Automatic Chemical Makeup – Will it Work for You?

Automatic chemical addition and makeup is an attractive on feature on today’s sophisticated cleaning machines.  Who wouldn’t appreciate eliminating the drudgery of taking samples, titrating, refractometer readings, or whatever and adding chemistry to a cleaning or rinsing bath manually?  The trouble is that automatic chemical makeup is just not possible or applicable in all cases. Although there are …

Filter Smart!

When particles are the enemy, my general rule is filter, filter, filter!  The cost of filtration is small compared to the overall benefit even if it is only “insurance.”  There is, of course, the initial cost of installation (filter housings, pumps, plumbing, etc.) but the cost after that is going to be pretty much fixed provided …

Particle Problems – Process or Machine?

What happens when parts exit the cleaning process dirty?  First of all, PANIC, especially in the case of critical cleaning for optics, semiconductor, disc drive and other industries where particles that can’t even be seen with a microscope render product worthless and unrecoverable!  Then there is the inevitable quest for, “Why this is happening?”  Although this scenario is …

Extending Chemistry Life with Microfiltration and Ultrafiltration

The cost of acquiring and disposing of cleaning chemistry is usually a major contributor to the overall cost of an industrial or precision cleaning process.  Removing contaminants from cleaning solutions can potentially extend their useful life and reduce overall cleaning costs.  Traditional filters including those of the bag and cartridge variety are commonly used to remove solid (particulate) contaminants …

The Effect of Chemistry on Ultrasonics

In the blog The Effect of Temperature on Ultrasonics, temperature was identified as a major variable in ultrasonic cleaning due to the impact it has on many physical properties of liquids.  This blog addresses the effect that chemistry has on the physical properties of liquids and the resulting effect on ultrasonics.  Most ultrasonic cleaning utilizes chemistry …