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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/29/14 in all areas

  1. I use a Sparkle Spa 1780 which has enough room for a 400 ml beaker and a 100 ml beaker at the same time. I have a bunch of mesh baskets to distribute the parts in such a way that flat surfaces can't stick together while in the cleaner. Then I have ready another 100 ml beaker outside the cleaner with the cleanest rinse. So, all baskets and other large parts go in the 400 ml with L&R Extra Fine Cleaning Solution. After letting the ultrasonic go 3 times (it is timed automatically), I take all the baskets and loose parts and put them in the 1st 100 ml with L&R Rinsing Solution (#3). I let the machine go another 3 times and transfer to external 100 ml which will go in the 1780 after I'm done with everything I have to clean. This system allows me to clean and rinse at the same time when I have more than one watch to clean (often). I hand dry all parts with a watchmaker hand pump, this way I can do a close examination (again) of the part in question while at it. The way I distribute parts: in a small mesh basket all the screws. The balance wheel goes alone in a basket or is the last to clean in the 400 ml beaker all by itself. Before cleaning, all jewels are pegged (Bergeon peg wood sticks sharpened to fit) to remove old oil. Jewel caps et al go in a 50 ml beaker an gently agitated with glass agitator in lighter fluid and observed with a 10x or greater lense. If anything is too small for blow dry, it goes on lint free paper. My system permits to reuse fluids several times, and inspect the integrity and cleanliness of all parts. When first 100ml beaker is too dirty it is replaced with second 100 ml fluid and the second beaker gets new clean fluid. All parts get one cleaning and two rinsing cycles (or triple cycles if you will). The cleaning machine is usually half full of water to transmit the vibration to the beakers. Beakers are in the water and contain the different solutions. Since there is only room for 2 beakers in the machine, the 3 beakers rotate according to the process. This system may not be perfect jet ( I'm still fine tuning it) but the results are very rewarding. Needless to say that I retrofitted a couple of seikos that had rusty parts and after some rust brushing, pegging and the described process, they look factory new. Robert
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