Electronics Archives - Morantz Ultrasonics

How to clean Electronics with Morantz Ultrasonics

Electronics Cleaning is an industry in its infancy, but Morantz has been cleaning electronics with ultrasonics for over 30 years. Our customers are way ahead of the curve when it comes to this niche market, and have been cashing in. If you are still surprised that you can clean electronics and electrical appliances with ultrasonics (yes, in water!), and want to learn more about how to clean Electronics with Morantz Ultrasonics, read on.

On site electronics cleaning with Morantz equipment

The Market: Today, nearly every aspect of cleaning brings us in contact with electronics. Homes, offices and facilities contain some combination of desktop computers, laptops, tablets, game consoles, music players and equipment, electronic musical instruments, printers, telephones, toys and more. These items cannot be ignored, especially when it comes to serious and deep cleaning for smoke, soot, water, mold and disinfection. Many cleaning services will shy away from electronics and give the job (and all the profit) to subcontractors. The reality is that if you have an ultrasonic machine, a proper drying room/drying cabinet, and instruction from Morantz, you can clean electronics.

Cleaning a flat screen television with the Morantz Ultrasonics SM-200 machine

Our customers using their machines to clean electronics are doing very well. This niche market goes well beyond restoration work and has opened the way to cleaning set top cable boxes, maintaining expensive industrial coffee and food dispensing machines, cleaning headsets for phones, cleaning power tools, cleaning electrical musical instruments, disinfection of medical equipment in hospitals, and so much more.

The Process*: Remove the electronic item’s cover and any batteries, if applicable. For computers, remove the hard drive. Pre-wash if needed. Ultrasonic clean for 1-2 minutes. Rinse with deionized water. Dry immediately and thoroughly with the Morantz Blow Dry Gun. Spray with Morantz Miracle Chemical to displace any extra moisture. Place in the Morantz Drying Cabinet (or equivalent drying room with proper temperature, relative humidity and air flow) for a minimum of four hours.

For Disinfection: If you have Morantz equipment, you already know our equipment has been tested and proven for disinfection if used properly. Ultrasonic clean for a minimum of 3 minutes in your Morantz machine (results not proven for other manufacturers). Check your cleaning work with an ATP meter. This will let you know if there is still anything “live” on the electronic item that could be viral, bacterial or otherwise problematic. Then follow all other steps above.

For On Site Cleaning: Customers with sensitive information may not allow for their computers and other electronic equipment to leave their site. All Morantz ultrasonic machines are built on wheels and can be taken to the job site. However, the most portable and least costly machine is the Z-56. For drying, we recommend building a temporary drying room using a dehumidifier, space heater (if necessary) and an air mover. Be sure the drying room still meets proper parameters for temperature and relative humidity. To see photos from one of our on site computer cleaning jobs on our Facebook page, click here. For this job we used plastic sheeting to build a temporary drying space in one corner and it worked very well.

Equipment: Every Morantz model of machine can be used for electronics cleaning, but our most popular models are the SM-200 and M-115. These machines have electric lifts that make cleaning electronics easier for the operator. There’s no heavy lifting or awkward handling of items involved. For drying, our Drye-Rite drying cabinet with ozone is ideal.

Cleaning desktop computer with the Morantz Ultrasonics M-115 line

Cleaning chandelier with Morantz Ultrasonics

The Morantz Drye Rite drying & ozone cabinet: Drying air movers

Cleaned electric guitar with the SM-200. Drying with Morantz Blow Dry Gun

*There are additional steps for specific types of electronics. This article does not take the place of training. Training is free of charge to all Morantz customers. If you want to learn more, be sure to click through all the links and contact your Morantz representative at 215-969-0266.

More photos:

Musical Instrument Cleaning with Morantz Ultrasonics

Musical instrument cleaning is an in-demand business. Whether you are an instrument repair technician, an instrument retailer, or a cleaning company, this is a great add-on service.
Many of our ultrasonic machine owners find that although they did not intend to clean musical instruments, they encounter them during the course of their business.

Cleaning a French Horn in the Morantz Z-56 Ultrasonic Machine

If you are offering soot and smoke damage contents cleaning , it is inevitable that you will need to clean musical instruments in homes and commercial facilities. If you deal with antiques and/or electronics, at some time you will be asked to clean these types of instruments. Most recently, our customers who focus on medical disinfection are being called on to clean instruments for schools that are demanding instrument infection control. For all of these reasons, it is worthwhile exploring this market and learning the proper cleaning techniques.

