Any new research on using ultrasonic with CPC/ASM? (1 Viewer)

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With too much time on my hands now, I unearth this thread to bring up a distant future issue:

How to clean heavily-used CPCs (if I live enough to use them that much, especially the bright whites)?
Is an ultra-sonic cleaner appropriate?

Dawn is safe (and effective) on Burt/ASM/CPC chips, as is Simple Green. A stiff plastic bristle brush helps minimize the manual labor required. Water temp should not be so hot that you cannot keep your hands submerged comfortably.

Dawn generates too much suds to be used in an ultrasonic cleaner, but I have no idea about Simple Green's foaming tendencies.

Just sitting here on Sunday afternoon, catching up on old threads I've missed, trying to answer some chipping questions that have come to mind. Has anyone here done any new research on using ultrasonic with CPC/ASM? Or discovered any other methods of cleaning them safely? (Have I missed the answer in another thread?)

Years ago, I bought a set of heavily-used casino ASMs (Kenmore Lanes?) from TCR. Reading on CT that soaking in OXY wasn't safe for ASMs, I tried handscrubbing a few of them with a toothbrush and dish soap, and it was so difficult to get them clean that I eventually just gave up and sold them. Since that experience, the problem of cleaning ASM/CPC chips has steered me away from them and toward Paulsons (... and is that possibly one reason why people are murdering Paulsons to make their own custom sets instead of buying CPC customs? Price seems to be less of a reason at this time than ever before).
 
We would never have gotten to the Moon that way.

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein
It seriously is not a good idea. I can't find the video or the thread off hand, but someone put a Key West ASM/CPC chip in an ultrasonic and completely destroyed the chip.

Maybe it was @Hobbyphilic ?
 
I've enjoyed @Hobbyphilic videos, but haven't seen anything like that there. I'm sure it's been tried in the past. Ultrasonic isn't the only way to clean chips, fortunately. Anybody here done any new research on cleaning CPC/ASM, ultrasonic or otherwise?

Edit: found the video, see next post.
 
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I've enjoyed @Hobbyphilic videos, but haven't seen anything like that there. I'm sure it's been tried in the past. Ultrasonic isn't the only way to clean chips, fortunately. Anybody here done any new research on cleaning CPC/ASM, ultrasonic or otherwise?
Personally speaking, getting a bowl of warm water and Dawn dish soap cleans all clay chips including CPC/ASM well enough.

Personally, I forego that step and instead, I use a microfiber cloth and dab it with some mineral oil and oil the chips, even the dusty factory minty ones. The microfiber cloth will absorb the factory dust and the mineral oil will have the chips looking clean and vibrant.

Case in point, my customs from earlier this year.

Before:


After:





 
I cleaned some of my CPCs in an ultrasonic with a Simple Green solution (mixed with distilled water) at I think 105 degrees (a little lower temp to be safe). The colors were less vibrant initially (greater change in color for non-weighted bright color chips than the brass flake ones), but no damage to or dissolving of chips. After oiling, all the chips looked vibrant again and I was honestly pretty happy with the results.
 
Thx for the pron JMC, those customs look great. (I've always liked the A-mold.) I guess the old Kenmore Lanes chips must have had too much hooker juice on them. (And why were hookers hanging around a bowling alley? Maybe I just don't get out enough.)

Anyway, this is a more interesting way to spend Sunday afternoon than watching TV.
 
I cleaned some of my CPCs in an ultrasonic with a Simple Green solution (mixed with distilled water) at I think 105 degrees (a little lower temp to be safe). The colors were less vibrant initially (greater change in color for non-weighted bright color chips than the brass flake ones), but no damage to or dissolving of chips. After oiling, all the chips looked vibrant again and I was honestly pretty happy with the results.
This is the first review that I have seen of ultrasonic cleaning of ASM/CPC or BCC chips. The above video simply demonstrates that TSP should not be used on ASM/CPC. This has been well established, as has not using Oxy Clean.
 
I cleaned some of my CPCs in an ultrasonic with a Simple Green solution (mixed with distilled water) at I think 105 degrees (a little lower temp to be safe). The colors were less vibrant initially (greater change in color for non-weighted bright color chips than the brass flake ones), but no damage to or dissolving of chips. After oiling, all the chips looked vibrant again and I was honestly pretty happy with the results.
I've added a few pics of the denom with probably the greatest initial color change.
1621356617754-1054635739.jpg

Top to bottom: Cleaned/not oiled, cleaned/oiled, new chip

1621356690175-327621083.jpg

From top to bottom: New chip, oiled/cleaned, cleaned (not oiled)

Also note that the chips were quite filthy before the cleaning. Between 30 sec and 1 min in the ultrasonic.
 
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I just cleaned a bunch....two different kinds of older CPC/ASM style? Not really sure who exactly made them. Tried using Simple green (no ultrasonic). Problem is...mine arent dirty, they are stained.

-Elephant and crown mold, pretty chalky feeling chips....almost like sandpaper grit. They started degrading after a few minutes of Simple Green. Switched to Dawn and hot water, they did fine. After oiling, they look pretty good....but are still stained.

-H mold standard modern day chips....do not have the chalky feel, just like regular ASMs. Seemed to not degrade from Simple Green, but also seemed to not benefit any more than from Dawn and hot water. Still no trial with ultrasonic, as there really seemed to be nothing to gain from using it. Again, these chips arent dirty, they are stained. Clean and oiling made them look better, but the staining is still there.

So TLDR, some ASM/CPC's will definitely disintegrate in Simple Green, but some won't.
 

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Mixed results, maybe Elon Musk's team could work on a miraculous new cleaning solution.

