Ultrasonic cleaner o.k. for coins?

[DirtyBronze]

re: ^ it's been a few months, how did this work out for you? we have a dentist in the family and I was thinking of trying a few. Salem? comments? have you tried this?

[Danny Jones]

I just bought an ultrasonic cleaner, and I am amazed at the results of cleaning down in the hard to get places like around small inscriptions and fine details. As mentioned earlier, really hard encrustations won't budge, but I'd dare say that it will save you a lot of time in scrubbing and picking.

I submersed a plastic cup filled with hot, soapy water into the machine (also filled with hot water), then placed the coins into the cup. This way the coins are not rubbing against the metal pan, and the water in the cup can be changed without dirtying the pan water. The cup doesn't seem to reduce the cleaning effect at all. I have noticed a marked difference in the efficacy of hot versus cold water. Be sure to change out the water often to keep it hot. It will help the cleaning process considerably. 

Danny

[casata137ec]

GA, if you don't mind, what model did you get? I ahve always been curious about these. (one of the few things that I ahve yet to try with coin cleaning)

Chris

PS Oh yeah, and do you ahve any before and after pics?
C.

[Danny Jones]

It's a small machine for cleaning jewelry that holds about one liter of solution. It's made in China, and came with instructions in Chinese that I struggled to translate until I found that it was a manual for a home stereo center. Not too helpful. This one is good for cleaning maybe 10-15 coins at a time max. (Not for the wholesale cleaning fanatics out there, but plenty for me.) I'll post some pictures when I'm back in my office.

Danny

[Oak]

Does anyone have before and afters of thier coins?  Im thinking about getting one of these for those crusty coins.

Thanks

[CzarMike]

Does anyone have before and afters of thier coins?  Im thinking about getting one of these for those crusty coins.

Thanks

I don't think an ultrasonic cleaner would do much to a crusty coin, at least not the consumer ultrasonic baths <$100

[Danny Jones]

I just realized that I didn't take any before shots of these coins. Not too helpful.  CzarMike is correct. A small ultrasonic cleaner is useless on most hard encrustations. The only possibility I see is that it might, and I stress might, help loosen the encrustations after many treatments in the cleaner so that you could scrape them off easier with a scalpel. Still, not worth the time on hard crusty stuff. The best use for these machines is for getting deep into hard to reach places to get out dirt (but not rock hard concrete).

They have their uses, and are helpful on some coins. I really like mine and I'm still amazed at how good it cleaned up a few of my dirty coins. I gave up on the crusty ones though.

Danny

[adamskiii]

They seem very promising. Just a question. How dirty of a coin can a ultrasonic system clean? I have looked at some on eBay and wondering if this is a good one:

[BROKEN LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN]

Thanks

[adamskiii]

Can anyone help me out?

[areich]

I think they never caught on for coin cleaning.
My recollection is that a few people tried it but it just wasn't that effective and could even destroy brittle coins.

[rapre]

I'm planning to try it out, but at the right price.  I'm canvassing local tattoo parlours where they use them for cleaning their needles.  Haven't purchased one yet, but sure am meeting exotic individuals! 
Raymond

[adamskiii]

Would you recommend one? Anyone on this forum use one?

[liu_hai]

I'd only leave them in long enough to remove heavy dirt, then finish with a lighter cleaning method.