Posts by Rachel Kohn
Ultrasonic Cleaner Maintenance: 4 Key Tips
Ultrasonic cleaner maintenance should be part of your standard operating procedures to prolong the life of your investment and help ensure desired results. Signs that maintenance is required can start when cleaning solutions lose their effectiveness.
This is the time to drain the tank and replace the cleaning solution. While most cleaning solutions offered today are biodegradable take note of and follow local disposal regulations.
The first step is rinsing the tank thoroughly to remove adhering contaminants and wipe dry per directions in the instruction manual. Under no circumstances should scouring media be employed in ultrasonic cleaner maintenance.
Then carefully note of the condition of the tank. This can signal ultrasonic cleaner maintenance procedures described below.
4 Key Tips to Ultrasonic Cleaner Maintenance
Here are signals that situations need addressing:
1. Ultrasonic Cleaner Rust Film
Elma ultrasonic cleaners have stainless steel tanks, which under normal conditions do not rust.
Instead, … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Solution Selection Guidelines
“Solution” has two definitions: A liquid mixture and solving a problem.
Not coincidentally, two points apply when seeking desired ultrasonic parts cleaner solution for parts cleaning results. These are (1) a liquid mixture called an ultrasonic solution, chemical or soap, and (2) the ultrasonic parts cleaner equipment. Putting it another way, satisfactory ultrasonic solution results most likely occur when you select chemicals and equipment to solve the problem – the cleaning job – at hand.
These ultrasonic solution guidelines take you through the two points.
The Ultrasonic Solution as a Chemical
These are specially formulated to accomplish specific ultrasonic cleaning challenges.
Most ultrasonic solutions are available as concentrates and are biodegradable. These two features contribute to economy and reduce disposal concerns.
Regardless of the chemistry, an ultrasonic solution works by a process called cavitation. Details are found in our post Ultrasonic Cleaner Uses in … Read the rest
Vaccine Storage Guidelines 2024
Medical practitioners preparing for the 2024-25 flu season should review CDC’s 2024 Vaccine Storage and Handling Toolkit to be assured they are in compliance with vaccine storage guidelines that “help protect your patients, safeguard your vaccine supply, and avoid the unnecessary costs of revaccinating patients and replacing expensive vaccines.”
These vaccine storage guidelines are a critical factor for medical practitioners participating in the CDC’s Vaccine for Children (VFC) program.
That’s because administering the vaccine represents the end of the CDC’s “Vaccine Cold Chain” that begins with the manufacturer.
Vaccine manufacturers set the storage temperatures for their products. Refrigerated vaccines must be transported and stored within the temperature range of 35°F (2°C) to 45°F (8°C). Other vaccines may require storage at lower temperatures.
Critical Refrigeration Criteria for Vaccine Storage
Critical refrigeration criteria for vaccine storage applies to any refrigeration system employed by medical practitioners, regardless … Read the rest
Lab Ultrasonic Cleaner Features Uniform Sonication
Uniform sonication, or perfect sound field distribution, is a desirable feature for ultrasonic cleaners used in analytical and medical laboratories as well as other professional settings. Uniform sonication assures users that instruments and equipment being cleaned, and lab samples being processed in flasks or beakers, receive “equal treatment” regardless of their position in the tank.
The Secret to Uniform Sonication
Researchers at Elma Ultrasonics, a supplier to Tovatech, determined that an impediment to uniform sonication is interference due to the tank drain duct found on most benchtop ultrasonic cleaners. This was demonstrated in a drain-equipped unit: cavitation in a beaker suspended on the drain side of the tank was not as vigorous as in the beaker on the opposite side.
Based on this Tovatech offers the 0.8 gallon Elmasonic P30SE ultrasonic cleaner. This unit has no drain and demonstrates homogeneous sonication. Our post how … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Parts Cleaner Specification Tips
According to a Grand View Research report the growth in the ultrasonic parts cleaner market “is primarily attributed to the rising demand for precision cleaning within sectors like electronics, healthcare, and automotive manufacturing.” This is due to ultrasonic parts cleaning’s “capacity to deliver a comprehensive and consistent cleaning process that effectively removes contaminants, even from intricate and challenging-to-reach areas.”
Two Key Components of Ultrasonic Parts Cleaning
But first, if you are not familiar with ultrasonic cleaning we suggest you take a few minutes and review our post on how ultrasonic cleaners work.
When specifying an ultrasonic parts cleaner two considerations apply: The ultrasonic cleaning unit and the cleaning solution chemistry. This post covers both topics.
