Fo years I've been using a generic 10 liter ultrasonic cleaning tank I got from Amazon. It's been fine, but a little cramped for some boards and its build quality is mediocre. I'd heard of Crest ultrasonic cleaners via Louis Rossman's videos and they seemed to be very well made and performant. I was intrigued, but even their smaller bench top models are way too expensive for a hobbyist.
Recently someone gave a Crest 4HT-1014-6 tank from their industrial line. These tanks differ from the bench top models in that they use external ultrasonic generators and can scale to enormous sizes. This particular tank is on the smaller size for the line at 10"x14"x10". That's big enough to fit just about any circuit board we might work on. It holds about 5 gallons of liquid, has a built in heater, and six 40kHz transducers. It's built out of thick 316L stainless steel, has 3/4" fittings for filling and draining and has a lip at the top so the tank can be counter-sunk.
The tank I received didn't have a generator, but would have originally been paired with a Crest Genesis 4G-500-6. These generators can be found on eBay but they're quite pricey. I ended up buying the cheapest option, which was covered in filth and didn't power up. The no power fault ended up being due to a shorted GI756 diode on its bridge rectifier. Once replaced the generator fired right up.
One thing the system does not have is a timer, but it should be easy enough to build one.
I did a foil test to compare the generic cleaner to the Crest and the difference is huge! In the photo below you can see how much material the Crest blasted through in the same amount of time. It might be too powerful for circuit boards. Fortunately there's a power adjustment dial on the generator itself. When set to 1-2 it performs similarly to the generic cleaner.
Overall I'm very happy with it for the amount of money and time spent. But it's absolute overkill for hobby work and the lack of a timer is a little annoying. If you find one dirt cheap in a local listing, definitely consider picking it up, but otherwise stick with the no-name tanks from China.
Pros:
- Large enough for any home computer circuit board
- Substantially more cleaning power compared to generic cleaners
- Fantastic materials and build quality (and built in the USA)
- Easy to service generator
Cons:
- Prohibitively expensive even used and broken
- No timer or temperature feedback
- Separate generator consumes significant space
I go over a lot more detail in this video:
Foil from a generic tank on the left and the Crest on the right:
Recently someone gave a Crest 4HT-1014-6 tank from their industrial line. These tanks differ from the bench top models in that they use external ultrasonic generators and can scale to enormous sizes. This particular tank is on the smaller size for the line at 10"x14"x10". That's big enough to fit just about any circuit board we might work on. It holds about 5 gallons of liquid, has a built in heater, and six 40kHz transducers. It's built out of thick 316L stainless steel, has 3/4" fittings for filling and draining and has a lip at the top so the tank can be counter-sunk.
The tank I received didn't have a generator, but would have originally been paired with a Crest Genesis 4G-500-6. These generators can be found on eBay but they're quite pricey. I ended up buying the cheapest option, which was covered in filth and didn't power up. The no power fault ended up being due to a shorted GI756 diode on its bridge rectifier. Once replaced the generator fired right up.
One thing the system does not have is a timer, but it should be easy enough to build one.
I did a foil test to compare the generic cleaner to the Crest and the difference is huge! In the photo below you can see how much material the Crest blasted through in the same amount of time. It might be too powerful for circuit boards. Fortunately there's a power adjustment dial on the generator itself. When set to 1-2 it performs similarly to the generic cleaner.
Overall I'm very happy with it for the amount of money and time spent. But it's absolute overkill for hobby work and the lack of a timer is a little annoying. If you find one dirt cheap in a local listing, definitely consider picking it up, but otherwise stick with the no-name tanks from China.
Pros:
- Large enough for any home computer circuit board
- Substantially more cleaning power compared to generic cleaners
- Fantastic materials and build quality (and built in the USA)
- Easy to service generator
Cons:
- Prohibitively expensive even used and broken
- No timer or temperature feedback
- Separate generator consumes significant space
I go over a lot more detail in this video:
Foil from a generic tank on the left and the Crest on the right:
