Ultrasonic Chip Cleaning (32 Viewers)

[allforcharity]

I do about 1000 chips in an hour. I won’t even get the machine out until I have about 400 chips to clean.

I think you are making way more work for yourself than necessary. Take advantage of the machine… stop the additional steps.

I'm not quite as quick as that. I can do about 400-500 an hour. Working alone, add in set up and break down time, rinsing, setting chips out to dry, etc. The time in the ultrasonic is maybe 10-15% of the work.

 

[Josh Kifer]

I'm not quite as quick as that. I can do about 400-500 an hour. Working alone, add in set up and break down time, rinsing, setting chips out to dry, etc. The time in the ultrasonic is maybe 10-15% of the work.

I can get around 600-700 an hour, but in about 2 months I'm gonna start a new project. Might bump that up if everything works out.

 

[TheSchmiddi]

42celcius is the exact temperature I use as well. Next time you run a set I suggest trying a hypertonic solution of tap water, dish soap and a 1/4 cup or so of course salt. I cleaned my nasty majestic star 36mm with 20-30sec, toothbrush scrub, spray under tap then another 20-30 seconds for perfect results. The grimey ones were done 1 barrel at a time with individual scrub with a toothbrush and if needed a rag on the outer edge. The hypertonic solution will help draw the gunk out of the chips by osmosis plus also add a minor abrasive component. The toothbrush works well to loosen what is raised and rinsed off then finished off with the second cycle and rinsed again.

I'm hesitant to ultrasonic longer than 60seconds total due to chip wear/material loss. Old leaded chips (not seen in the newer ones) left a small bit of debris at the bottom of the tank like red dust (the chip colour of issue)

Today I tried your advise with the hypertonic solution.

I took my disgusting Majestic 25s. Are the people in Gary gambling while eating Chicken Wings?!?!

I also improved my workflow a bit, using a classic dish brush. I put 10 chips on the sink at a time. Scrubbed one side to loosen the dirt in the hats, then turned each and repeated.

Then they got a second round in the ultrasonic for 30 seconds and finally got rinsed in fresh warm water with the cage from the ultrasonic to clean them.

The result is very very good and in this way, I can clean about 300 Majestics per hour, what is okay for me.

They are super clean now and doesn’t smell anymore.

 

[joepro]

Jesus. That would last me years....

That’s about 4 lifetimes’ worth!

 

[philhut]

Today I tried your advise with the hypertonic solution.

I took my disgusting Majestic 25s. Are the people in Gary gambling while eating Chicken Wings?!?!

I also improved my workflow a bit, using a classic dish brush. I put 10 chips on the sink at a time. Scrubbed one side to loosen the dirt in the hats, then turned each and repeated.

Then they got a second round in the ultrasonic for 30 seconds and finally got rinsed in fresh warm water with the cage from the ultrasonic to clean them.

The result is very very good and in this way, I can clean about 300 Majestics per hour, what is okay for me.

They are super clean now and doesn’t smell anymore.

View attachment 969146
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The best part is that there is no chip bleaching. TSP on the other hand can change the color of your chips resulting in inconsistencies of appearance depending on how long they are in the liquid and concentration. Dish soap as a degreaser, salt for hypertonic osmotic draw and tap water as a medium for availability....Slightly more labour intensive but for personal chips the extra work is worth it.

Glad your chips turned out great!

 

[Gear]

TSP on the other hand can change the color of your chips

This just isn't true, at least not for the majority of Paulson chips/colors. The main culprit of color-change is HEAT i.e. the water is too hot.

More than once I have (accidentally) left a chip in TSP solution, at the bottom of the ultrasonic tank for TWO WEEKS and they've been absolutely fine. (I didn't see them there because the water was so dingy. Ew.)

salt for hypertonic osmotic draw

This also doesn't make any sense to me. If your cleaning solution is hypertonic, that means there is more stuff already dissolved in the solution than there is present in the other "solution" (i.e. across the semi-permeable membrane between two solutions of different concentrations, maybe the surface of the chip??) Having a bunch of salt in the solution does nothing useful in terms of osmosis -- do you really need to push salt into the chip, or extract water from it? I contend neither are useful.

