Jump to content

Cleaning Fluids

djmcd
 Share

Recommended Posts

SteveFitzwater Member

SteveFitzwater

Posted
Posted

Ok, Naptha in the ultra sonic.. hmm, how I would do this is pickup a couple small glass jars, fill them with Naptha, then float them in the ultra sonic full of water..  your controlling the Naptha better this way.. remember, Naptha is a combustable substance..

 

  • Like 1
  • Replies 1.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

TimpanogosSlim
TimpanogosSlim

The experiment begins. Both dimes were heated to about 300c and then had a flake of garnet shellac laid on top. And then heated some more.  99% isopropyl on the left, denatured ethanol (containin

Zendoc
Zendoc

Hello All, I’m relatively new to watch restoration and repair. I live in Australia.  FWIW, over the past months I’ve been experimenting with approaches to ultrasonic cleaning. I wanted to avoid N

LittleWatchShop
LittleWatchShop

By my observation, virtually everything is known to cause cancer in California. CA has cornered the market on warning labels.

Posted Images

matabog Super WRT Addict

matabog

Posted
Posted

Someone here on the forum tried (for test) isopropyl alcohol on the pallets. After 30 minutes it had little effect on the swiss one and a little bit more effect on the russian one (if you read this post, please confirm).

I DIDN'T TRY  IT YET, but I intend to: clean the pallets in naphta and also with pegwood and rodico and rinse them for a coupple of seconds in alcohool and dry them quikly - they should be fine. Same for the balance wheels.

Using only naphta sometimes leaves a thin layer of oil on the parts that somehow spreads the usefull oil (your expensive Moebius) taking it to unwanted places and leaving the interesting area dry.


For everything else, clean in naphta and rinse (in a more relaxed way) in alcohool.

IMHO, Bogdan

diamondslayer WRT Addict

diamondslayer

Posted
Posted
Ok, Naptha in the ultra sonic.. hmm, how I would do this is pickup a couple small glass jars, fill them with Naptha, then float them in the ultra sonic full of water..  your controlling the Naptha better this way.. remember, Naptha is a combustable substance..

 

Before I got a refurbished L&R cleaning machine on eBay, I used an ultrasonic, but used L&R cleaning and rinsing solutions. I filled the bottom of the ultrasonic with water and set the jars in the water. The water never went above the middle of the jars! I still do this if I need to rigorously clean something stubborn!

There is a guy called MDean-o on eBay who does a great job refurbishing L&R cleaning machines! I suggest buying on from him and no one else!!

  • 2 weeks later...
JoeJBP Watch Enthusiast

JoeJBP

Posted
Posted

Hello,

Has anyone used the Greiner watch cleaning concentrate? I'm wondering what rinse, if any, it requires and how easy it is to acquire the demineralised water?

Joe.

 

jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, JoeJBP said:

how easy it is to acquire the demineralised water?

At the supermarket, for steam pressing.

Cad101 Super WRT Addict

Cad101

Posted
Posted

I use R.O ( reverse osmosis ) water for rinsing its pure water plus I have an abundance of it its used as top of water in my marine fish tank .

JoeJBP Watch Enthusiast

JoeJBP

Posted
Posted

Just been looking that up. It said on one page that RO was deionised water, which is what I was going to use to dilute the solution. If I can use that same water for both jobs then happy days :D

rodabod Distinguished Member

rodabod

Posted
Posted
On 5/14/2016 at 1:01 PM, JoeJBP said:

Hello,

Has anyone used the Greiner watch cleaning concentrate? I'm wondering what rinse, if any, it requires and how easy it is to acquire the demineralised water?

Joe.

 

I use it. It works well. I rinse in ethanol, though don't leave the pallets in it for too long.

  • Like 1
JoeJBP Watch Enthusiast

JoeJBP

Posted
Posted

Thanks. I'm going to give it a go. Still unsure on the rinse though. I've been recommended pure water and pure alcohol!

How do you tell how well rinse has worked?

Joe. 

rodabod Distinguished Member

rodabod

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, JoeJBP said:

Thanks. I'm going to give it a go. Still unsure on the rinse though. I've been recommended pure water and pure alcohol!

How do you tell how well rinse has worked?

Joe. 

The rinse can leave stains from the cleaning solution if it's dirty, or can leave stains if it is unpure, eg. minerals in water.

 

I found that a water based rinse led to corrosion on some parts when they didn't dry quickly, hence why I moved to ethanol, plus the ethanol dries very quickly.

  • Like 1
noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted (edited)

Be careful with alcohol. If the pallet stones are held in place with shellac (most vintage), it will definitely dissolve and soften in alcohol...use One-Dip or naptha (lighter fluid).

