TechNotes

I’m looking for a cleaning solution to use in our industrial ultrasonic cleaner that is similar to the old style competitor detergent. We use it occasionally for general cleaning, removal of machining oils, cleaning for high vacuum use, and to lightly etch the oxides off of copper. 

If we did a pre-mix and let it sit until use, how long would the formulations last before degrading?

Could we also use this mix for washing microfiber towels and foam sponges that have various waxes, polymer sealants and oils on them?

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Q. Q. We are having an issue plating aluminum on glass castings. It appears there is mold release left on the glass after the casting. The glass manufacturer recommended Alconox detergent. Is that what you would your recommend for cleaning the glass? Whatever we use, it probably needs to be a soak at a high temperature (>170°)? Is this procedure good or should we use an ultrasonic at the higher temperature?

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Q. We have heard that Alconox is recommended for glass mold cleaning. Other than release agent, can the product also remove oxidation from the mold surface? And finally, why is the concentration on the Alconox detergent only 1-3% when we typically use concentrations of 20-30% when cleaning molds with sodium or potassium hydroxide based chemicals?

A. Alconox® Powdered Precision Cleaner is what we tradtionally recommend for mold release cleaning applications, but many also find Detonox® Ultimate Precision Cleaner to be particularly effective.

When it comes to removing oxidation…

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See Alconox, Inc. at ADM Expo, Cleveland, OH, March 7-8, 2018. Stop by booth #216 to receive our unique gifts, expert technical support for your critical cleaning applications, and detergent samples.

Our critical cleaning detergents remove an array of soils while leaving no interfering residues in applications for precision manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, electronics manufacturing and more.

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Q: Is there a benefit to filtering the rinse water or the detergent solution in an ultrasonic system? Is it even advisable? If so, can you recommend a filter size (10 micron) when using Alconox detergent? This is for a new bath setup in a new piece of equipment. 

A: My short answer would be, it cannot hurt but would likely be of limited assistance.

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Q. We are cleaning copper pipe with Alconox powder and then using a citric acid wash after a rinse. Could we use a different detergent from Alconox, Inc. that would accomplish both these procedures at once?
A. Citranox® Liquid Acid Cleaner and Detergent is both a detergent and serves as an acidic rinse (removing oxidation, inorganic residue, etc.). So, if you’d like to switch to one product, Citranox cleaner is a great option. 

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Q. White spots appear on our stainless steel parts the day after cleaning with Alconox. Right after we clean them, they are dry and visually clean. So, is this next-day residue from the Alconox detergent? If not, can you tell us why this is happening? A. It is fairly unlikely that visually clean parts have Alconox residues suddenly appearing the next day.  In addition to Alconox being free rinsing, any residue that did not get rinsed for whatever reason, would be visible fairly immediately.

Most people in similar situations, even though the parts appear “dry and visually clean,” find that the spots are from water.

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Q:I was wondering if you have a product that I can use in an ultrasonic cleaner to clean tungsten carbide that would not leach out cobalt? That also can be disposed of down a drain?

A: Tungsten carbide (WC) cleaning comes with some inherent issues, and the cleaning cycle that accompanies it will depend entirely on the feed stock (components to be cleaned) that the process comes from. This is where Alconox, Inc., as the critical cleaning experts, excel from our experience and vast pool of applications to draw upon.

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Q. Our parts, made of 99.5% alumina, have carbon deposits that show up after our brazing process. We do not use a flux for our ceramic parts; we high-temp fire a moly/manganese painted paste onto the ceramic. The part is then sent out for nickel plating to prevent corrosion of the moly manganese metallization areas. The next step is our brazing.

We are not seeing any spots on the parts before brazing, but as we continue through 5 brazing cycles and braze in a hydrogen/Nitrogen furnace with the cusil braze rings, we see black spots forming that show up as high-carbon deposits with the SEM data…

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Q: We are a large biotech and in an effort to go green with our cleaning, we are exploring cold cleaning (cleaning with cold water) using your detergents. A: Cold cleaning is a very reasonable approach for energy conservation, and in short, its effectiveness depends on the details of the application.

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