The salt probably does help chemically, in terms of breaking down oils/dirt (compare vinegar's cleaning power with that of vinegar + salt) but "hypertonic osmosis" sounds like pseudo-scientific gibberish in this context. Am I missing something?

 

[Tommy]

Got some TSP from Amazon. It's the real deal TSP and not the substitute stuff.



Just put some Trop Evansville $1s in TSP to soak. 1/2 cup of TSP and two gallons of warm water per the directions for HD cleaning. Move the chips around every so often. I use an old toothbrush to do it.

 

[TheSchmiddi]

Got some TSP from Amazon. It's the real deal TSP and not the substitute stuff.

View attachment 969334

Just put some Trop Evansville $1s in TSP to soak. 1/2 cup of TSP and two gallons of warm water per the directions for HD cleaning.

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@Gear

I bought a kilo auf TSP today and will also give them a try on another rack auf Majestics. I will also clean them in the same way like I did today (45sec US @ 42 degrees + brush + another 30sec US) with @philhut advises.

After that I will post here some pictures and we will see, if there are differences in chipcolor, condition, etc.

 

[TheSchmiddi]

TSP seems to be not the big deal in Germany like in the US. So it seems to be not available that much.
Hope this is the right stuff:

 

[philhut]

This just isn't true, at least not for the majority of Paulson chips/colors. The main culprit of color-change is HEAT i.e. the water is too hot.

More than once I have (accidentally) left a chip in TSP solution, at the bottom of the ultrasonic tank for TWO WEEKS and they've been absolutely fine. (I didn't see them there because the water was so dingy. Ew.)


This also doesn't make any sense to me. If your cleaning solution is hypertonic, that means there is more stuff already dissolved in the solution than there is present in the other "solution" (i.e. across the semi-permeable membrane between two solutions of different concentrations, maybe the surface of the chip??) Having a bunch of salt in the solution does nothing useful in terms of osmosis -- do you really need to push salt into the chip, or extract water from it? I contend neither are useful.

The salt probably does help chemically, in terms of breaking down oils/dirt (compare vinegar's cleaning power with that of vinegar + salt) but "hypertonic osmosis" sounds like pseudo-scientific gibberish in this context. Am I missing something?

Re:Salt

Have you ever used a poultice? it's old medicine but essentially you shift material out of a tissue with it. Many are hypertonic and again I have not proven this scientifically but chips cleaned with salt and dish soap vs just dish soap have some out cleaner. The human "oils" on the chips likely have less salinity than my water concentration so if even just a bit of material is moved by the salts then the ultrasonic will do the rest shaking them out.

As for colors I have never personally used TSP, but a rack of primary HSI $1 chips I receieved on here were reportedly cleaned by the former owner with TSP. The brown edge spots were noticeably lighter in colour (closer to the edges on HS Baltimore 1's). I didnt want to risk discoloring any of my chips so thought to avoid it.

 

[BearMetal]

My go to TSP substitute Red Devil has been out of stock on Amazon for months. Home Depot carries a brand called Savogran, so I figured I'd give it a try.

These Foxwoods chips were harvested by a friend of mine. I honestly had no clue that they had sparkly flakes in them until after cleaning.

The Savogran TSP substitute did a really good job on these. In general, I think I might like it better than Red Devil. The chips really don't appear to need oil; they didn't dry out nearly as bad as any of the other RHCs that I've cleaned.

60 seconds / 44c / 12 cups water / 6 TBSP

Before and Afters

 

[behrguitar]

has anyone Ultrasonically cleaned 48mm chips, any advice? best to hand clean? or safe for ultrasonic?

 

[LeLe]

has anyone Ultrasonically cleaned 48mm chips, any advice? best to hand clean? or safe for ultrasonic?

I US cleaned mine, I done at 40-42 degree for 2 min

They are not that dirty so manually cleaning them is fine too

Here are the pic after US and oiled

 

[behrguitar]

I US cleaned mine, I done at 40-42 degree at 2 min

They are not that dirty so manually cleaning them is fine too

Here are the pic after US and oiled
View attachment 973383

TSP? or what did you use in there?
BTW great set. I think this might be one of my all time favorites

 

[LeLe]

TSP? or what did you use in there?

