on what I thought was the low side ( certainly lower than that quoted by Ozzyo). Anyway it's not something I'll experiment with again.

Hello Adrian, all,

reading what you have said I do think that have shot peening the thin sides of the tender. Do you know what your mate had in his grit blaster? If he had any form of steel ball shot (this would peen) the surface of the metal and then stretch it on the outer surface. Think about a lot of small ball bearings hitting the surface of N/S. These may only be 0.05mm dia. but this will do a lot of damage. Due to the amount of them hitting the part. If you want to clean up a steel part of a car these will do a very good job, but on a model NO.

In my grit blaster I'm using approx 180 grit (0. 0018"?) it's not much more than dust, to give an idea of the grit size that I use, think of the grit on wet'n'dry paper that is 180 grit,

That is what my M/C blows over over the model at about 50 P.S.I. and as the grit is used the particulars ware out and give a finer finish. Then I have to top up the grit tank to just to make sure that I can get the "cut" that I want.

Please don't forget a good tool just because of one bad experience if it,

OzzyO.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
I'm fairly sure it was grit of some sort - IIRC it was the Badger mini-grit blaster and whatever material is supplied with that.

Anyway I'm a little wary of them now and would be reluctant to use one, and from an engineering point of view it doesn't seem right to me to be abrading just one side of a thin sheet of metal. As they say "your milage may vary", it's just not the tool for me. It was the same with RSU's - I tried them didn't like it and went back to a soldering iron yet other people rave about them. It's just the way things go.
 

SteadyRed

Western Thunderer
Offered usual socks or a present or my choice for combined Xmas & my birthday from my wife.

Ultrasonic tank is the next item on my shopping list.

If I can reduce the amount of scrubbing under hot water to remove flush residue I will be very happy.

From the experience of others what is the optimum tank size for a 7mm builder?

JPL 9020 Ultrasonic Cleaner 6000ml

Looks to be a possibility

Dave
 

Steph Dale

Western Thunderer
Dave,
I've got one of the cheapo Maplin ones which I use a great deal for cleaning components. It's especially useful when blackening components or as part of a cleaning regime for gluing.
The problem with larger versions is that despite a high capacity the tank may not be the right shape to get a whole loco, carriage or wagon in. Even the machine you've highlighted doesn't seem to give the dimensions of the tank. If you can find out those sizes you can judge how useful it'll be for you.
In terms of post-solder cleaning I'm not sure an ultrasonic cleaner will help hugely. I just wash my stuff in warm water to rinse off the flux and use an abrasive cleaner when I'm ready for painting. An ultrasonic cleaner won't help either of those things, but I suppose may be effective at removing the last traces of the abrasive cleaner!
Steph
 

farnetti

Western Thunderer
Hi Dave,

I have been looking at an US cleaner for a while too. I have used a friends to clean a finished soldered 7mm wagon. A considerable amount of gunk came off even after cleaning in warm water with Shiny Sinks and Vaikal etc. so they can be useful.

But, as Steph says, trying to find one to suit (7mm for me) is nigh on impossible. Length is the issue and to find one with a small cross section but that will cope with a 65' coach is nigh on impossible.

Maybe put up with clean wagons and dirty coaches!

Ken
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
I've got to sit on the bench with Steph,.

I did consider an ultrasonic cleaner but as noted above, you'd need a huge one to get a loco or coach in, so rather than spend all that money on a cleaner I went the other way and removed the need to clean as much, simply put, less solder.....much, much less solder and a liquid flux that washes easily in warm water.

Once you get that sorted the problem of which ultrasonic cleaner to get solves it's self :thumbs:
 

Jon Nazareth

Western Thunderer
Osgood/OzzyO
I clicked on Osgood's link and the CD4860 came up but it seems that the tank is larger. They quote it at being 438 x 300 x 250 with a 6ltr capacity. Is this what you have, Osgood? I'm looking to use it for G3 items.

Jon
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
Jon - those are the overall dimensions of the unit.
The tank itself measures L 320 x W 200 x H 99 (tank not basket), nominal 6l capacity.
The sides and ends are ever-so-slightly bowed, so 200 width is 203 is at central widest point, narrowing to 190 at ends.
I must confess I have not filled it up yet, I purchased it on the recommendation of an aged rock star.....

Tony
 

Osgood

Western Thunderer
If you check out Ozzy's posts his photo shows the shape of the tank, also the spec sheet giving correct tank size.
The Presidential web page is a bit misleading to say the least!
 

Jon Nazareth

Western Thunderer
I would need a pice of kit with a tank size of some 400mm long to cater for G3 items and that's when things get a bit expensive.

Jon
 

mickoo

Western Thunderer
Would this bit of kit be any good?
Ultrasonic Cleaner for motorcycle / motorbike carburettors (carb cleaning) (9 Ltr)

If you think about it the cost of one of these cleaners is only the cost of one loco kit!!!!!!!!!!!

OzzyO
It is but you can get cheaper ones with large tanks.

Jon, check this one out with a tank length of 530 mm, or the others at the bottom of the page.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/GT-Ultraso...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1QWDPH9R0HEX9DVS0645

Is the one I'm looking at.
 

Stoke5D

Western Thunderer
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