Testing the ultrasonic cleaner

 

Back in April 2020, I was battling to keep my airbrush clean and tried out an ultrasonic cleaner bought years earlier. It made no difference. 

MikeB commented: Reading through old posts and saw this. Ultrasonic cleaner probably only of use for acrylic paint residue as no amount of water action will get through dried enamel or cellulose. However, one useful bit of info I can pass on is that there are an awful lot of useless ultrasonic cleaners out there. To test one, put water in it and hold a small strip of aluminium cooking foil half way into the water. A proper working cleaner should make the foil get lots of tiny pinholes in it after only a couple of minutes. If it doesn't then unfortunately you have a machine that froths water and not much else. I bought a £20 jewellery version a few years ago that seemed to do not much apart from make small bubbles. Once I found this test from a reputable manufacturer I realised mine was indeed useless. Hope this helps you or someone else. 

Finally, I decided to give his advice a go. 

Half an hour of noise later and the foil show no sign of pinholes. From this, I concluded that Mike had a point. Mine was junk. 

But, I wanted to be sure. So, three screws and a lot of sawing later, I took a look inside. 

Do you see any sign of ultrasonicy things in there? All I see is a switch, and motor fitted with an off-balance weight. Turn the device on and it makes a noise, rattles and does bu**er all to clean anything in the water. You might was well stir it with a teaspoon!

I can't remember where I go this piece of rubbish from, but post this as a warning to others. Obviously I kept the motor and switch, but it's an expensive way to get those...