Crap! Sonic cleaner died.

[Seaking]

Sweet, glad that idea worked out I would be seriously interested in making my own over here for the other projects I'm involved in, would make life a lot easier fer sur. Keep us posted as you go along..

[tatu]

One other aspect is that the closer to the audible hearing range the base frequency is the more annoying the sound becomes as the harmonics end up being more in the human hearing range.

I have wondered about this, I can hear my cleaner as a screeching sound not loud but its there and I always wonder what those noises can do damage hearing even though we might be unaware of the sound.
Could the sound damage/dissolve the tiny hairs in the ear canals and upset our balance?
When I use mine I switch it on and leave it.

Great thread.

[four_shot]

My little cleaner makes a soft hissing noise, not at all unpeaseant in the least.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this works out as well, please post lots of pics.

[nastyjones]

[QUOTE=tatu;1976754]I have wondered about this, I can hear my cleaner as a screeching sound not loud but its there and I always wonder what those noises can do damage hearing even though we might be unaware of the sound.
Could the sound damage/dissolve the tiny hairs in the ear canals and upset our balance?
When I use mine I switch it on and leave it.


I've been using my commercial grade 2.5 gallon Ultrasonic cleaner regularly for the past couple of years. It makes a pretty annoying buzzing sound when it's working but I can't say it's made any difference in my hearing.
One precaution I do adhere to is to not put your hands into the solution when the machine is operating as there have been no tests to determine if the ultrasonic waves will adversely effect the body.

[JTGS850GL]

One precaution I do adhere to is to not put your hands into the solution when the machine is operating as there have been no tests to determine if the ultrasonic waves will adversely effect the body.

Actually there have been a number of documented instances of bones in hands and feet being pulverized in higher power (250W+) ultrasonic cleaners.

In one instance, a military man used an ultrasonic cleaner to "massage" his sore feet. After a couple of minutes in a large commercial cleaner he found that both feet were numb. Upon standing up he found that the bones in his feet were completely destroyed. This left him permanently disabled.

No idea if a lower power unit could cause that kind of damage but I wouldn't take the risk.

[Crankthat]

Semi on topic.
Read a article about Doctors experimenting with harmonics to clear plaque in clogged artery.
The results were promising.
If I remember correctly mostly deep base.
Was a interesting read.
Of course I will never find it again.

[JTGS850GL]

Kind of like clearing the plaque out of old carburetors.

[Seaking]

When you think about how they use ultrasound to blast kidney stones.. ouch. Focused beam of sound?

[rustybronco]

I have wondered about this, I can hear my cleaner as a screeching sound not loud but its there and I always wonder what those noises can do damage hearing even though we might be unaware of the sound.

I suspect it won't. After all, the old TV set's had a 15-Khz horizontal section. I don't ever recall it causing little more than slight to moderate brain damage.

[Agemax]

they make very good cat repellants.......... my cat legs it out the house and wont come back in when my U/S bath is running

[JTGS850GL]

All items have arrived for the new DIY Ultrasonic cleaner project. I'll post pics of everything once I get home and have my camera available.

[Seaking]

looking forward to the end product! Best of luck!

Cheers

[JTGS850GL]

OK, Christmas came a little late but here are the makings for my DIY Ultrasonic Cleaner:



Here's the pan. It's a 1/3 size steamer table pan from a restaurant supply house. Be cautious about going too big on the pan. You need to have aprox. 50 Watts/gallon @40Khz at smaller volumes. Get the thinnest SS pan you can find. The good thing is the cheaper the pan the thinner the gage steel usually.


From a suggestion on this board I found a frying basket on ebay to fit the pan. The lid was also ordered from the same restaurant supply (webstaurantstore.com) house that I got the pan at.


Here are the guts of the cleaner. 110VAC 40Khz 100W board and transducers. Purchased on ebay.


Note that the leads to the transducer are polarity sensitive. The lead in the middle is the plus and the one closest to the mounting head is the negative


I decided to upgrade the design to use an off the shelf count down timer I picked up at Home Depot


The timer can be set to count down in time anywhere from 1 minute 24 hours


I plan on using JB Weld to bond the transducer to the bottom of the tank. I'm also using Rubber Maid shelving material to build the case and white silicone glue to bond the tank to the case. All items purchased at Home Depot






Here is the wiring diagram


I'll begin the tank bonding and building the cabinet today.

[srsupertrap]

That is way cool, looking forward to seeing your successful DIY Ultrasonic Cleaner.

[tkent02]

+!, can't wait to hear how it works.

Couple questions, can you get bigger transducers cheaply? I'd like to make one a lot bigger than the little HF unit I already have. Also, the HF one has a heater element, not sure how powerful but the liquid gets hot enough to be painful after a little while. It seems to help with the cleaning. Do you have any provision for heating it up?