Tuba cleaning in the Morantz Z-56 Ultrasonic Machine

Here are some general tips for ultrasonic cleaning of musical instruments*:

Brass and other metals:
Most instruments that are brass will need to be inspected to determine if lacquer is already starting to peel off. The older the instrument is, the more likely you will see this. If it is peeling, temperature and intensity need to be kept low to avoid further damage. For other metal instruments, the temperature of cleaning should usually remain at room temperature.Before cleaning, instruments should be disassembled as much as possible. Remove all slides and buttons. If you find these parts are stuck, go ahead and clean the whole instrument in the machine for a minute, pull it out, and see if you can then loosen these parts enough to disassemble them. Then place all parts back in the machine for another 2-3 minutes. Note that you do not have to remove the felt or leather pads prior to cleaning, but if these need replacing, it’s best to go ahead and remove them at this time.Clean in stages: Pre-wash, Ultrasonic Wash, Rinse and Dry
For best results, pre-wash your instruments in a high alkaline cleaning solution such as Morantz Synergizer. This will remove oil, dirt and other build up. For the Ultrasonic Wash, you should use an acidic, descaling solution to work on the build up (from saliva) frequently seen on brass instruments. One of our favorite products is Tesch Classic Brass Cleaner. Click through for information and ordering information and view a video here on Tesch products.

Clean scale off instruments with the proper cleaning solution

Rinse the instrument with deionized water.
Dry with the Morantz Blow Dry Gun or other appropriate drying tool.

The Morantz Blow Dry Gun used to quickly dry a trombone

To watch a video of ultrasonic cleaning the above pictured trombone, click here.

To watch a video of a cleaned trumpet being dried with the Morantz Blow Dry Gun, click here.

Woodwind and String Instruments: Yes, you can clean these too if you keep the temperature and intensity low and dwell time to seconds. Only an alkaline solution should be used on these instruments (no descaler!). They also need to be dried quickly and completely as soon as they are cleaned. We recommend you use the Morantz Blow Dry Gun.

Clarinet cleaned with Ultrasonics

Electric and Electronic Instruments: Yes, you can clean these instruments too, but be sure to use only alkaline solution (no descaler!). As with all types of electronics cleaning, these instruments must be rinsed with deionized water, dried immediately and thoroughly with the Morantz Blow Dry Gun, sprayed with Morantz Miracle Chemical to displace any extra moisture, and placed in the Morantz Drying Cabinet (or equivalent drying room) for a minimum of four hours.

Electric Guitar cleaned with Ultrasonics

For Disinfection: Schools usually clean all of their instruments over the Summer, so it’s a great time to start discussing your service with them. If you have Morantz equipment, you may already know how our equipment has been tested and proven for disinfection. In the field, you can check your cleaning work with an ATP meter. This will let you know if there still anything “live” on the instrument that could be viral, bacterial or otherwise problematic.

ATP Meter displaying test results

Take before and after photos. When you are given an instrument to clean, take a good, high definition photo prior to cleaning. Take another when the job is complete. Not only will your customer appreciate seeing what a great job you did for them, but you can use these for marketing your service. Post on social media, your website, as well as taking them with you on prospective jobs. Remember that a picture is worth 1000 words.


Before Ultrasonic Cleaning


	After Ultrasonic Cleaning

Morantz manufactures a wide variety of models of machines that can be used for instrument cleaning, but our most popular models are the Z-56 “Bubba” and the Z-97 “Brother” models. Mouthpieces on brass instruments can also be cleaned in our line of SZ table top size cleaners. Click here to download our catalog and learn more.

*This article does not take the place of training. Training is free of charge to all Morantz customers. If you want to learn more, be sure to contact your Morantz representative at 215-969-0266..

SUCCESS STORY: Kleena of Australia increases business by 200% with Morantz Ultrasonics

Meet Mick Bantoft, owner and operator of Kleena in Queensland, Australia (kleenabc.com.au). Over the past 8 years, Mick has used Morantz Ultrasonics to create an entirely new niche market for his company cleaning curtains, microfiber cloths, trolley covers, privacy curtains, blinds, soot damaged contents and other hard to clean items for hospitals and hotels.

