Hi BYJWR1,
I thought I would quit hogging the forum and give someone else a chance to post on this one but it looks like most of us up in the northern hemisphere are off enjoying our summer vacation.
Yes I think you’re correct about using a smaller ultrasonic machine. I usually have to learn things the hard way. I tried long ago using a large L&R Clock Cleaner by putting the watch cleaning and rinsing solutions into separate smaller beakers and then placing them one at a time into the tank. It seemed to work ok for a bit until I blew the jewels out of one of my older watches! It seems that ultrasonics have a way of seeking out small imperfections that a jewel may have (especially in older jewels) which blows them apart if powerful enough. I don’t know if that’s what really happens as I’m guessing here. I just know that after a few attempts (slow learner) I decided to change to a smaller machine. Maybe one could experiment with thicker walled jars to see if that cuts down on the amount of cavitation inside the jars. That would be interesting to know. Also when using an ultrasonic it is important to use a solution made for ultrasonic cleaning. I use L&R ultrasonic solutions. There are others that may be just as good. I just tend to stick with things that work well for me and L&R products have always been great. Customer support is also very good.
Many people are using jewelry ultrasonic cleaners and jars with success. Again if they seem to deliver too much power then you may want to try thicker walled jars to see if that helps.
Although I prefer using a combo mechanical ultrasonic machine or a combination of both a mechanical machine and an ultrasonic this is obviously a more expensive option and since you are asking about ultrasonics exclusively here that’s what I’ll address. There’s a used machine called the WatchMaster that I still see surface up on ebay quite often at reasonable prices. I’ve attached a couple of pics of one. This was and still is a popular machine and does a pretty good job.
Also this topic was coverd previously up here at the following link: <!– l –>viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54<!– l –>
May wish to check it out.
Hope this helps you BYJWR1,
Enjoy,
Bob
