Ultrasonic cleaners.

Chipk

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Anybody use an ultrasonic cleaner for coins and jewelry? If so, how effective is if? I was recently at a jeweler getting a ring cleaned and made a comment about getting one for cleaning finds. The woman there made a face and said basically you get what you pay for meaning the small ones you buy on eBay are not very good.

Any opinions or advice?
 
Anybody use an ultrasonic cleaner for coins and jewelry? If so, how effective is if? I was recently at a jeweler getting a ring cleaned and made a comment about getting one for cleaning finds. The woman there made a face and said basically you get what you pay for meaning the small ones you buy on eBay are not very good.

Any opinions or advice?

i've got a small ultrasonic machine that was designed for cleaning dental appliances (retainers, dentures, etc). i've tried doing coins in it, but it's not as effective as a tumbler.
on the other hand, it does a fairly good job on jewelry! if you get grime stuck in behind the diamonds for example or dirty chains, it seems to do the trick! throw some hot water in it, half of a Polydent pill thingy and give 'er! and the stuff comes out smelling minty fresh! :laughing:
(actuslly, the bubbling action from the Polydent does indeed help clean the jewelry!)

Pete
 
I've got an ultrasonic cleaner which can, according to the manual, can be used for cleaning a lot of things including golf balls and gun components!

So far, I've only used warm water (130f) and soap, but you can also buy special solutions to clean.

I've found it's not too effective for clad (better in the tumbler), but I've tried it on gold and silver jewellery and also gold nuggets. It does a great job at cleaning them, especially the gold nuggets. I noticed they were a lot shinier and less dirty afterwards.

If you're cleaning silver coins, be careful not to leave them in too long. I put in a coin which I thought was silver for 10 minutes (it was too corroded to tell whether it was silver or not), and small holes appeared on the coin. I don't know if the holes were from cleaning the coin, or if they were already there.
 
Whoever told you that the cheap ones on ebay are of poor quality is correct. Get the best you can afford. Fill at least halfway with water then put your item in a beaker or small canning jar and set in the machine. Fill with water and add a couple drops of Dawn liquid soap and turn on the machine. This method saves soap, and keeps you from having to clean the tank every time you use it. KT's ultrasonic is a 2 quart model and of medium rated power. Cleaning works by a process of cavitation. Ultrasonic waves cause bubbles to form on the objects surface and when the bubbles collapse, it causes the dirt to slack off the item. The soap is the necessary surfactant, allowing the water to soak into the dirt and grease so the cavitation process can work. Better machines have a timer...usually 15 minutes which is plenty of time to clean most items.

KT has never used one of these to clean coins so cannot advise you as to its effectiveness.
 
Only for shallow surface dirt. Fun for far clean recreational finds. Will not clean persistent dirt which most old finds have.
 
not for coins

Household ultrasonic cleaners are good for cleaning build-up in hard to reach places, like on jewelry, etc., but clad coins dug from the ground do not clean up much at all. Just basic hand cleaning with a cloth and water works better.
A good industrial/automotive ultrasonic cleaner can do wonders on old metal gun/machine parts, but I doubt it would really do much for coins.
 
I got one as a gift for Christmas... why I don't know but I excepted it... it seems to be a pretty decent unit and I did try is on dirt encrusted copper coins.. I watched it take some of the heavy dirt off without removing the patina so I was relatively happy with it.

I still tumble all the clad and some jewelry

http://www.sears.com/a-source-asuc20-110-ultrasonic-cleaner/p-SPM7517339103
 
I have used one in my Silversmithing for years. They remove dirt but will not restore a shine to dark coins. They should not damage any silver because they were designed to clean jewelry. You still need a tumbler to bring back dark coins.
 
If you're cleaning silver coins, be careful not to leave them in too long. I put in a coin which I thought was silver for 10 minutes (it was too corroded to tell whether it was silver or not), and small holes appeared on the coin. I don't know if the holes were from cleaning the coin, or if they were already there.

It shouldn't damage any coins. The holes must have been already there and the cleaner just revealed them.
 
Best solution for cleaning coins and other finds?

Anybody use an ultrasonic cleaner for coins and jewelry? If so, how effective is if? I was recently at a jeweler getting a ring cleaned and made a comment about getting one for cleaning finds. The woman there made a face and said basically you get what you pay for meaning the small ones you buy on eBay are not very good.

Any opinions or advice?

Is there consensus on some of the best solutions for cleaning finds? I'm not really concerned about clad coins but things of potential value. I'm getting back into this hobby after a 40 year hiatus and if memory serves I used to soak coins in olive oil and I had some type of electrolysis gizmo (reverse electro-plating) for getting rust and crud off other stuff I found such as my 3 pounder cannonball, brass harness hook, gun parts,and other stuff.
Suggestions ?
Thanks in advance.
 
Chip. I use an ultrasonic for cleaning my dirty brass for reloading. Works awesome for that. Never tried it on coins but may do so. Will let you know when we go to the beach.
 
Gee I got one off of eBay and it works fine. Just look at the reviews and I did pay $70 or so for mine. For the people who think paying 3x as much gets three times the quality.... I can sell you mine for 3x what I paid! Take a peek at the expensive ones or ask, where are they built?
 
I use a big one for that was bought for gun parts but it cleans silver coins and jewelry great. It does not harm silver coins at all it just removes the dirt in the grooves. I only leave coins in it for a second or 2. I will cycle jewelry in it a few times if needed.
 
I tried cleaning clad in a commercial 4 sink heated ultrasonic cleaner with a different chemical in each sink. I think the last sink was a anti-rusting type solution. The system was built for cleaning rebuilt turbo-charger parts prior to final assembly.If there is a better ultrasonic cleaner this place would have it. I don't think there was a speck of dirt on any coin but they where still almost as black as when they started. Dawn and a brush worked better. I use salt and vinegar to get them clean enough to spend.
 
You can buy a special cleaner to add to the warm water that will clean and polish brass or gold Etc. I wonder how Bar Keepers friend would work??
 
Be careful with the commercial models on some stones.

Opals can blow up in a powerful unit, have had it happen, the worst I have seen was some genuine scarob beetles, come to find out they were dyed cobalt or turquoise color, they Bleached out.

Being cautious is the best way to approach cleaning anything you are not fairly familiar with. I have a Huge unit I bought at a Military base sale, use it for cleaning Engine blocks and such, $15.00 brought it home, no one else bid on it.:yes:
 
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