I used a different cleaner solution (Local brand) that I tested and work with my other chips but TSP should work the same as they are vastly recommended by other

plus also a few drop of Degreaser

BTW great set. I think this might be one of my all time favorites

Thanks, I loved them too ; will be one of my keeper sets

If you happen to know all the colour of the set, Let me know too

 

[Goldfish]

Ok. I tried my ultrasonic for the first time on my friend’s starbursts and horseshoes. These things were filthy. Now they look pretty good. Not totally clean but much better than the condition I got them. Hope I have the right ultrasonic. If not, someone tell me. Some observations:

1. I will probably try 12 cups of water next time. With 6 cups, the water line barely covered the chips. Also, I had to take out the metal basket so the salad spinner would fit. I then used the metal basket as a strainer after I post soaked the chips.
2. I didn’t read the 46 pages of posts, but I see no mention of TONGS for when the salad spinner opens and u have a man down situation! I was prepared thou. Whew!
3. It took only 2 hours from start to finish to do all the chips below. That is awesome!
4. Covering the floor and the counter top was a good call! That water splashed everywhere.

Overall, I think this was a good first time experience. Thanks @ski_ex5 for all the information! Some pic……

 

[BearMetal]

Ok. I tried my ultrasonic for the first time on my friend’s starbursts and horseshoes. These things were filthy. Now they look pretty good. Not totally clean but much better than the condition I got them. Hope I have the right ultrasonic. If not, someone tell me. Some observations:

1. I will probably try 12 cups of water next time. With 6 cups, the water line barely covered the chips. Also, I had to take out the metal basket so the salad spinner would fit. I then used the metal basket as a strainer after I post soaked the chips.
2. I didn’t read the 46 pages of posts, but I see no mention of TONGS for when the salad spinner opens and u have a man down situation! I was prepared thou. Whew!
3. It took only 2 hours from start to finish to do all the chips below. That is awesome!
4. Covering the floor and the counter top was a good call! That water splashed everywhere.

Overall, I think this was a good first time experience. Thanks @ski_ex5 for all the information! Some pic……
View attachment 980701View attachment 980702View attachment 980703

I use 12 cups of distilled water in my 6L. For each 4 cups of water, I use two tablespoons of the TSP.

If you don't put enough water in, then the transducers won't be as effective. You need to essentially have the water level plus the salad spinner bring the water near the top.

Beyond that, time spent inside the bath along with the temperature of the water can contribute to how well they get cleaned.

 

[Goldfish]

I use 12 cups of distilled water in my 6L. For each 4 cups of water, I use two tablespoons of the TSP.

If you don't put enough water in, then the transducers won't be as effective. You need to essentially have the water level plus the salad spinner bring the water near the top.

Beyond that, time spent inside the bath along with the temperature of the water can contribute to how well they get cleaned.

Oh! The water level was not near the top. It barely covered the chips. I know for next time. I did 60 seconds at 43 C. Thanks!

Another question - has anyone ever put @Gear labels in the ultrasonic? I want to clean some of my relabeled chips. Let me know. Thanks!

 

[BearMetal]

Oh! The water level was not near the top. It barely covered the chips. I know for next time. I did 60 seconds at 43 C. Thanks!

Another question - has anyone ever put @Gear labels in the ultrasonic? I want to clean some of my relabeled chips. Let me know. Thanks!

At least 3/4 of the way up once the chips and the salad spinner are inside of it. There's an inner lip that you can try to target. You don't have to go to the top, because that's going to make a splishy splashy mess.

Time and temperature look good.

Regarding gear labels, I wouldn't put anything with a label in the ultrasonic. However someone here might chime in and say they did it and it was fine. But honestly I just wouldn't. Anything that's not watertight is just asking for water penetration.

 

[BearMetal]

@Goldfish regarding your post about tongs, no, I use my hands to both turn the salad spinner and empty the chips out. But I put on disposable medical gloves during the process.

