Did any find out about......?

[robert roy]

Has anyone found out how well the
sonic jewelery and coin cleaner worked?
Robert R

[Inspector]

Very interested myself, seems the perfect way to clean valuable that is gentle and undetectable later.

[JCWhite]

I got mine on Tuesday and have tried it a few times on some clad coins. I am not sure if I am doing it right but my preliminary findings would say hold off on buying one. If I can get this machine to get some dirt off I'll post some before and after but no luck yet.

JC White

[Arkwater]

A quote from this website:
"When there are teeny, tiny little particles that are impossible to remove by other methods of cleaning then an ultrasonic cleaner is used. Keep in mind however that ultrasonic cleaners are not used to actually clean dirty items but rather to remove tiny particles that are impossible to remove any other way. The item must be cleaned first and then it will be ready for an ultrasonic cleaner."

[JCWhite]

That makes sense. It would be hard for the cleaner to get at the particles wwhen layered with a lot of dirt.

[LeoinPA]

I have two ultrasonic cleaners, one of which was sold as a "Denture Cleaner" from the drug store.

I've used them for cleaning everything from electric R/C car motors (remove the carbon tracks) to fuel injectors on airplanes (removes fuel stains and and gunk from the inside), and they work well if you use the right cleaning agent. I've also made a cleaning agent using a coupla drops of dish detergent in water, and it works well for dirty stuff from the yard. Haven't use them on coins yet.

One thing I learned a while ago is to use a glass jar to hold what I was cleaning with enough solvent/cleaner to only cover the object, and insert it in the tank which was filled with water and be patient. It may take a while, and saves a bunch of solvert. Just be real careful because the jar gets heated as the ultrasonics work their magic. The jars can be durable. I still have a bunch of baby food jars from when my son was young. He'll be 27 in December.

I think they work well like the guys posted in front of me I can attest to what Arkwater said, it's right on.

Thanks
Leo

[robert roy]

Looks like people are having the same results as I got with the little Ultrasonic Cleaner I got at Good Will. I put in some coins I found with my MD and added the fluid that came with it. After about twenty minutes I could see alot of dirt particals on the bottom of the container.

SOmeone said they used disk liquid soap. That had occured to me as well.

Robert Roy

[cjoej]

As LeoinPA mentioned, using the right solvent is important. Many jewelry cleaners are ascidic and will etch your items surface in the process of disolving the oxidation to "clean" the item (such as copper/brass/silver polish).

Ultrasonic cleaners 'vibrate' your items at a high (ultra sonic) audio frequency to provide agitation of the solvent/cleaning agent and item being cleaned. This produces heat and force to loosen material from the surface of your items.

If you are just cleaning bulk coins that are common change, then a tumbler may be more efficient, but if you are cleaning jewelry or good coins the ultra sonic cleaner may have a place in your tool set with the right cleaning agent.

REMEMBER: a valuable coin that has been "cleaned" is worth LESS than one that has not been cleaned. Some grading services will 'refuse' to grade a "cleaned" coin, while other grading services might grade a "cleaned" coin, they will typically lower the overall grade at least one grade and the label will note that the coin was "cleaned".

SWC
Joe