Specification Tips for an Ultrasonic Parts Cleaner
Ultrasonic cleaners are available in various cleaning tank capacities and dimensions. You’ll need to accommodate the largest parts you’ll be cleaning. Keep in mind that your parts must be completely immersed in … Read the rest
Large Ultrasonic Cleaner Specification Tips
When strict cleanliness specifications must be met by manufacturers of large parts or by firms cleaning large parts, a large ultrasonic cleaner helps assure specifications are met. Application examples include stainless steel pipe passivation, cleaning large DPF and EGR filter assemblies, heavy parts and industrial scale heat exchangers. Our post on selecting an industrial ultrasonic cleaner provides related information. Here we describe features to look for in a large ultrasonic cleaner.
What to Look for in a Large Ultrasonic Cleaner
The above-referenced post on selecting an industrial ultrasonic cleaner provides excellent guidelines. For cleaning very large parts, however, it is important to consider the following criteria when crafting your specifications.
Later in this post we’ll provide equipment suggestions that meet these criteria.
Extending Ultrasonic Cleaning Solution Effectiveness
Ultrasonic cleaning solution chemistries are formulated to handle specific challenges. Some contaminants removed during the process remain in the solution … Read the rest
DPF and EGR Cooler Maintenance with Ultrasonic Cleaners
Diesel particulate and exhaust gas recirculation cooler filters lose efficiency over time. Indications include warning lights, increased fuel consumption, rough starts, stalling, and dark exhaust. Searching DPF and EGR cleaning yields many results on how owner-operators, fleet managers and maintenance shops deal with DPF and EGR cooler maintenance. Here is how an ultrasonic cleaner can extend DPF and EGR cooler filter service life.
DPF and EGR Filter Cleaning Challenges
Sponge-like structures, stacked filters and complex gas flow channels among other designs characterize the construction of DPF and EGR cooler configurations.
The challenge: strongly adhering soot, carbon, ash, oily residues and other contaminants, especially within tightly confined spaces.
These contaminants are not easily removed by compressed air, fuel tank additives, aerosols, hot-water sprays and similar DPF and EGR maintenance techniques.
Moreover, high-pressure air and hot-water sprays can damage filters if not carefully applied.
Another point to keep in mind is proper disposal … Read the rest
Ultrasonic Cleaner Uses in Business and Industry
According to Future Market Insights the Ultrasonic Cleaning Market will be worth US $3.2 billion by 2033, citing market forecasts predicting a CAGR of 5.3%. FMI comments that this growth is “driven by rising demand for environmentally friendly and efficient cleaning solutions, alongside notable technological advancements.” It notes “ultrasonic cleaning is more cost-effective than traditional cleaning methods.”
In this post we share with you a few of the many ultrasonic cleaner uses in business and industry and delve a little deeper on selecting and using an ultrasonic cleaner.
Examples of Ultrasonic Cleaner Uses
Here are a few of the many examples of ultrasonic cleaner uses found on our website:
- The healthcare industry for analyzing, sample processing and cleaning lab instruments
- The automotive repair business for cleaning carburetors and fuel injectors
- Metalworking businesses to remove contaminants from finely machined parts
- Removing soldering flux, residues and dirt from new and reconditioned
Choosing a Cleaning Solution for Carburetors
When looking for cleaning solutions for carburetors remember the adage “choose the right tool for the job.” Many think “tool” is equipment such as a hammer, saw, or wrench, and “solution” as a liquid or an answer to a problem. For this post tools are liquid solutions and equipment is an ultrasonic cleaner to do the job.
Here you will learn why using an ultrasonic parts cleaner and the right ultrasonic cleaning solution for carburetors will do the job faster, easier and more thoroughly than sprays, brushes and soaks in potentially dangerous solvents.
First, Why Consider an Ultrasonic Cleaner?
Two key words: fast and thorough carburetor cleaning.
Ultrasonic cleaners are fast. Cleaning can be accomplished in as little as 20 minutes. On top of that, thorough cleaning is accomplished with minimal disassembly.
How this is achieved is described next. But these two key benefits explain why … Read the rest
The Role of Sonicator Baths in Sample Preparation
Sonicator baths are often employed for sample preparation steps in research and development activities. For example, a sonicator bath may be used to extract an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) from its carrier, or excipient, prior to conducting content uniformity and potency assay tests. Many USP monographs recommend using a sonicator bath to dissolve samples prior to analysis.
As noted in Chapter 8 of Optimization of Pharmaceutical Processes, “A growing need for developing novel technologies for obtaining better quality products with enhanced process efficiency has created promise for application of ultrasound in the area of food and pharmaceutical processing.”
The chapter “offers discussion on the governing mechanisms for the improvement based on the use of ultrasound, different ultrasonic reactor configurations, as well as the selection of operating conditions for the specific applications of encapsulation and crystallization.”
In chapter 2 of Sample Preparation of Pharmaceutical Dosage Forms, discussing agitation and … Read the rest