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Hot take: those ultrasonic cleaners are overrated for most PCB work
I picked up a fancy ultrasonic cleaner from a shop near Austin about 6 months ago because everyone on here swore by them for cleaning flux off boards. Used it on a vintage receiver board last month and it actually damaged a few tiny SMD caps that had hidden moisture underneath. A friend of mine who repairs guitar amps for 20 years told me he just uses isopropyl alcohol and a soft toothbrush, never had an issue. I get that ultrasonic is great for jewelry or carburetors, but for delicate electronics I think it does more harm than good. The vibration can crack old solder joints or shove contaminants deeper into components. Has anyone else had components stop working after a run through one of these? I'm thinking about selling mine and going back to manual cleaning.
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davis.noah4mo ago
That damage was probably from user error or improper drying after, not the cleaner itself." I've been running an ultrasonic on boards for years and never lost a single component.
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diana5124mo ago
You know what, @davis.noah, this whole thing reminds me of the time my buddy Tom tried to clean his vintage guitar amp with a pressure washer. He swore it was fine because he let it dry for a whole day in the sun. Then he plugged it in and it sparked like a bad fireworks show. He blamed the cleaner too, but really it was just him being impatient. Point is, people mess stuff up and then point fingers at the tools. I bet your boards come out clean because you actually know what you're doing.
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diana5124mo ago
Agreed @davis.noah, watched a pal fry a keyboard the same way after a bath.
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