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Tips for Purchasing an Ultrasonic Cleaner?

cflutist said:
Screenshot_20190903-152739_Chrome.jpg

This is the one that I have been using since 2005. Made in USA, 10 yr warranty on the tank, stainless steel. I think it was about $265 back then.
I use a US solution concentrate that I bought from Otto Frei and have been using that same bottle since 2005 (concentrate so you use very little then dilute).
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Yup, American made with all steel, no plastic, never crack, never leak.

Cf, remember all the ladies here (about 12 yrs ago?) got so excited about buying a Chinese made plastic Sharper Image US cleaners?. I told em it will not last for more than 2 yrs. In fact, most of those plastic US cleaners died after 3-4 months, but both of ours is still alive today and working like new.. :lol:
 
Johnbt said:
I bought this Magnasonic last November. It cleans. And it's still working. We only use it every couple of weeks though, not daily. Pretty good deal for less than $35. I use a little blue Dawn in the the water and then run a short cycle with clean water.

https://www.amazon.com/Magnasonic-P...ocphy=9051867&hvtargid=pla-380705961335&psc=1
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I also have this one. Works very well, I also use Dawn and let the diamonds soak in there a bit. That being said, a baby toothbrush and Dawn gets me the same sparkle! I just feel better doing the Ultrasonic as well in case I miss something.
 
How much do f the dawn are people using? Also, what about drying after the cleaning? Is there a technique?
 
GearGirly said:
How much do f the dawn are people using? Also, what about drying after the cleaning? Is there a technique?
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I seem to be the only one but I got tired of buying canned air, and sometimes would get a white residue from it. So I bought an electric air duster. Metro Vac I think is the brand. Very good at drying. I've seen people mention hair dryers too.
 
@TreeScientist does something special to dry his stones. I want to say he uses an alcohol solution and then does the compressed air. But I could be miss remembering :doh:
 
GearGirly said:
How much do f the dawn are people using? Also, what about drying after the cleaning? Is there a technique?
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I use this cloth or compressed air spray from Costco.

IMG_3498.JPG
 
Have used ultrasonic cleaner, steam cleaner, Lavish works just as well.
Ultrasonic cleaner is a toy. If you like toys, go for it
Save your money.
 
WillyDiamond said:
Have used ultrasonic cleaner, steam cleaner, Lavish works just as well.
Ultrasonic cleaner is a toy. If you like toys, go for it
Save your money.
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But not if you have a lot of rings to clean...:P2, plus depending on the style of settings where a brush can't reach an US is the way to go. I can do one load in an US and I'm done. :dance:
 
OP
Forgot to ask, what kind of setting do you have?
Also, feel better!
 
WillyDiamond said:
OP
Forgot to ask, what kind of setting do you have?
Also, feel better!
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Solitaire in Platinum. But I'd also like to clean various other rings, earrings, necklaces, etc.
 
GearGirly said:
How much do f the dawn are people using? Also, what about drying after the cleaning? Is there a technique?
Click to expand...
I use a drop of dish soap. After a few cycles with plain water after soapy water, I rinse and drop on a paper towel and then throw the wad into a drawer. :oops: just trying to keep it all contained and away from curious kitties.
 
Wewechew said:
@TreeScientist does something special to dry his stones. I want to say he uses an alcohol solution and then does the compressed air. But I could be miss remembering :doh:
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Wow, surprised you remembered that haha. Yes, I use 99% isopropyl alcohol technical grade as a final rinse solution when I'll be taking photos of stones. No compressed air required: Just drop the stone/jewery in for 30 seconds and pull it out. 99% alcohol dries almost instantly without leaving any residue (the technicial grade doesn't have any additives). The alcohol rinse is only for taking macro shots though, where even a tiny water spot will show up in the photo. It's a bit OCD for normal cleaning, as the dust specs you'll get on it after an hour of wear will be much larger than any small water spot that will be left from drying with a normal microfiber cloth. :mrgreen:

For the normal weekly cleaning of her E-ring, my wife does one quick run though the ultrasonic with a small amount of dish soap, one quick run with water only, and dry with a microfiber cloth. :)
 
RunningwithScissors said:
Solitaire in Platinum. But I'd also like to clean various other rings, earrings, necklaces, etc.
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There is some concern that the Ultrasonic Cleaners cause the stone to loosen up in the setting. Others can weigh in on this. My wife's ring, as you can see from my avatar is in a Halo, I would not dare to put it in an ultrasonic.
 
