Cleaning Brass and Stainless Steel Using Ultrasonic Parts Cleaners

Ultrasonic parts cleaners use transducers and ultrasonic frequency generators to produce microscopic bubbles in water (or a mild cleaning solution). These tiny bubbles act as “scrubbers” that are highly effective in lifting away dirt and impurities from the parts being cleaned.

Ultrasonic parts cleaners are an excellent alternative to the traditional cleaning methods that use intense scrubbing and harsh cleaning chemicals that can leave deposits or cause damage to these parts.

Tools that are made of brass and stainless steel can also be cleaned using ultrasonic parts cleaners. These are considered “robust” parts. Ultrasonic cleaners operating at the lower ultrasonic frequency ranges are the most effective for cleaning such parts. Ultrasonic generators for 26 kHz or 38 kHz create large, energetic bubbles that form and collapse in time with the cleaning frequency. When these bubbles collapse at the surface of the brass or stainless steel, they release bursts of energy that dislodge dirt and impurities, while never causing damage to the solid metal surface.

For parts covered in heavy dirt like oil and grease, the effectiveness of ultrasonic cleaners can be improved by adding only a mild detergent to the water bath and by slightly heating the cleaning solution. The heat will help melt the oil and grease away from the surface while the detergent dissolves them. The ultrasonic bubbles penetrate wherever there is cleaning solution, leaving the brass and stainless steel parts thoroughly cleaned. Ultrasonic cleaners also make cleaning these parts quick and efficient as well.

If you have questions about how Kaijo’s ultrasonic parts cleaners can be used to clean your brass and stainless steel parts, read the complete article entitled “Cleaning Brass and Stainless Steel Using Ultrasonic Parts Cleaners”. You may also contact Kaijo by phone at 408-675-5575 or by emailing at info@kaijo-shibuya.com.

Should De-Ionized Water Be Used with an Ultrasonic Cleaning System?

De-ionized (DI) water is plain water that lacks ions or particles because of the purification process. It is used to remove contaminants like metals and salts (ions).

Should DI water be used with an ultrasonic cleaning system? The answer is yes, depending on the parts being cleaned or the degree of their contamination. When DI water is used in the ultrasonic cleaning system, it can improve the cleaning performance. Such cleaning performance is especially important for parts that cannot tolerate detergents, solvents or other cleaning solution.

Ultrasonic cleaning systems can also use plain water – a mild detergent can be added to enhance the cleaning process. However, delicate tools and parts could not tolerate these detergents, that’s why cleaning them with DI water is often recommended. For parts contaminated with heavy, stubborn dirt and grease, a mild detergent or cleaning solvent (that do not cause damage to the parts themselves) can be added to the DI water for more effective and quick cleaning.

When an ultrasonic cleaning system has removed dirt from the parts to be cleaned, the cleaning solution is drained away but they still must undergo thorough rinsing. Plain water has dissolved minerals the parts and other impurities so that rinsing can leave a deposit. When the parts are dried, spots or films left over from the evaporated plain water can remain in these parts – even the tiniest spot or impurity left over can lead to the malfunction of these parts. That’s why the use of DI water is often recommended for rinsing them since it contains no impurities, leaving these parts spotless and clean.

Learn more about using de-ionized water for ultrasonic cleaning by reading the complete article entitled “Should De-Ionized Water Be Used with an Ultrasonic Cleaning System?”. You may also send an email to info@kaijo-shibuya.com if you have questions or want a free consultation.

Why Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems Are Used by Aerospace Manufacturers

Aerospace industry manufacturers need to provide high-precision parts and also maintain and repair parts in production that are used in complex engines and machinery. Production parts and parts from maintenance and repair operations are usually contaminated by grease, dirt, soot, and lubricants as a result of the normal operation.

These parts and tools are traditionally cleaned by either manually washing or scrubbing, or by using harsh solvents. But there’s a better alternative to the traditional cleaning methods – the use of ultrasonic cleaning systems, which saves both time and money along with providing an environmentally friendly process that cleans parts fast and efficiently.  

Ultrasonic cleaning systems are made up of an ultrasonic generator, transducer and a cleaning tank. The ultrasonic generator is the “heart” of an ultrasonic cleaning system. The Ultrasonic transducers are installed inside the cleaning tank and convert electric signals from the generator into sound waves in the cleaning solution of the tank. These sound waves create microscopic bubbles that do the cleaning and scrubbing action, lifting away contaminants from the surfaces of the items (such as tools) in the cleaning solution. It leaves the items completely cleaned with no particles left over.

More aerospace manufacturers have transitioned to using ultrasonic cleaning systems from old traditional cleaning methods, for a number of reasons:

·         The cleaning of parts is more effective, efficient and thorough – the microscopic cleaning bubbles have the ability to penetrate and clean even in crevices, holes, and other more complicated and harder-to-reach areas of the tools being cleaned.

·         The cleaning fluid may consist of plain water or only a mild cleaning solution. No harsh and toxic cleaning chemicals needed.

·         It is faster.

·         It doesn’t require manual or mechanical scrubbing.

·         It is cost-effective.

·         It is safer to use compared to using harsh chemicals.

·         The frequencies of the signal can be adjusted to allow appropriate cleaning of robust or delicate tools and items.

If you have questions about how the Kaijo’s Ultrasonic cleaning systems can be used in your application, read the complete article entitled “Why Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems Are Used by Aerospace Manufacturers”. You may also contact Kaijo by phone at 408-675-5575 or by emailing at info@kaijo-shibuya.com.