Feedback on three different ultrasonic cleaners

mog_genius88 · 19 Apr 2018, 07:08

Greetings

I'm in the market for a good ultrasonic cleaner around $100 and I've narrowed my choices down to 3. I'm going to be using this to primarily clean retainers, glasses, jewelry, and (of course) switches/keycaps. A cleaner that holds 2-3 liters is sufficient:

1. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Skymen-Ultraso ... 0705.m4780

2. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HL ... _qh_dp_hza

3. https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Stainless- ... fresh=true

Would appreciate any feedback anyone has on these products! I'm leaning most towards the iSonic because of name recognition and the fact that it has a plastic basket (I'm afraid stainless steel may damage sensitive plastic parts), but the 3rd link (some unnamed Chinese brand) offers larger sizes which I don't need but would be nice to have.

Thank you for your time!

codemonkeymike · 19 Apr 2018, 12:34

I own #2, all I can say is it does what it says it does. I don't have any other ultrasonic cleaners to compare to.

Brett MacK · 19 Apr 2018, 13:03

I clean 1-2 keycap sets a day using number 2, and it works great. I do 1 cycle for not so dirty caps, and 2 cycles for filthy ones, and they always end up spotless. I like that one because it is easy to clean too. I have also heard nothing but good things about number 1 as well.

mog_genius88 · 20 Apr 2018, 07:49

codemonkeymike wrote: I own #2, all I can say is it does what it says it does. I don't have any other ultrasonic cleaners to compare to.

Brett MacK wrote: I clean 1-2 keycap sets a day using number 2, and it works great. I do 1 cycle for not so dirty caps, and 2 cycles for filthy ones, and they always end up spotless. I like that one because it is easy to clean too. I have also heard nothing but good things about number 1 as well.

Thank you both so much for your input! I guess both #1 and #2 are pretty reliable. Going to mull it over a bit more than purchase one this weekend. Made me a little more confident in buying. Thanks again!

pyrelink · 20 Apr 2018, 19:45

Please update on which one you eventually go with, and your impressions. I am in the market to finally get one of my own, and have also been recommended #2.

ScottPaladin · 20 Apr 2018, 21:02

I've got the .8L one in your first link. It's a bit small. I don't think a full set of keycaps will fit in the basket, but you can run them in batches. But it also hardly takes up any room in the workshop.

It cleaned some stubborn smudges off the PBT caps on my Zenith, but wasn't so successful with the really caked on gunk on the ABS ones from another board. I dumped those in a container with some denture tabs and that cleaned them up a treat (it just took 48 hours).

That being said, it's been fantastic for cleaning small metal parts. I ran some drill bits through it and they look pristine now. Now sure why it was so much better with those than the ABS keycaps.

pyrelink · 20 Apr 2018, 21:15

ScottPaladin wrote: Now sure why it was so much better with those than the ABS keycaps.

I am hardly knowledgeable in this subject, but I feel like I remember reading somewhere that plastic is softer and porous so it winds up absorbing more of the ultrasonic activity, compared to say metals. In more industrial applications I think they have to use much lower frequencies to clean plastic components.

ScottPaladin · 20 Apr 2018, 21:33

pyrelink wrote: I am hardly knowledgeable in this subject, but I feel like I remember reading somewhere that plastic is softer and porous so it winds up absorbing more of the ultrasonic activity, compared to say metals. In more industrial applications I think they have to use much lower frequencies to clean plastic components.

That's a reasonable theory. Maybe I was too impatient with the keycaps too.