Cleaning Fluids

[SteveFitzwater]

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..

 

[bobm12]

..

4 minutes ago, SteveFitzwater said:

Naptha is a combustable substance

And heat will set it off...sometimes!

[matabog]

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]

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!!

[JoeJBP]

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]

23 minutes ago, JoeJBP said:

how easy it is to acquire the demineralised water?

At the supermarket, for steam pressing.

[JoeJBP]

Good call. Will check it out. I've seen that I can get deionised water fairly easily which I think is basically the same thing. 

[Cad101]

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]

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 

[rodabod]

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.

[JoeJBP]

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]

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.

[JoeJBP]

That's good to know. Just trying to find some ethanol. Any ideas? I'm in the uk. 

[rodabod]

Amazon or eBay. Go for 99.9% + purity. 

[noirrac1j]

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

 

Edited May 20, 2016 by noirrac1j
typo

[rodabod]

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]

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.

Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

Edited May 20, 2016 by noirrac1j
typo as usual

[rodabod]

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. 

[bobm12]

Hi Joe,

How did you get the "Free Sample"?

Cheers,

Bob

[noirrac1j]

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.

[bobm12]

Thanks! mmm, the perks, way to go!!!

Cheers,

Bob

[jdm]

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

Will look for something like that...

[gmoodyii]

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]

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. 

[anilv]

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