 

JC


 

Slide1.jpg

Edited by noirrac1j
typo
rodabod Distinguished Member

rodabod

Posted
Posted

Naphtha works well as a cleaner, but it does not act as a solvent for water, so it will  not work particularly well at removing the Greiner solution as the two liquids will split. I use naphtha for cleaning the balance/balance cock and also any removable end stones though. 

noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yes that is correct. For main plates and and other parts that are dirty, I use an ultrasonic solution in hot water and brush gently with a toothbrush, rinse, and finish in naptha to displace any hidden water and let dry. Super spiffy clean.d4e58a1284b525cbf0be6d7987ed24fd.jpg

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

Edited by noirrac1j
typo as usual
  • Like 1
rodabod Distinguished Member

rodabod

Posted
Posted

I may give that a try. My only concern was if water-based detergent got trapped in any cavities, but I suppose I could always use the ultrasonic to agitate it. 

noirrac1j Distinguished Member

noirrac1j

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, bobm12 said:

Hi Joe,

How did you get the "Free Sample"?

Cheers,

Bob

Eagle-eyed Bob! I got it from the Research Institute where I spend most of my time. They put out tables of stuff for people to try out. Its an excellent cleaning solution, not too smelly, and 2% solution is very effective, so all you need is a small amount to mix in hot water. I use it to clean the watch plates, screws, levers etc. in glass and it rinses completely clean.

jdm Distinguished Member

jdm

Posted
Posted

Interesting. Micro-90 components:
Surfactants (detegents) 10 – 25%
EDTA  (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) 0 – 25%

Will look for something like that...

gmoodyii Member

gmoodyii

Posted
Posted

I am very new and learning by book, video and this forum. I am getting my materials together and subjects like lubrication and cleaning seem to have a vast spectrum of opinions.

I will start off with a cleaning question, I ran across a thread on another forum where a experienced watchmaker suggested that anyone new to this should hand clean all of their watch movements instead of using a machine like a ultrasonic cleaner. Sounds like a good idea to me, lets you get more personal with the movement.

He suggested lighter fluid and a soft artist brush to clean, and isopropyl alcohol for the rinse. Using sharpened toothpicks to clean the jewels.

Opinions?

oldhippy Distinguished Member

oldhippy

Posted
Posted

He suggested lighter fluid and a soft artist brush to clean, and isopropyl alcohol for the rinse. Using sharpened toothpicks to clean the jewels.

That is the way I would also suggest you go about starting. There is nothing out there better then a good proper watch cleaning machine. 

  • Like 1
anilv Distinguished Member

anilv

Posted
Posted

A soft brush would be a bit too gentle.. I would use one with stiffer bristles..you'd be surprised how tough some of the gunk is.

Anilv

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • jhoho202
      About repair watch's jewel.

      By jhoho202 · Posted

      First of all, thank you for the pdf file of the book on how to replace a gem. So, if there is a problem with the ruby in the movement, should I buy a new or used movement and replace it? When I watch videos on YouTube of people fixing used watches, I feel like there should be a way to buy a gem. Is there no way to buy it?
    • praezis
      Parts sourcing for FHF 180 movement

      By praezis · Posted

      I suppose @donutdan is not forced to earn his living by repairing watches.  I suppose he does it as a hobby and wants to gain experience, to get better in watchmaking and time is not the issue. Then @donutdan should rather try to repair the damage instead of swap parts from a maybe intact other movement. Swapping parts is not watchmaking. And often swapped parts are not the expected solution of all problems. All mentioned damages are repairable. Frank  
    • Malocchio
      Chinese tools debate

      By Malocchio · Posted

      Yeah I figured that one out when I googled and realized that my spindle is actually from Horia. It's smooth with no screwable cap.
    • JohnR725
      Parts sourcing for FHF 180 movement

      By JohnR725 · Posted

      I am puzzled by something a snipped out something from your image and what exactly disassemble tell us? my confusion is the symbol for FHF looks like image I have below year symbol as a star and righted this instant are not finding what that means? I suppose we could use the fingerprint system to verify it really is what it claimed to be. Size itself is really interesting there's almost no watches in that particular size. Then were missing details in the photograph above like diameter of movements to verify it really is the size and are missing the setting components.   went to the bestfit book looking at the symbols didn't see it. Look at the link below I did find it back to the bestfit book and yes it really is there https://reference.grail-watch.com/documents/history-of-ebauches-sa/ then bestfit book says lists the size as 10 1/2. one of the problems with vintage watches is finding parts yes a donor watch would be good.
    • Simeon
      Oiling Dubois Depraz chrono module pivots (Omega Speedmaster Reduced)

      By Simeon · Posted

      Actually, this could be the issue. Drag from the module could be overcoming the cannon pinion. It was definitely not at the point that the driving wheel was loose on the cannon pinion, it took a little bit of effort to rotate it when applying the grease. Maybe I need to look again at applying oil to the pivots.    Yeah, it's very annoying. I don't want to give up on it, so back on with it over again until I catch a break. 
×
×
  • Create New...