Leading industrial finishing equipment manufacturer Guyson International has recently sold two of their ‘Kerry’ branded ultrasonic cleaning machines to the manufacturing arm of world renowned ‘Hardy’s of Alnwick’, famed for their premier quality fishing equipment.

Now installed and working daily on precision cleaning, both Kerry ultrasonic cleaning machines offer the exceptional levels of cleanliness required when dealing with high specification ‘thin walled composite tubing’, made from carbon and glass fibre, which is used in the highest quality fishing rod blanks as well as in a range of aerospace, defence, motorsport, marine and industrial components worldwide.

Hardy Advanced Composites Ltd (HACL) have installed both a KS450 ultrasonic tank and a Kerry CRD450 – ultrasonic clean, rinse and dry machine - for undertaking precision degreasing after grinding on a range of small carbon fibre tubular pieces that are used in high speed motors.

Ultrasonic cleaning takes place both on the surface and in the crevices and holes of the component, releasing the tiny dirt particulates from the products’ surfaces. The ultrasonic cleaning action is created via a process known as “cavitation” - where millions of miniscule cleaning bubbles are generated by alternating pressure waves created in the wash tank solution. These waves create cavitational bubbles which grow and then implode when at an optimum size, producing an extremely high energy scrubbing action to impart the cleaning.

The Kerry KS450 ultrasonic cleaning tank and the other five standard sizes in the KS tank range are all are robustly constructed using AISI 316L polished stainless steel for durability. The KS450 takes an internal basket, for holding components, of 390mm x 290mm and has a maximum capacity of 43 litres of aqueous cleaning solution. Ultrasonic transducers bonded to the tank base deliver high performance and reliability, together with uniform distribution of the ultrasonic energy.

All Kerry KS ultrasonic tanks allow the user to pre-set exact times and temperatures, ensuring consistent levels of cleanliness from batch to batch and providing an affordable way to deliver high quality precision cleaning. Automatic safety devices include non-operation of sonics if the solution temperature is more than 10ºC above set temperature and low-level protection to prevent heater burn-out if the solution level drops.

The other machine installed at Hardy Advanced Composites is a Kerry CRD 450. A three-stage system, designed for manual operation, providing ultrasonic cleaning with heating, an immersion rinse weiring to drain, a hand held spray nozzle for second rinse (DI optional), and hot air dry. The hot air dryer circulates air via a coarse filter and 4.5 kW heating element. Closing the hinged lid initiates fan and heater operation up to the maximum adjustable temperature of 100°C. Effective internal tank dimensions (mm) for the CRD450 are; 450 length x 325 width x 250 depth with 36 litres of wash solution. The entire three chamber system comes encased in a rigid powder coated frame with integrated electrical controls and safety systems. A digital control panel provides precise control and display of solution temperature and sonics time, with the ultrasonics operating at 38 kHz (±10%).

There is an option of dual frequency generator control, via a Guysonic generator and Primewave controller, switchable between 36 kHz and 66 kHz for special applications. The higher frequency allows sensitive or difficult parts - such as very fine precision components, intricately shaped parts or fine electronic wiring - to be cleaned both safely and effectively. The Primewave controller can also provide variable power control, and will store a variety of cleaning programs in memory for automatic operation when required.

CRD450 options include pumped filtration to the cleaning tank, heating to the immersion rinse, and deionised water spray rinse.

Potential customers are encouraged to submit samples for free component trials, with no obligation to buy, so if you think you could benefit from using Kerry ultrasonic precision cleaning and would like to prove your cleaning process requirements please contact Guyson International on +44 (0)1756 799911 or via email.