Productive Times: Coming ultrasonically clean

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END USER: Van’s Manufacturing Inc., (805) 522-6267. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Omegasonics, (888) 989-5560, www.omegasonics.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce the time and cost to clean machined parts. SOLUTION: An ultrasonic parts cleaner with a filtration pump.

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As a rule of thumb, buyers of machined parts don’t want to see any particles or oily film on their merchandise. Therefore, most blueprints specify parts must be clean and dry—but don’t indicate how that must be achieved or what level of cleanliness is required, noted Lou Tignac, owner and president of Van’s Manufacturing Inc.

The Simi Valley, Calif., machine shop employs about 20 workers and produces parts, such as pressure transducer fittings, valves and manifolds, from a variety of workpiece materials, including plastic, stainless steel, aluminum and bronze. The shop long ago realized that its old-school, rudimentary solvent tank was cumbersome, messy and time-consuming. In addition, the solvents required special storage, usage and disposal considerations.

Lou Tignac, owner and president of Van’s Manufacturing, removes a basket of parts from the company’s Omegasonics Super Pro X2 ultrasonic parts cleaning machine. All images courtesy Omegasonics.

After researching alternative industrial cleaning processes online and at trade shows, Tignac determined ultrasonic cleaning to be a thorough and environmentally friendly method for removing water-soluble coolant and other contaminants from parts—even those with multiple cavities and hard-to-reach internal features. Ultrasonic systems use vibrating molecules within a nontoxic solution to clean parts. A machine generates ultrasound waves that produce cavitation bubbles, which can reach into every nook and cranny in a part to remove dirt, grime and grease.

Tignac selected an ultrasonic cleaning machine from Omegasonics, also in Simi Valley, and soon realized benefits from the equipment. “With labor being the most-expensive component in a shop, any time you can cut down your cycle time or processes that require labor, you save money. Our Omegasonics system did just that,” he said. “We can clean parts in one-third of the time it took us prior to using ultrasonic technology.”