Ultrasonic cleaner expectations

[Sideburn]

I just got a 30L ultrasonic cleaner and so far I’m not too impressed. Maybe my expectations were too high but aside from it not cleaning any corrosion of my boards it’s not even cleaning the flux or any gunk off. I can tell no difference.

temp at 45c and I run it for 30 mins.

it did annihilate a sheet of tinfoil though…

 

[Fizzbinn]

Are you using a board cleaning solution?

 

[Sideburn]

No just water. Does it only clean metal?
Any dirt and flux sticky stuff etc will stay?

 

[Fizzbinn]

I'm by no means an expert but I've always heard folks saying to use a cleaning solution designed for electronics and distilled water.

This is the stuff I use currently (although looks like its only available in the huge size right now via Amazon) with my VEVOR 30L Ultrasonic Cleaner:
Elmasonic 800 0100 Elma TEC Clean A1 Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution Concentrate for Electronics and Optics

I see a lot of folks like this one:
Branson EC Electronics Cleaner Solution For Ultrasonic Cleaners (1 Gallon)

I guess it might be like doing your laundry without detergent if you just use water.

 

[Sideburn]

That’s the same one I have the 30l vevor. I guess you should clean the flux and board with isopropyl and a brush prior to untrasonic
Cleaning. I was under the impression it would clean the flux off the board and at least some of the corrosion and rust. I really can’t tell if it is doing anything. I’ll try some cleaning solution next.

 

[Fizzbinn]

That’s the same one I have the 30l vevor. I guess you should clean the flux and board with isopropyl and a brush prior to untrasonic
Cleaning. I was under the impression it would clean the flux off the board and at least some of the corrosion and rust. I really can’t tell if it is doing anything. I’ll try some cleaning solution next.

I do a bit of cleaning before putting boards in my ultrasonic cleaner but certainly I don’t remove all the flux/residue. With the cleaning solution above they come out squeaky clean for me. For boards I put through the cleaner I mainly just try to remove any bulk flux that’s easy to do so, my thinking being the water+cleaning solution will last longer that way.

I think it takes an ultrasonic cleaning solution designed for cleaning boards of flux to do this. Not sure what water alone in an ultrasonic cleaner can be expected to clean, dust and debris?

 

[Sideburn]

Hmm yeah I’m starting to wonder if it’s worth it for my needs. If I have to spend almost $100.00 on solution and the how much would I need to pour into a 5 gallon tank? Just to occasionally clean a board. plus it’s big and takes up a lot of space.

Maybe just some alchohol / vinegar and a toothbrush and water rinse will do the job for me with less expense and hassle.

I thought I could just ad water and run it and it would do a major cleaning job.

 

[Fizzbinn]

I paid $69 for my 2.5L Elma TEC Clean A1 Ultrasonic Cleaner Solution, I used about half of it when I set it up ~ Jan 2021 in my basement. I've since used it to clean a few dozen boards. It's a bit yellow looking now, debris settled at the bottom, so I'm thinking about flushing and starting over with a fresh batch of water and cleaner. $69 doesn't seem bad for what will likely end up being 5-6 years of ultrasonic cleaning for me.

If you can't keep it setup somewhere I can see how draining, storing and then redoing the water+solution could be cost prohibitive (and tiresome).

 

[Sideburn]

Yeah exactly. My issue is I don’t have a dedicated spot for it to stay. I was planning on getting it out on a let use basis. So I’d be emptying it after use.