• This site contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, Poker Chip Forum may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

Ultrasonic Cleaning Method - Video Tutorial (2 Viewers)

NorCalChip

NorCalChip

Pair
Joined
Dec 19, 2014
Messages
152
Reaction score
106
Location
San Jose, CA
Decided to video document my first attempt at Ski_Ex5's Ultrasonic Cleaning Method. Since it was my first go, it certainly wasn't perfect.

I sincerely hope this helps in tandem with the original documented instructions. I sincerely appreciate Ski_Ex5's OP and the helpful contributed info from Tommy and liftapint.

*Warning* - I am born and raised in Northern California so anticipate a lot of "hella" "super awesome" "totally" and a potential "dude".


Shot with my Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Soundtrack credit:


  • Bonobo - Antenna
  • Keep Shelly in Athens - In Love With Dusk
  • Bonobo - Cirrus

The aftermath water and the chips i cleaned in batch 1:

20150101_160204.jpg20150101_203636.jpg
 
Nice. Having done Ski's process only once (so take my comments for what they're worth), the two observations I have are:
1. Use the salad spinner lid to prevent the chips from jumping out
2. Your zip ties appear to be in the wrong direction. You want them to be "speed bumps" for the chips.

Also, did you try cleaning the gunky chips without the pre soak? Who is the manufacturer of the Dragonara chips? Did you see any deterioration of those chips?
 
Last edited:
Great video!
 
Shaggy said:
Nice. Having done Ski's process only once (so take my comments for what they're worth), the two observations I have are:
1. Use the salad spinner lid to prevent the chips from jumping out
2. Your zip ties appear to be in the wrong direction. You want them to be "speed bumps" for the chips.

Also, did you try cleaning the gunky chips without the pre soak? Who is the manufacturer of the Dragonara chips? Did you see any deterioration of those chips?
Click to expand...

Right you are good sir. I just removed the salad spinner top thing and it fits snugly in place. That would make a world of difference. And the zip ties are in fact the wrong direction, lol.

I plan on making a small addendum video that should clear that up. If cleaning over 1k chips that lid will make a lot of difference. Once I started using both hands to spin it was more under control but could use that improvement.

I only tried cleaning one small batch of my $10 BCC Garden City chips with zero pre-soak time and they were still pretty gross. The surface stains came off but every single chip had "gunk" in the crevices. There's just no way I would do it again without presoaking about 200 at a time.

Good question on the Dragonaras. I don't know anything about them other than the obvious info provided by ChipGuide. I tested a few in the bath before subjecting all 40 to it and they've been quite resilient. The chip feels like very hollow clay, can't quite say it's similar to any other chip I've handled. Thoughts?
 
Have you tried making that handle for turning the basket?
 
LOVE the video -- clearly you've shot & edited a few things in your days. Funny comments too -- excellent work!

BTW, what other things might one use this machine for? ...I've had one in my Amazon want list for nearly 2 years but never pulled the trigger. Might be helpful to have something I can sell the wife on... :)
 
Last edited:
UW85 said:
LOVE the video -- clearly you've shot & edited a few things in your days. Funny comments too -- excellent work!

BTW, what other things might one use this machine for? ...I've had one in my Amazon want list for nearly 2 years but never pulled the trigger. Might be helpful to have something I can sell the wife on... :)
Click to expand...
Thanks :-)

I actually just purchased this jewelry cleaner from amazon which is intended for use in all ultrasonic machines :

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00725MAG8/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_Gn2Pub02QGAVJ

So I informed the wife when it arrives we will clean some of her rings and stuff. She still needs to go in once every six months to check the stones but at least she can keep it clean.
 
I want one of these (still avoiding cleaning all of my Oaks), but I don't want to pay that much for one. Seems like a good item to share costs as a groupbuy with your local chippers or form a small pool and ship it to others as needed.
 
