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Watch cleaning solution turning some parts dark

Bopmd

By Bopmd
in Watch Repairs Help & Advice

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Bopmd Watch Enthusiast

Bopmd

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Hello, I'm back with yet another question. This time it's regarding a cleaning solution I've used a couple of times.

In my cleaning process I start with mixing the solution and water to the right ratio and then pour it into the ultrasonic cleaner. Then I run the cleaner for 30 minutes or so. Once they're done I dip them in water and then in isopropanol.

After the cleaning the parts come out as super shiny. Except for a few. Usually the setting lever and pivots on the trainwheels come out as dark and when touching them with my nail for example it feels rough. 

Is there something wrong with my cleaning solution? If so, is there any recommendations for a cheap cleaning solution?

Does this affect performance of the watch?

Thank you very much for your responses.

(Can't visit the page for the item, so this screenshot will have to do)

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Bopmd Watch Enthusiast

Bopmd

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21 minutes ago, rodabod said:

Is it possible you are causing some sort of electrolysis which is playing the steel parts?

This certainly happens if you use ammoniated solutions and aluminium. 

Wouldn't think so.. The jar i put the parts and solution in is of glass. Maybe it reacts with the mesh cage for the smaller parts? Not sure what they are made of. Other than that I really don't know. Unless there is something in the solution..?

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HectorLooi Distinguished Member

HectorLooi

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30 minutes in the ultrasonic sounds a bit too long. Ultrasonic cleaners can be very damaging.

You can try an experiment. Just take a small piece of aluminum foil hold it with your fingers and just dip it in the bath and run it for 1 minute, try not to touch the sides or bottom of the tank. Now remove the foil and inspect it. It should be peppered with a lot of holes. This is how we test an ultrasonic bath to see if the transducers are working properly. And also to check for and "dead" spots where there is no ultrasonic energy.

I normally put my parts in the solution and run it for a couple of minutes. Then let it soak for maybe 10 minutes and run it for another 2 minutes. This way, I minimize the cavitation damage to the surface of the parts.

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spectre6000 Distinguished Member

spectre6000

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I had a similar gaffe recently. I did 10 minutes X3 cycles (clean, rinse 1, rinse 2) and stripped the nickel plating off the majority of the main plate (but nothing else surprisingly). Shocked the hell out of me, because nickel on brass should definitely be hard enough to not have issues. For the most recent cleaning, I did 3 minutes for each cycle, and that seems to have been plenty. I'll try two next, then one to see where the curve falls. It definitely seems like more makes sense, and there's nothing really out there in the literature about how long to use an ultrasonic cleaner (at least not that I've seen). This forum is great for hammering out those little details... 

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JohnR725 Distinguished Member

JohnR725

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the company that makes your cleaning fluid is very unhelpful as there is no material safety sheets or chemical properties of their cleaning fluid other than vague terms. But it does comment that makes metals bright shiny which makes me suspicious there's probably ammonia in the cleaning fluid. Ammonia is really wonderful for cleaning watch parts it is the substance that makes the parts bright and shiny. But as spectre6000 and I have found out even using cleaning fluid specifically designed for cleaning watch parts a little cleaning is good a lot of cleaning is bad and throw in some heat that would be very bad. So even commercial watch cleaning fluids are very time-limited because at a certain point in time you go past cleaning and you have the possibilities of cleaning the metal right off the watch parts and putting it in solution..

ttps://www.carbusonic.co.uk/ULTRASONIC-CLEANING-FLUID-JEWELLERY-JEWELRY-WATCHES-TATTOO-DENTAL

On 7/24/2020 at 3:44 PM, rodabod said:

Is it possible you are causing some sort of electrolysis which is playing the steel parts?

you have a unknown water-based solution and your cleaning wheels which are made out of brass and steel which definitely could form a undesirable electrolysis situation.

On 7/24/2020 at 2:25 PM, Bopmd said:

Is there something wrong with my cleaning solution? If so, is there any recommendations for a cheap cleaning solution?

Does this affect performance of the watch?

the answer to his or something wrong with your cleaning fluid yes it's not designed to clean watch parts. But if you insist on using it try five minutes or find something to practice with it's disposable and see how long it go before bad things happen. then for the performance issue if your pivots are feeling rough that would be undesirable.

 

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