Ultrasonic keycap cleaning

[Wodan]

I love the dishwasher. What a magic device that turns ANYTHING into something squeaky clean. Unfortunately, keycaps get lost or discolored in there. And some times even melt just a little.

And wifes love keycaps in the dishwasher.

So I wanted to try another alternative ... Ultrasound cleaning!

Got this top quality China ultrasound cleaner off eBay for a little more than 50€ delivered. It's a 2l capacity device, should be enough for a couple of caps and the device is small enough to store it somewhere.

Then I also got this really messed up Cherry G80 with nice 1.25u bottom row but totally wrecked keycaps. Thought I'd put them into the Ultrasound cleaner as a first test. Here's the first result after 5min of treatment:

Before:


No further treatment, just threw them into this device:


Result after 5min of treatment:


Now tell me that doesn't look promising!

Put them in for another 10 minutes to see if I can make those pencil marks disappear altogether.

[Wodan]

After another 10 minutes in the machine, the keycaps look like that:


The pencil marks are almost gone. I mean pencil marks are a REAL pain to clean and I bet after 10 more minutes those caps would be squeaky clean Amazing results!

Next I took on some PBT Dye Sub keycaps where the dishwasher actually FAILED! They had some greasy black residue on them that just wouldn't go away:


Just 10 minutes in the Ultrasound cleaner and they look like this:


I think I'm in love.

[Khers]

Yeah, ultrasonic cleaners are the shit! I've not used them for keycaps myself, but I've cleaned switches and it works wonders. Did you buy it from an ebay-vendor? In that case, would you happen to have a link? Sorry, I'm too lazy for my own good

Up until now, I've been using the one at work, but one at home would be sweet

[Virtureal]

Wow those are some good results.
Is the white mark on "Bild" a picture artifact or was the cap damaged during cleaning?

[Wodan]

Wow those are some good results.
Is the white mark on "Bild" a picture artifact or was the cap damaged during cleaning?

Just double checked, that must be a reflection or something else I didn't wipe off properly. Keycap looks flawless

Yeah, ultrasonic cleaners are the shit! I've not used them for keycaps myself, but I've cleaned switches and it works wonders. Did you buy it from an ebay-vendor? In that case, would you happen to have a link? I've been using the one at work, but one at home would be sweet

Hell yeah ... never thought they were THAT good. Cleaning those PBT caps is nearly a miracle!

This is the one I got. Those prices are so cute:
http://r.ebay.com/aM7dlY
The 2l version I got is sold out right now though.

[IKSLM]

Is this the same thing? http://www.ebay.de/itm/2L-Ultrasonic-Ul ... SwWKtUwxbH

This one is similary priced: http://www.ebay.de/itm/2-0-L-Digital-Ul ... Swy-5XMcln

Wondering which one cleans better.

[Khers]

Is this the same thing? http://www.ebay.de/itm/2L-Ultrasonic-Ul ... SwWKtUwxbH

This one is similary priced: http://www.ebay.de/itm/2-0-L-Digital-Ul ... Swy-5XMcln

Wondering which one cleans better.

Both are 40kHz cleaners, the former is slightly higher power (60 vs 50W) so it'll probably be a little bit faster.

[Wodan]

The first one looks pretts similair but a little simpler and the second one looks pretty crappy. No temperature control and just a dial.

Hard to tell how similar the actually are with this Made in China stuff. Maybe they're all from the same factory and just three revisions of the same device or maybe they're made in three different places and are totally different.

You can get the stats from mine from the link I posted above.

[IKSLM]

What temperature did you set for the PBT caps?

[Wodan]

40°-50° is what I am currently experimenting with. The temperature automatically raises when I turn on the Ultrasound module and I think it's very helpful to have a "Current Temperature" display on the device.

[IKSLM]

Did you add any Reinigungsmittel?

[Wodan]

Yup!

This one:
http://r.ebay.com/LqyiBA

[Khers]

Ordered one!

[Wodan]

Ordered one!

Sweet which one exactly? A 1.3l or a 3l?

Really curious how large the 3l thing actually is. They seem to have three device sizes and each size is available in 2-3 different capacities. So the 3l device will be the smallest capacity of the medium device size!

[Khers]

I went for the 3L. That way I can perhaps claim that it's useful for cleaning cutlery in case my wife wonders if I've gone completely mental. Erm, yeah. Cutlery. Mental. What ever...

[Dra]

oh man this looks promising, can you fit an entire keyset in there? Dumb question, 2l should be more than enough, but how about 10u spacebars and stuff like that?

[Wodan]

The 2l thing I got should be big enough for 7u space bars at least. Khers seems to be more experienced with these devices, not sure if everything must be in the metal basket at all times. If you can just drop items in there, larger space bars should work as well.

