Elma Super Elite – Rusty Baskets Question

[TimepieceTinkerer]

Hi all,
I recently bought a pre-owned Elma Super Elite watch parts cleaner. The baskets had some rust, which I cleaned about 90% without damaging them. But recently I’ve noticed more rust appearing.

I have two questions:

1. Could this rust affect watch parts during the cleaning process?
2. If I replace the baskets with new original ones, is rust likely to return in the future?

Any advice or experience would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

TT

[Knebo]

Hi there,

which cleaning fluids are you using? I think that's the key to the answer. Normally they shouldn't rust.

[JohnR725]

22 hours ago, TimepieceTinkerer said:

rust

One of the problems with Elma baskets if you look on their website it doesn't specify what they're made from. But I was under the impression they were stainless steel and they should not have rust.

One of the unfortunate problems with Elma cleaning machines are that they have been cloned and I'm not sure how well the cloned baskets are made other than their cheap.

 

[TimepieceTinkerer]

52 minutes ago, Knebo said:

Hi there,

which cleaning fluids are you using? I think that's the key to the answer. Normally they shouldn't rust.

I'm using:

2.5L Elma WF Pro – New Formula for the main cleaning

2.5L Elma Suprol Pro – New Formula for the first rinse

Isopropanol Alcohol IPA 99.99% for the final rinse

So far, all fresh fluids. I was also under the impression they shouldn’t cause rust, so I’m wondering if maybe the damage was already there and is just progressing now.

40 minutes ago, JohnR725 said:

One of the problems with Elma baskets if you look on their website it doesn't specify what they're made from. But I was under the impression they were stainless steel and they should not have rust.

One of the unfortunate problems with Elma cleaning machines are that they have been cloned and I'm not sure how well the cloned baskets are made other than their cheap.

 

Because my baskets came with the machine when I bought it pre-owned, I’m not sure if they’re original Elma or not. That’s exactly why I’m hesitant to buy a new set—I don’t want to end up with lower quality clones again if that’s what these are.

[JohnR725]

6 minutes ago, TimepieceTinkerer said:

Suprol Pro – New Formula for the first rinse

Isopropanol Alcohol IPA 99.99% for the final rinse

The unfortunate problem of the three jar cleaning machine. At least I assume it's a three jar machine. Classically with three jar machine the first is a cleaner and the second to be a rinse of the same type. Cleaning is a interesting process and it's not exactly cleaning and rinsed the entire procedure is cleaning. The cleaner is supposed to have chemicals to put things in the solution and things to make things right and shiny. The rinse continues to put things in solution and reduces the concentration of things in the fluid on the plates. Ideally you should have two rinses not one and alcohol.

If you look at the modern cleaning machines you find typically now they will have a minimum of four jars or whatever. Often times the last one will have alcohol because depending upon where you live the rinse itself may not evaporate. So you have a final rinse of alcohol just to rinse off the rinse.

Then the only thing I've ever seen on baskets would be this quoted below from something Omega has. But they are assuming that you have genuine Elma baskets and not a machine made in India from unknown materials. Although a lot of people are using the baskets from India I just don't know enough about them. Personally I've see in the baskets for other machines especially the holder which would be as it's implied below nickel plated where the plating wears off and eventually the brass will be etched away from the chemicals in the cleaning product.

One thing I didn't see you mention was how long in the each of the baths? Usually for the cleaning products that make things bright and shiny. Time-limited approximately 4 minutes works really well. The rinses of less of concern it depends upon how much the cleaning fluid is dissolved in it though. You can download the specifications the cleaning products I like they have recommended times the final alcohol rinse is supposed to be relatively short as any time we mention alcohol and watches people get excited over dissolving the shellac. But typically with isopropyl alcohol it takes a little while longer and I've even used alcohol which I know dissolves shellac but I was just using it to rinse off the rinse so it was never a problem.

 

[TimepieceTinkerer]

Thanks for the detailed explanation—really helpful!

As I just started and do this purely as a hobby, I don’t have much to clean at once. I usually pre-clean parts manually, then run the main cleaning for about 8–10 minutes, same for the second rinse, and around 10–15 minutes for the third rinse, which is alcohol. Then I put the basket in the drying chamber for about 2–3 minutes.

I might be overdoing the timings a bit, especially with alcohol, but so far I haven’t noticed any issues with shellac. Still figuring things out as I go!

[Knebo]

48 minutes ago, TimepieceTinkerer said:

Then I put the basket in the drying chamber for about 2–3 minutes

This seems a bit short. Maybe residual moisture...

your drying chamber's heater is working properly, I assume?

 

 

[TimepieceTinkerer]

Yes it is working properly.