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.

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.noah1mo 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.

diana5121mo agoMost Upvoted

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.

diana5121mo agoMost Upvoted

Agreed @davis.noah, watched a pal fry a keyboard the same way after a bath.