Just in, I checked. 8u spare bar fits in the basket of the 2l device. 10u space bar DOESN'T fit at all into the device. Go for the 3l version if you need to clean 10u space bars a lot.

[kbdfr]

Is a special product required for cleaning?
Is it necessary to rinse the caps after treatment?

[Wodan]

Not sure if a special product is REQUIRED for cleaning but I got something right from the start. Probably helps cleaning oily residue. Will rinse them after cleaning!

[alh84001]

@Wodan I'm really enjoying these posts detailing some of the more exotic equipment and in what ways it could be used. Keep it up!

[XMIT]

I've been using one of these for ages: iSonic P4820 or similar. http://www.isonicinc.com/product-profes ... eries.html. 42kHz, 60W. I normally heat to 60C for PBT caps, drop two denture tabs in, and run for about 15 minutes. Highly recommended.

I try to use reverse osmosis or distilled water for a final rinse to prevent scale buildup on the key caps. I also use a salad spinner to dry the key caps before setting them on a towel for two hours. I'm going to experiment with putting them in an oven heated to 60C or so to get faster drying times.

I posted about this a while ago. Since then, I just use the denture tabs, and maybe drop in a little soap.
keyboards-f2/what-s-the-best-way-to-cle ... ml#p257180

Oh - you can re-use the cleaning solution a bunch of times! It might get cloudy or whatever but it still works great.

[matt3o]

Yup!

This one:
http://r.ebay.com/LqyiBA

what is that exactly?

I have a "hobbyist" ultrasonic cleaner but I find it pretty ineffective.

[chzel]

Most likely a surfactant and mild detergent to help the ultrasounds dislodge dirt. You can probably use a bit of dish soap or a low concentration of IPA. IPA has the risk of fume buildup which could possibly lead to spectacular results (think fireworks).

[matt3o]

mmh... wondering which could be a safe IPA concentration.

[Khers]

I regularly sonicate stuff in 100% IPA, no problem at all as long as you're in a fume hood

[Wodan]

I've been using one of these for ages: iSonic P4820 or similar. http://www.isonicinc.com/product-profes ... eries.html. 42kHz, 60W. I normally heat to 60C for PBT caps, drop two denture tabs in, and run for about 15 minutes. Highly recommended.

I try to use reverse osmosis or distilled water for a final rinse to prevent scale buildup on the key caps. I also use a salad spinner to dry the key caps before setting them on a towel for two hours. I'm going to experiment with putting them in an oven heated to 60C or so to get faster drying times.

I posted about this a while ago. Since then, I just use the denture tabs, and maybe drop in a little soap.
keyboards-f2/what-s-the-best-way-to-cle ... ml#p257180

Oh - you can re-use the cleaning solution a bunch of times! It might get cloudy or whatever but it still works great.

Nice, those are some awesome tips. Salad spinner ist the bomb. Already found an old one in the basement and tried it on some cleaned caps. Great results! For drying, I use some super cheap plastic mesh boxes. They allow great ventilation from all sides and stack well.

https://www.ebay.de/itm/252080525013

[Spaceman1200]

Well, this is interesting to say the least, wonder how well you could clean ALPS switches with one of these

[XMIT]

For drying, I use some super cheap plastic mesh boxes. They allow great ventilation from all sides and stack well.

That's really clever. That was the last missing piece preventing me from running like 10 sets of caps at a time. Thank you! I would point a fan at them to keep airflow going.

wonder how well you could clean ALPS switches with one of these

You can clean anything, though, I suggest taking the switch apart first, and maybe doing a test run on some spare switches to make sure nothing rusts.

PBT plastics can tolerate 100C for a while with no trouble. With ABS my overly cautious rule is no water warmer than 50C and no key caps larger than 3U. I've had blooming on ABS caps and warped/bent space bars in the past, not fun. I just hand wash the space bars while the cleaner is going.

Often times the space bars are super shiny so (as andrewjoy suggested a while ago) I give them a once-over with a Scotch Brite abrasive pad to abrade the shininess. Works well enough.

[XMIT]

You can probably use a bit of dish soap...

Yes, I do this as well. I recommend dishwasher soap since it will not foam.

[Wodan]

Got so excited about this, I actually threw in a rather rare OG Cherry set with 1.25u bottom row. Some of you might recall it from my latest recycling center raid:


I have seldom seen a board with dirtier keycaps than this. And I thought I was going to spend quite some time cleaning it. Instead, I just dropped the whole keycap set into the ultrasound cleaner:


The full set fit into the 2l model with no problems at all. I would call it a perfect fit. Filling the basin with so many key caps also didn't hurt the cleaning performance. Here's the cleaning result after I treated the caps for 10 minutes:


You might see some marks remaining on some keycaps but I might just put those in for another 10 minutes until they are fully clean. Anyone not convinced?