Also, using the basket to drain the chips is fine, but also remember to give them a quick rinse and some clean water right after they come out. I usually have a big bowl of clean warm water to give them a good rinse where I rub each of the face of my thumb. It also helps break off any little bits that might have remained from the ultrasonic.

 

[allforcharity]

Tongs? You should be wearing gloves. Just grab the chip right out of the detergent and throw it in the rinse water. The mesh basket is not useful for chips, keep using the salad spinner.

 

[Goldfish]

@Goldfish regarding your post about tongs, no, I use my hands to both turn the salad spinner and empty the chips out. But I put on disposable medical gloves during the process.

Also, using the basket to drain the chips is fine, but also remember to give them a quick rinse and some clean water right after they come out. I usually have a big bowl of clean warm water to give them a good rinse where I rub each of the face of my thumb. It also helps break off any little bits that might have remained from the ultrasonic.

To be clear, I am wearing gloves and I protection. I look like a mad scientist. I thought the water/solution was to hot to stick my gloved hand in. Maybe not.

And yes, I first put the chips in a bowl to rinse them off, then pour the water and chips into the metal basket as a strainer. Then from there onto a fresh towel.

 

[BearMetal]

To be clear, I am wearing gloves and I protection. I look like a mad scientist. I thought the water/solution was to hot to stick my gloved hand in. Maybe not.

And yes, I first put the chips in a bowl to rinse them off, then pour the water and chips into the metal basket as a strainer. Then from there onto a fresh towel.

Yes, between the eye protection, the gloves, all my equipment out on the deck, etc, I think I look like I'm cooking meth to my neighbors.

But that's good that you're also wearing gloves. You still don't need tongs though. After you're done rotating the basket just lift the basket out hold it over the clean water after it drips back into the ultrasonic, and dump the chips out into the clean water bath.

 

[Goldfish]

Today is the day! @Gear labels going in the ultrasonic. The question of what happens will be answered today …..

 

[Nanook]

Pretty sure I have seen others do this with no issues. Nice to see it confirmed though.

I have cleaned quite a few chips. Mostly following the directions here in this thread. I don't bother with the salad spinner, I just put 60 chips in the basket and stir them around a bit with a paint stick. Works great! I do put out some old towels and wear clothes that I don't care about too much, but I've never ruined anything.

No need for a haz mat suit

 

[ChipTalker]

I am not recommending it because only tried it on 1 rack of Paulson's with gear label over them but I had no issues.

 

[Goldfish]

The deed is done. 30 seconds in the ultrasonic. I see no visible issues, yet. I will let them dry overnight and report back.

Btw, I used 12 cups of distilled water and 4 table spoons of TSP. worked great. 1000 chips came out really clean. I can’t imagine ever cleaning chips by hand ever again. I can’t believe it took me this long to try this. Awesome!

 

[BearMetal]

The deed is done. 30 seconds in the ultrasonic. I see no visible issues, yet. I will let them dry overnight and report back.

Btw, I used 12 cups of distilled water and 4 table spoons of TSP. worked great. 1000 chips came out really clean. I can’t imagine ever cleaning chips by hand ever again. I can’t believe it took me this long to try this. Awesome!

Nice! Once they are dry, please let us know if you see any water penetration. I'm curious, also, if you'll need to oil them. Depending on the chip and the TSP substitute used, you might find them looking great wet, but very thirsty looking when dried.

 

[allforcharity]

If the new label has had time to cure, there should be no issues. How long is the critical time? Not sure, but I wouldn't worry after a couple of weeks.

 

[Goldfish]

The deed is done. 30 seconds in the ultrasonic. I see no visible issues, yet. I will let them dry overnight and report back.

Btw, I used 12 cups of distilled water and 4 table spoons of TSP. worked great. 1000 chips came out really clean. I can’t imagine ever cleaning chips by hand ever again. I can’t believe it took me this long to try this. Awesome!
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As a follow up, I saw no visible problems/issues with putting @Gear labels through the ultrasonic. The next question is - can you oil chips with gear labels?