Pallet forks in IPA

[Paul80]

I know this comes up from time to time but a search failed to find a dedicated thread (Mods please move if there is one) so thought the following might be of interest to newbie’s like myself.

It is I suppose common knowledge that you should not clean the pallet fork in IPA because its supposed to dissolve the shellac used to retain the Jewels.

Having tried in the past to dissolve shellac in IPA for another non watch related use and found it to not be very good I was rather sceptical of the claim "It dissolves Shellac" so thought I would give it a go with a spare Pallet fork I had.

Obviously the pallet in the picture below was soaked for far longer than it would be if I was just cleaning it but it clearly shows that after 6 hours soaking almost all the Shellac was dissolved.

Proof if proof is needed I suppose.

Hope this is of help to the new members who like me were wondering if IPA did actually do any damage or it was just anecdotal reporting 

Proof is in the picture below

 

[Kalanag]

See here: https://www.watchrepairtalk.com/topic/3552-cleaning-fluids/?do=findComment&comment=188939

[Randy55]

I also think that the type of IPA would have various effects.

At least here in the US,..I can buy various "grades" of it..including 99% "Regent" grade.

It probably dissolves the shellac faster than the lower grades

 

Thanks for sharing your experience !

 

Randy

[grsnovi]

There was a thread recently (possibly the one linked above?) where somebody did some tests.

In any case, I knew it dissolved shellac, I had just forgotten that I didn't want to have the balance on the plate (or the pallet in the basket) while doing my clean. The last time I had removed them from the mix.

[gbyleveldt]

Thanks @Paul80 for doing the test. There are some that say it makes no difference, then there are some (like me) that have had a bad experience. Elsewhere I mention that I think it’s more a difference in the type of Shellac than IPA but I obviously don’t know for sure. I just keep Shellac away from IPA, then I know I’m safe. One dip isn’t THAT expensive when you consider the price of damaged parts, so I stick to that for pallet forks or other sensitive parts.

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 hours ago, Paul80 said:

I know this comes up from time to time but a search failed to find a dedicated thread (Mods please move if there is one) so thought the following might be of interest to newbie’s like myself.

It is I suppose common knowledge that you should not clean the pallet fork in IPA because its supposed to dissolve the shellac used to retain the Jewels.

Having tried in the past to dissolve shellac in IPA for another non watch related use and found it to not be very good I was rather sceptical of the claim "It dissolves Shellac" so thought I would give it a go with a spare Pallet fork I had.

Obviously the pallet in the picture below was soaked for far longer than it would be if I was just cleaning it but it clearly shows that after 6 hours soaking almost all the Shellac was dissolved.

Proof if proof is needed I suppose.

Hope this is of help to the new members who like me were wondering if IPA did actually do any damage or it was just anecdotal reporting 

Proof is in the picture below

 

Yes mate it definitely does and personally i wouldnt take the risk of anything more than a very quick dip rinse.

[praezis]

IPA is typically used as last rinse and water removal. The process time is typically 3 minutes. This time will do little to no harm to the shellac. 
However, according Paul's experiment, all shellac will be gone after 120 rinses!

Frank

[AndyHull]

Just for the record, the latest formulations of lighter fluids may contain some percentage of ethanol, since they are often little more than unleaded petrol (or gasoline if you prefer), and there is a trend to "green" up automotive fuels by adding "green" plant sourced ethanol. It might be worth trying them to see if they also dissolve shellac.

Unleaded petrol without ethanol, should have little if any effect on shellac. I suspect you would need to leave the shellac in the ethanol enhanced petrol for a fairly long period, since the percentage of ethanol is relatively low (around 10% to 15%)

[nickelsilver]

1 hour ago, praezis said:

IPA is typically used as last rinse and water removal. The process time is typically 3 minutes. This time will do little to no harm to the shellac. 
However, according Paul's experiment, all shellac will be gone after 120 rinses!

Frank

Yes, and if you leave watch parts in normal commercial watch cleaner like L&R 111a for 6 hours you will probably see damage to plating and worse! I remember a classmate forgot a watch in 111a over the weekend... it was a goner.

[Paul80]

The only issue with my testing was the 6 hours, that was how long it was soaked because I forgot to check it sooner, so don't know the exact time the shellac dissolved, for all I know it might have been gone in an hour all I can confirm was it was gone after 6 hours, it might have needed a lot less I suppose. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

13 hours ago, praezis said:

IPA is typically used as last rinse and water removal. The process time is typically 3 minutes. This time will do little to no harm to the shellac. 
However, according Paul's experiment, all shellac will be gone after 120 rinses!

Frank

Would that be considered movement abuse by the RSPCWM ? Cleaning a watch movement to death

[Paul80]

But for the OCD cleaners they have only just got started at cleaning cycle 120 

[Stretch]

So is the general consensus that

1] IPA is okay for rinsing after water/detergent cleaning on all parts apart from the pallet fork and balance ?

2] lighter fluid or one dip is best for rinsing after water/detergent cleaning on the pallet fork and balance ?

also has anyone noticed watch  jewels losing their red colour dring cleaning.  Maybe as a result of IPA ?

9 minutes ago, Stretch said:

So is the general consensus that

1] IPA is okay for rinsing after water/detergent cleaning on all parts apart from the pallet fork and balance ?

2] lighter fluid or one dip is best for rinsing after water/detergent cleaning on the pallet fork and balance ?

also has anyone noticed watch  jewels losing their red colour dring cleaning.  Maybe as a result of IPA ?

Actually noticed that one dip is discontinued, therefore make that question 2] lighter fluid, b dip or essence of renata after the water/detergent clean ?

[gbyleveldt]

^^^ That’s what I do. But everyone has their own approach and reasons.