Do you use an Ultra-sonic? Have you had this happen? See Pic. (1 Viewer)

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Do you have experience with an ultra-sonic? Have you seen this before? I could use an opinion as to the cause or if anything is to be done?

See pic below. The inlay of the chip on the left is visibly grey compared to the chip on the right. Both chips went through the US at approx the same time (within a few minutes of each other).

US- Vevor 6L & Salad Spinner
Cleaner - Red Devil TSP (1 tablespoon per 4 cups of water)
Water - Distilled
Temp - 38-41C
Time - 45sec

I've cleaned many hundreds of Paris $1s & $5s and never had this happen. I usually run $1s for 1min @ 41-43C & $5s for 30sec @ 36-38C. Not exposed to sunlight. Thoughts?

IMG_2180.jpg
 
I use the exact same setup that you do. Perhaps the only difference being that I run my RHCs for about 30 seconds. I've never seen this type of whitening of the inlay before.

Edit: or wait a second are you saying that the chip inlay went gray from white. I suppose that could happen if water gets under the laminate.
 
.......I could use an opinion as to the cause or if anything is to be done?......
The inlay of the chip on the left is visibly grey compared to the chip on the right. Both chips went through the US at approx the same time (within a few minutes of each other).
You don't say: Are you sure both were the same pre US? & which one changed? If they were both the same pre US were they both gray or both white?
 
I use the exact same setup that you do. Perhaps the only difference being that I run my RHCs for about 30 seconds. I've never seen this type of whitening of the inlay before.

Edit: or wait a second are you saying that the chip inlay went gray from white. I suppose that could happen if water gets under the laminate.

They went from white to grey.
 
I only typically let mine dry for a couple of hours. They're basically dry 20 minutes after they come out when I lay them out on towels. Especially if I'm doing it outside with some breeze.

But with that said, the only thing I could think of is that water got under the laminate. After cleaning thousands upon thousands of chips, I've never seen this before.

How many chips went from white to gray?
 
You don't say: Are you sure both were the same pre US? & which one changed? If they were both the same pre US were they both gray or both white?

I can honestly say I never noticed a difference pre-bath. Or immediately post-bath. I first noticed it right off when I went to flip them over about 6hrs into the drying process.
 
Ben and I have had a few chips get water under the laminate, mostly TRKs. No matter how careful we are. They usually dry out though, sometimes it takes a few days. Obviously it's a paper inlay underneath which seems odd. I can't think of anything to encourage the moisture to come out from underneath the laminate aside from warm air or dry rice
 
Newer Paulson inlays on RHCs are some type of vinyl, water shouldn’t even affect them. I’d guess this inlay might have been gray pre-cleaning in a batch variation, or the US solution grayed the clear laminate itself which I’ve never seen and I usually US filthy THCs for 4-8mins even.
 
are you sure the inlay went in white, maybe another chip batch where the inlay was slightly grey
 
I only typically let mine dry for a couple of hours. They're basically dry 20 minutes after they come out when I lay them out on towels. Especially if I'm doing it outside with some breeze.

But with that said, the only thing I could think of is that water got under the laminate. After cleaning thousands upon thousands of chips, I've never seen this before.

How many chips went from white to gray?

I would say about half, with varying degrees of "grayness". The pic I posted above was one of the darkest ones & I wasn't sure how the camera was going to pick it up.

I'll bet it is water contamination under the laminate. These are 20-21yr old chips, I'm sure they have developed a weak spot on the laminate and moisture got in.

I'll leave them out under the fan for a few days, but I suspect it's a done deal. Can I live with it...sure. But I'd rather they stayed white.
 
I would say about half, with varying degrees of "grayness". The pic I posted above was one of the darkest ones & I wasn't sure how the camera was going to pick it up.

I'll bet it is water contamination under the laminate. These are 20-21yr old chips, I'm sure they have developed a weak spot on the laminate and moisture got in.

I'll leave them out under the fan for a few days, but I suspect it's a done deal. Can I live with it...sure. But I'd rather they stayed white.
If they're that old, then they are paper label and not the newer vinyl. I'm guessing that the paper just got wet.

Nothing you can do besides let them dry out.
 
Ive had this happen with mine too, its water under the inlay, when it dries out it will be fine, you may have a slight color tweek tho depending on what’s underneath. Whether its paper or vinyl. But ultimately it should dry up.
 
I cleaned hundreds of the Empress $5s years ago. I had no Ultrasonic and was just soaking and electric toothbrush scrubbing with Diamond Chip Cleaner. They were filthy, with lots of crud embedded in the hats and canes. I found that soaking helped the process along, so much so that I left some batches in the solution for over 24 hours (some for over 48). When the cleaning was done, I noticed that quite a few had infiltration under the inlays. Some inlays were even discoloured with brownish water stains under them. I let them all dry thoroughly and found that most were OK after a few days/week - even the water stains seemed to fade away. The ones that were still visibly wet under the inlay after the drying were separated off from the others and stored separately.

I gave up my chip obsession for a few years and when I came back, I was sorting my chips and discovered a bunch of Empress $5s that seemed to be separate for no reason. They were a mix of LCV and SCV, my primary sorting criterion. After searching for chips all over my house, I realized that I couldn't find all the stained Empress $5s. They were the unsorted mold batch. They seemed fine - some staining was still visible on a few.

So, with an ultrasonic in play, I'd say your under-inlay area should dry out within a few days/weeks. If not, at least your children's chip inheritance will probably be water stain free. ;)
 
Well I will say this. Don’t put a plastic chip in the US. RIGHT BY HAND. LEFT AFTER US!now they’re yellow!! And even the magic eraser won’t whiten them.
image.jpg
 

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