Dancing Fire said:
I clean my wife's watch with the US...:love:
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Although our Rolexes are waterproof I clean our watchbands in the US but just can't dunk the whole watch in there because I wonder if the vibrations might be a problem to the mechanical movements. I do wear mine in the shower and hubby has gone snorkeling in Tahiti wearing his.
 
cflutist said:
Although our Rolexes are waterproof I clean our watchbands in the US but just can't dunk the whole watch in there because I wonder if the vibrations might be a problem to the mechanical movements. I do wear mine in the shower and hubby has gone snorkeling in Tahiti wearing his.
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Is ok as long as the crown is screw down tight. People on watch forums dunk their Rolexes into the US regularly, but if you don't feel comfortable about it then don't do it.
 
Someone had mentioned a cleaner they like called Grandma’s Secret. It’s a spray. I tried it and do not care for it. It feels like it leaves a coating on the entire ring. I can’t stand the way it makes the metal of my 14k gold shank feel. I’ve only used it twice but it will be going in the trash.
So, while I’m glad it’s working for someone else, this is my review of that product if anyone cares. I don’t know, maybe it’s that the cut of my diamond isn’t good... but given the unpleasant feel of the shank, I think there’s something in the product that is leaving a residue that is undesirable and defeats the whole purpose of removing gunk from my ring.
 
I bought one of the cheaper metal bodied ultrasonics made by the Chinese manufacturer Skymen. It just arrived today and I took it for a spin.

I bought it from AliExpress here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32977799683.html

It looks like it's also listed on Amazon here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XTRGWK4 and here: https://smile.amazon.com/Ultrasonic-Skymen-Solution-Eyeglasses-Toothbrush/dp/B01KZEEJQG

DSC03782.JPG
Tried it on all of my wife's glasses and ring. It is rather small. Her glasses wouldn't fit unless I took out all of the attachments. It doesn't have a degassing function, although that wasn't a big deal. Just ran it first for 10 minutes before putting anything in. It also doesn't have a heater, but the water gets pretty hot after a few cycles, so not a big deal there either. Overall cleaning performance was great. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it got the glasses and ring very clean.

DSC03784.JPG
Then, being the engineer I decided to take a look and open it up. That's when I discovered the biggest problem.

The printed circuit board (PCB) is completely exposed on the bottom. There's nothing covering the holes you see and the green thing is where all of the electronics "guts" live. This is a big problem because these are constantly around water, and I can see water getting in there very very easily.

DSC03786.JPG

After opening it up, I see that the construction is rather poor. There was a Youtube video showing how one of the larger units by this company was rather well constructed:
but apparently that didn't carry over to the low end model.

DSC03787.JPG
You'll see this big glop of glue at the bottom of PCB, partially submerging what looks like a resistor. The various electrical components are not attached nearly as neatly as on the bigger unit, although in fairness this whole board is much more cramped so that's a contributing factor.
DSC03788.JPG
The metal case, once opened up, also looks rather flimsy, and once again there are even more places where water can make its way in.

So pluses: metal construction, good cleaning. Minuses: looks like it could fail rather easily due to poor design choices. Unfortunately I bought it on Aliexpress so returns are probably harder than on Amazon. Might end up keeping it just because there aren't that many metal construction ultrasonics at this price point, but probably wouldn't recommend it to a casual user.
 

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HDer said:
DSC03788.JPG
The metal case, once opened up, also looks rather flimsy, and once again there are even more places where water can make its way in.
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What did I tell you guys about these poor quality Chinese made US? :whistle:
 
Dancing Fire said:
What did I tell you guys about these poor quality Chinese made US? :whistle:
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I hate to say it, but when you're right you're right.

To be honest, for less than 40 dollars the sturdy metal tank (and mesh) is a plus, but the lack of waterproofing and the 5 gaping holes on the bottom definitely make this hard to recommend for consumer use. At this price point one of the plastic models would actually be a better fit for the average consumer just because I can easily see many consumers putting the tank in the sink and letting water get into the bottom and sides of this thing.

I've thought about somehow waterproofing the bottom but I think the holes might be there to help with cooling all of the electronics.
 
HDer said:
I bought one of the cheaper metal bodied ultrasonics made by the Chinese manufacturer Skymen. It just arrived today and I took it for a spin.

I bought it from AliExpress here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32977799683.html

It looks like it's also listed on Amazon here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XTRGWK4 and here: https://smile.amazon.com/Ultrasonic-Skymen-Solution-Eyeglasses-Toothbrush/dp/B01KZEEJQG

DSC03782.JPG
Tried it on all of my wife's glasses and ring. It is rather small. Her glasses wouldn't fit unless I took out all of the attachments. It doesn't have a degassing function, although that wasn't a big deal. Just ran it first for 10 minutes before putting anything in. It also doesn't have a heater, but the water gets pretty hot after a few cycles, so not a big deal there either. Overall cleaning performance was great. I don't have anything to compare it to, but it got the glasses and ring very clean.