Hot Nuts said:
I want one of these (still avoiding cleaning all of my Oaks), but I don't want to pay that much for one. Seems like a good item to share costs as a groupbuy with your local chippers or form a small pool and ship it to others as needed.
Click to expand...
It will practically pay for itself the first time you use it. Those Oaks won't be the last chips you buy either.
 
Actually I'm done after the CPS' are received......I think.

Someone could rent it out and make their moneyback x times over.
 
Link in FP fixed. Just giving this a bump for those who have not seen it.
 
Nice job! My other hobby is reloading so I am familiar with very dirty brass and suing an ultrasonic cleaner. Have you tried placing chips in the main basket for a few minutes and not turning. Half way through you can take basket out and flip the chips over. Might try it since this is the way a clean dirty brass and can do other things while the ultrasonic cleaner does its work. Just a thought
 
Late to the party, but excellent video! Thanks!!
 
great video

those pink gloves are saweeet but the eye wear and gloves really needed? i have used TSP for other things....without gloves or glasses

to each his own but i think bike helmets are bullshit also so just a thought

i have scrubbed way too many chips over the years and any better ideas always are welcomed to my dishpan hands as they say
 
Hot Nuts said:
I want one of these (still avoiding cleaning all of my Oaks), but I don't want to pay that much for one. Seems like a good item to share costs as a groupbuy with your local chippers or form a small pool and ship it to others as needed.
Click to expand...

You can absolutely use a smaller, jewelry-sized cleaner and get good results. Mine only holds 2 cups of solution and cost $25 on Amazon.

Here's what's really important:
0. Protect your work surfaces, eyes, and hands.
1. Use an altrasonic cleaner. Choose a size/style/brand that's convenient for you.
2. Add Lundmark TSP (sodium metasilicate) to the water. Tap water will most likely work fine, but you need the TSP to eat the grease and grime off of your chips.
3. You agitate the chips during the cleaning cycle. I just strir them around with a bamboo chopstick. My 2 cup machine still cleans a barrel of 20 chips in 2 min or less,
4. Rinse in clean water.

Your chips are now clean and wet and will need oil. The following may well work with wet chips, but I let mine dry first, and I'm now out of dirty chips to test on.

5. Transfer a rack at a time to a large diameter bowl of water with 1 tbsp of mineral oil floating on top. I like to drop the chips individually through the oil slick. Agitate the chips for 30 secs. Remove.

6. Rub the faces dry with paper towels. Stack into barrels. Rub the edges with a small amount of additional oil if needed.

Many thanks to the others who came before me. None of this information is really new or original. I'm just trying to share what worked for me after combing through these cleaning threads.

I sat on my dirty set of Empress for a very long time because they were too painful to clean manually. The answer was under $40 for the U/S, the TSP, & the mineral oil, and a couple of hours of time. No brushes or magic erasers or scrubbing of any kind.

My thought is buy the size ultrasonic cleaner that matches the volume you need - they all do pretty much the same thing. I already owned the small one, so I tried it and it worked great. This one if you're curious, but I really don't think it matters. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001DKDAVW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Empress cleaned and oiled

Empress cleaned and oiled

  • Media owner intjester
  • Date added
Clean on the left, oiled on the right
 
Last edited:
Nicely done, thanks for sharing. How much did you pay for the ultrasonic machine ?
 
Quick question, how many chips can you Clean before having to put new water and tsp solution? Avg number is fine, btw my chips are not casino used just used once a week and has now made a year, I’ve been doing the toothbrush and dawn lately but this looks so easy
 
davin said:
Quick question, how many chips can you Clean before having to put new water and tsp solution? Avg number is fine, btw my chips are not casino used just used once a week and has now made a year, I’ve been doing the toothbrush and dawn lately but this looks so easy
Click to expand...

You can really go as long as you want, you'll just need to rinse more thoroughly because that detergent water is going to look disgusting after a while. If working by myself, I can do about 600 chips per hour (prep, load, clean/agitate, rinse, pad dry, lay out to further dry in open air, repeat). I try not to work more than 3 hours at a time, which can do 1500-1800 chips. The chips I clean are, on average, filthy.
 

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Register

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom