Any Members using Ultrasonic cleaner to steep that have input?

[Dryadsoul]

I tried using a magnetic stirrer with disappointing results. Heard so many positive comments about using an Ultrasonic that i pulled the trigger on one.
It has 600ml tank and timer settings of 1 1/2 - 8 hours. Wanted to know if it's common to just mix the juice in the tank or suspend the bottles in the water?

Any experienced input totally welcome.

 

[twgbonehead]

DEFINITELY put the bottles in the water!!!!!

A UC cleaner needs water to a certain level in order to operate properly, so if you aren't making 600ml at a time it would be bad to just pour the liquid right into the tank. Make sure the water level is correct after you put your bottles in.

Not to mention the clean-up, etc.

ETA: Even if you were making 600ml at a whack, you'd still be much better off splitting it into 2 batches. Really, you should never pour anything but water into the tank itself.

 

[Dryadsoul]

Thanks twgbonehead. Would it be acceptable to use a glass beaker in the water?

 

[twgbonehead]

Thanks twgbonehead. Would it be acceptable to use a glass beaker in the water?

Absolutely. (Make sure it isn't cracked in any way, or chipped on the lip, though!) Glass actually passes the ultrasonic waves through better than plastic, but if it even has a hairline crack or chip the ultrasonics will make it spread!

I usually do it in the plastic bottles (mostly because my glassware is a bit banged up!)

ETA: Actually I do it in the plastic bottles because I'm a lazy SOB. But don't tell anyone!

 

[Dryadsoul]

That's a great tip that, which leaves me with 3 out of 4 uncracked/chipped. Oh yeah, is 3 hours a good enough rotation?

 

[twgbonehead]

That's a great tip that, which leaves me with 3 out of 4 uncracked/chipped. Oh yeah, is 3 hours a good enough rotation?

That's hard to say. It depends on the power of your UC, and other things. In general, trial-and-error is often the best guide.

I have a fairly powerful UC (intended for medical/dental offices for cleaning tools). The timer on it will only go to (I think) an hour and a half, but it's a completely different animal than, for example, a jewelry cleaner. (it also has a basket, which keeps the bottles off of the very bottom of the tank, and therefore gets the US energy to spread better). I'll often do 2 cycles for the full duration. If it's done and I'm too lazy to take it out, I might do another one. But, since it's big and can do more than all the juice I will ever make at one time, I've never tried to streamline the process.

If you're going to use the glass beakers, do yourself a favor and fill them with water, and then run them in the UC for an hour or so. That way, you can weed out a defective one without losing juice.

(Seriously, the ultrasonics will completely destroy a glass vessel with any kind of crack in it, and you might not see it when you put it in! And beakers are a bit more thin-walled than many glass jars).

 

[Dryadsoul]

Thanks for all the pointers they will definitely be put to good use when the unit arrives. BTW it's 42,000 cycles per second.

 

[twgbonehead]

Thanks for all the pointers they will definitely be put to good use when the unit arrives. BTW it's 42,000 cycles per second.

You're welcome, glad to be of help!

By the way, 42,000 cycles/second is the frequency it operates at, but doesn't tell you how much power the unit has (which is the more important number).

Got a link to the unit?

 

[Dryadsoul]

Power Supply: 100-120 V, 60 Hz, 35 W. Sonic Wave Digital Ultrasonic Jewelry Eyeglass Watches Dentures Cleaner CD 3800A | eBay

 

[Cheechako]

Absolutely. (Make sure it isn't cracked in any way, or chipped on the lip, though!) Glass actually passes the ultrasonic waves through better than plastic, but if it even has a hairline crack or chip the ultrasonics will make it spread!

I usually do it in the plastic bottles (mostly because my glassware is a bit banged up!)

ETA: Actually I do it in the plastic bottles because I'm a lazy SOB. But don't tell anyone!

Great answers! Admire your honesty!

 

[twgbonehead]

Power Supply: 100-120 V, 60 Hz, 35 W. Sonic Wave Digital Ultrasonic Jewelry Eyeglass Watches Dentures Cleaner CD 3800A | eBay

Actually, that looks like a nice unit. The tub is shaped a bit weird, but that might actually be great for doing 2 bottles at a time!

ETA: and it's nice that the basket is built-in (the water extends below the basket). Saves a bunch of trouble, I got mine without a basket (and they want like $350 just for the dumb basket online!!!) so I had to rig one up.

Can't give you much more guidance, except try it, if it needs more steeping, do it longer. (The one I have is 165 watts in, 135 watts out; completely different, got it for really cheap but they're damned expensive online!!!!).

 

[Dryadsoul]

Thanks again for all your time and info it will definitely put me on the good foot when the unit arrives next Wednesday. When i first started researching these units i was seeking high power, large capacity and heating unit, but $1200 is out of my budget, so i settled for one that i don't have to restart every 6 minutes.

 

[twgbonehead]

Thanks again for all your time and info it will definitely put me on the good foot when the unit arrives next Wednesday. When i first started researching these units i was seeking high power, large capacity and heating unit, but $1200 is out of my budget, so i settled for one that i don't have to restart every 6 minutes.

Yeah, mine is a Sultan Pro-sonic 1000 (although it just has a single large tank, not the "tank+2 cups" that seem to show up when I google it.
Bought it at a flea market, by accident. The guy had a temperature-controlled bath (which I wanted, to do some sous-vide cooking) and the UC was right next to it (had no use for it at the time).
But, he said "$35 each, $50 for both" so I took both. Good thing; as it turns out the heating element in the bath was completely fried, and the pair of them sat in my basement for a couple of years.

Fortunately, the Pro-sonic does work (and the damned things are expensive!) and I found something to use it for! One of these days I gotta rip apart the temperature bath and see if I can fix it, I really wanted to try doing the sous-vide!

 

[doofy666]

I tried using a magnetic stirrer with disappointing results. Heard so many positive comments about using an Ultrasonic that i pulled the trigger on one.
It has 600ml tank and timer settings of 1 1/2 - 8 hours. Wanted to know if it's common to just mix the juice in the tank or suspend the bottles in the water?

Any experienced input totally welcome.

The specs on your machine suggest 90 seconds to 8 minutes.

And my understanding of ultrasonic steeping is that you need heat also, so you'll need to fill with hot water and baby sit it, relying on the ultrasonic to keep the heat up. The ultrasonic ought to keep the heat up, but the need to keep restarting will get a bit tiresome.

 

[Dryadsoul]

Oh damn your right, that's 22.5 restarts assuming 3 hours will suffice. could be worse i guess. Thanks for pointing out my poor math skills.

 

[doofy666]

If you put "ultrasonic steeping" into the search box top right, you'll get pointed to 2 or 3 long threads in the DIY forum.

Not wishing to irritate you further, but from memory you might be looking at closer to 5 hours.

I have a machine with about your specs, tried it once 3 months ago and it didn't work. My guess is my temp wasn't high enough. I haven't tried DIY since, but have just got a litre of nic base and am going to try again soon. This time I'm going to focus on temp. There is debate as to whether it is the ultrasonic element or the heating element that encourages steeping. Somewhere in one of the long threads is a blind test: the same batch was made up and then steeped in an ultrasonic and a crock pot set to the same temp. Testers could not tell the difference.

So have a thermometer. From memory you want about 120F, certainly under 150F. Ultrasonic using hot tap water in a machine without a heating element in my experience achieves nothing.

On the plus side, you have a machine that is excellent for cleaning attys and might be crucial if you get an atty thats clogged up with machine oil.

 

[Dryadsoul]

Appreciate the input, i'll definitely check those threads out. A total of $85 between the magnetic stirrer and the Ultrasonic and i could have just used one of my 3 crock pots. Now that's a hoot.