DSC03784.JPG
Then, being the engineer I decided to take a look and open it up. That's when I discovered the biggest problem.

The printed circuit board (PCB) is completely exposed on the bottom. There's nothing covering the holes you see and the green thing is where all of the electronics "guts" live. This is a big problem because these are constantly around water, and I can see water getting in there very very easily.

DSC03786.JPG

After opening it up, I see that the construction is rather poor. There was a Youtube video showing how one of the larger units by this company was rather well constructed:
but apparently that didn't carry over to the low end model.

DSC03787.JPG
You'll see this big glop of glue at the bottom of PCB, partially submerging what looks like a resistor. The various electrical components are not attached nearly as neatly as on the bigger unit, although in fairness this whole board is much more cramped so that's a contributing factor.
DSC03788.JPG
The metal case, once opened up, also looks rather flimsy, and once again there are even more places where water can make its way in.

So pluses: metal construction, good cleaning. Minuses: looks like it could fail rather easily due to poor design choices. Unfortunately I bought it on Aliexpress so returns are probably harder than on Amazon. Might end up keeping it just because there aren't that many metal construction ultrasonics at this price point, but probably wouldn't recommend it to a casual user.
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:appl::appl::appl:best post I've read in AGES!!!! :love: I want to be you when I grow up!!!!

Re: wife's glasses, while my husband was in the shower, i would plug the sink, put a drop of regular shampoo in the sink with warm water, dunk the glasses in, give a quick rub and soak them. When I heard him turn the water off, I'd drain the sink, rinse, and place them on a towel on the vanity. Quick and easy way to degrease them lol. The regular shampoo is getting harder and harder to find, but it is usually the cheapest one that is no frills.

Don't run the UC unattended. While my magnasonic is in home A, I've been using my travel one at the brothel. One day, I started it, and it sounded funny. I walked over and orange sparks came out of the seam where the plastic bottom joins the the rest of the plastic body. I smelled that familiar smell of some bit or bobble frying that brought me back to lab classes in college, where we would be sticking things in bread boards and turning power on and someone always fried something. I quickly yanked the power cord out. (Umm...:oops: I have used it again since and it is operating normally, but I need to order a magnasonic to replace this one stat!)
 
Dancing Fire said:
What did I tell you guys about these poor quality Chinese made US? :whistle:
Click to expand...
Sadly -- as with many products once made in the USA -- it seems the only way to get a USA-made GemOro ultrasonic nowadays is to buy a second-hand one. The company's website doesn't actually declare that any of their current models are made in the USA; rather, the listings coyly say only that the machine is either "engineered in the US" or "European designed."
https://www.sykessler.com/jewelry-tools/gemoro-cleaners/
But you'll see that when a dealer is candid about the country of manufacture, the GemOro's are actually made in China and Korea. E.g.,
https://www.ottofrei.com/GemOro-2-Quart-Heated-Next-Gen-Ultrasonic

For anyone interested, here's a GemOro 1-pint ultrasonic made in 2005, in the USA; the eBay seller has included a pic of the label on the back attesting to that:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/GemOro-Professional-Ultrasonic-Cleaner-1718-Jewelry-Or-Lab-1PT-Pint/273907329478?
It's the only USA-made GemOro ultrasonic currently listed -- and it's not made of plastic.
 
So I'm trying to buy an ultrasonic very badly but I am confused which one to get! Magnaonic for $40, LR quantex or gem oro though not sure which one? What do yall think?
 
bling_dream19 said:
So I'm trying to buy an ultrasonic very badly but I am confused which one to get! Magnaonic for $40, LR quantex or gem oro though not sure which one? What do yall think?
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The cheapest one of the 3.
 
Update on the trioshine... I love it! You just need enough water to cover the items. After the u
US I use the steam feature and everything is super shiny.
 
Dancing Fire said:
Yup, American made with all steel, no plastic, never crack, never leak.

Cf, remember all the ladies here (about 12 yrs ago?) got so excited about buying a Chinese made plastic Sharper Image US cleaners?. I told em it will not last for more than 2 yrs. In fact, most of those plastic US cleaners died after 3-4 months, but both of ours is still alive today and working like new.. :lol:
Click to expand...

I bought mine many years ago, after going down the route of multiple $40ish units dying, etc. It works wonders.

I can also vouch for a cleaning solution. Dawn works in a pinch, but a cleaning solution made specifically for jewelry leaves a finish that lasts longer/stays cleaner looking than Dawn IMHO.

Mine also has a heater, which I think helps as well.
IMG_1593.jpg IMG_4053.jpeg
 
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