Your research could be a big plus for prospective CPC/ASM owners. Good thread, keep it going guys!
 
I cleaned some of my CPCs in an ultrasonic with a Simple Green solution (mixed with distilled water) at I think 105 degrees (a little lower temp to be safe). The colors were less vibrant initially (greater change in color for non-weighted bright color chips than the brass flake ones), but no damage to or dissolving of chips. After oiling, all the chips looked vibrant again and I was honestly pretty happy with the results.
Here is the link to my post in the original ultrasonic thread. I used Simple Green in the ultrasonic. Satisfactory results. More room for improvement.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/ultrasonic-chip-cleaning.1691/post-1335972
This is good to hear. I have some pretty old Dragonara casino LGK chips that I believe are ASM. They are casino used, and then who knows how long have they been sitting around somewhere, so the grime and hooker juice is deeply ingrained in every crack and crevice. I tried a quick Dawn soak and some soft toothbrush scrubbing. It definitely took off some surface grime but did nothing to the embossed lines in the mold. Here is a post from another thread.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/lets-see-your-lgk-large-key-supergem-pr0n.29689/post-1536924

I want to try cleaning with an ultrasonic, but obviously don't want to mess up my vintage chips. And also hate to spend the money buying one if it's not going to work well. Let's see if bumping this thread brings out any new ideas.
 
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I have the same dilemma, given that I just got some LGKs myself. I did try the Lundmark TSP on a handful of chips and the results were not too bad overall. Definitely nothing melted (no damage to the chip), and even the hotstamps didn't seem too badly affected (as far as I can tell). There is some initial paling of chips but they look great when oiled.

Bottom row is oiled, top un-oiled:
PXL_20210621_160625546.jpg


Same as above, but with lightest chip (2nd from left) in top row being oiled:
PXL_20210621_161106643.jpg


Note that some of the yellow chips (the dirtiest/grimiest) I put through the ultrasonic didn't help much with dirt/grease that was stuck in the key mold, even after like 2 minutes in the ultrasonic. They needed a scraping out; I used a paper clip, but maybe a soft dental pick (rubber) would be better. Luckily, less than half of the yellow chips have gunk completely filling the key mold. If the grease was still darkening the edges of the chip, I took a magic eraser to it.
 
I have the same dilemma, given that I just got some LGKs myself. I did try the Lundmark TSP on a handful of chips and the results were not too bad overall. Definitely nothing melted (no damage to the chip), and even the hotstamps didn't seem too badly affected (as far as I can tell). There is some initial paling of chips but they look great when oiled.

Bottom row is oiled, top un-oiled:
View attachment 723932

Same as above, but with lightest chip (2nd from left) in top row being oiled:
View attachment 723935

Note that some of the yellow chips (the dirtiest/grimiest) I put through the ultrasonic didn't help much with dirt/grease that was stuck in the key mold, even after like 2 minutes in the ultrasonic. They needed a scraping out; I used a paper clip, but maybe a soft dental pick (rubber) would be better. Luckily, less than half of the yellow chips have gunk completely filling the key mold. If the grease was still darkening the edges of the chip, I took a magic eraser to it.
Thanks. This got me thinking. I went back and looked closer. and realized that I'm mostly focusing on the 50 cent chips since they were the worst. My 1 pound and 5 pound chips are not quite as bad, and my other fracs don't have much gunk in the mold at all. A Dawn cleaning might be sufficient for most of them.

All my chips have inlays so I am a bit worried about that. Your one inlayed chip looks great. Was it that nice prior to cleaning? I had one chip where the inlay looks like it might have been damaged just from the Dawn soak and toothbrush scrubbing. Although I can't be certain that it wasn't already damaged prior to my cleaning efforts.

Now I just need to decide if I can justify purchasing an ultrasonic when I may only need it for half of my chips. I think I will try the Dawn soak on a few of the 1s and 5s to see how they turn out. I may also leave them longer than 5 minutes.
 
The inlaid chip was a bit dirty at first, but overall the 5 pound chips were just cleaner overall. A quick 30 seconds in the ultrasonic was all they needed. Some folks like scrubbing, I can't say I'm a huge fan, depends on how much time you like doing stuff like that. Don't get me wrong, I spend tons of time oiling, but cleaning large hordes of chips is soooooo time-consuming. The ultrasonic has been such a worthwhile investment that pays for itself after like the first large batch of chips even.
 
The inlaid chip was a bit dirty at first, but overall the 5 pound chips were just cleaner overall. A quick 30 seconds in the ultrasonic was all they needed. Some folks like scrubbing, I can't say I'm a huge fan, depends on how much time you like doing stuff like that. Don't get me wrong, I spend tons of time oiling, but cleaning large hordes of chips is soooooo time-consuming. The ultrasonic has been such a worthwhile investment that pays for itself after like the first large batch of chips even.
Do you mind if I ask which one you bought? There are so many on Amazon and they all look the same...
 
I’ve had great results with Sterling’s Magic on some Paulson hot stamps. I haven’t tried it on ASMs but I bet it wouldn’t kill them.
 
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It might be good to check with ski on size. My Hornady I believe is 3L and fits the salad spinner perfect.
 
What did you use as a cleaning agent? Simple Green, Real TSP, fake TSP, Dawn... other?

Landmark fake TSP on these. I think I cooked em up for a while, like 2 minutes or more. I did these a while ago so I don’t know the exact time and temp.

I have used simple green recently on bcc’s with good results. It doesn’t seem to fade the chips as much. I find red chips to get faded a lot with fake tsp, even some plastics, which are hard to oil. I like simple green much more than Dawn in the ultrasonic.
 

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