Shaking Up Business

In 2006, Mick Bantoft knew he had to shake up his curtain cleaning business or risk losing it. He flew half way around the world to attend a cleaning tradeshow in search of the “next big thing,” something that would help grow his business. During his browsing, he saw the Morantz Ultrasonics cleaning systems. Immediately, Mick knew he had found what he was looking for. “I was completely amazed with what I was seeing. Fabrics, like the ones I clean were being put into the machine and came out cleaner than I could ever get them, and all within seconds,” Mick said. Mick decided then and there to learn as much as he could about ultrasonics. A short time later, he was on a plane to Philadelphia to see all that Morantz had to offer. After a few days at Morantz H.Q., Mick ordered his first set of machines, a Morantz 3-in-1 System, and got to work.

Kleena staff unpacks curtains to prepare them for cleaning.

“The learning curve was short and once my staff and I really began to understand the full capabilities of these machines, the excitement and work continued to grow.” said Mick. “I focused primarily on blinds and curtains in my first year because it was my client base. I was able to process existing jobs in a much shorter amount of time which generated higher profit margins and left me time to explore and promote other types of cleaning.”

Kleena’s drying area. Rolling racks can be wheeled into their Drye Rite XL (see below).

Branching Out

Mick and his staff soon returned to Morantz H.Q. and attended a Morantz’s Firesonics® Seminar where they learned more about how to use ultrasonics to clean soot and smoke damaged items including electronics. “Very few people offer content cleaning in Australia. I knew this was a great opportunity to get my foot in the door. As soon as I started promoting it, the work came so quickly I ordered a SM-200 Super Mighty One from Morantz to dedicate to the contents side. I also purchased a golf club cleaning machine to promote content cleaning and other services at tournaments and meetings.” Mick added, “When I realized how useful the pneumatic lift on the SM-200 was for lifting heavy items, I started using it for curtain cleaning and it made a huge difference! My female employees were struggling with lifting wet, heavy curtains out of the tank, but the lift made this process of lifting and draining very easy.”

Kleena’s custom SM-200 with Blind Inspection Rack and Flip Out Work Table for Curtains.

A Better Drying Process

As both his curtain cleaning and content cleaning businesses continued to grow, Mick knew he needed a better drying process. “While some curtains can air dry, other types need to be dried quickly or else browning starts to appear. Electronics also must be dried quickly and at higher temperatures. I had seen the Morantz Drye Rite cabinet, loved it, but needed something much bigger to accommodate all I had to dry on a daily basis. I had Lisa (Morantz) build me what is now the Drye Rite XL. It’s a full, room size dryer complete with Infrared Heat and Ozone for deodorization. We have both our contents and our curtains on rolling racks and roll them in and out. It’s incredible and has increased my productivity tremendously!”

Click here to see a video of Mick’s Drye Rite XL.

Hospitals Took Notice

In 2010, Mick started seeing a significant increase in work from local hospitals. When he presented the data from Morantz’s independent testing (testing confirmed that ultrasonics not only sanitizes, but disinfects), hospitals really took notice. Mick tells us, “MRSA and C-Diff are big issues for hospitals. Morantz’s testing set a new standard that no other method of cleaning could touch. Now I had the capability of offering services well beyond privacy curtain cleaning. With my equipment, I clean wheelchairs, slings, trolleys, trolley covers, bed-side tables, microfibers, patient restraints… Some of the items they give me, I don’t even know what they’re for! The work orders keep growing and I keep bringing on new hospitals.”

Mick demonstrates the cleaning capabilities of Morantz Ultrasonics at a hospital with the portable Z-56 “Bubba”

Expanding… Again!

Business was growing so fast that Mick needed to expand yet again. After moving to a larger and newer building, he spoke to Lisa Morantz about adapting one of Morantz’s newer models, the SM-200-XL which had primarily been used for industrial parts cleaning, to suit his needs. “We put our heads together and came up with unique features which makes the new SM-200-XL a hybrid machine with all the best features Morantz has to offer,” said Mick. “I now use this model for everything I do and couldn’t be more pleased. It’s been terrific for all the new curtain cleaning and lamp shade work I am getting from hotels.”

Kleena’s SM-200-XL machine cleaning slings and blinds.

Growing by 200%

By 2014, since meeting Morantz, Mick has increased his business by 200%. His processes with the Morantz machines can now be duplicated around the country, and that’s just what he intends to do. Mick has just completed a new deal to bring Morantz Ultrasonic equipment, and his know-how, to a major Australian cleaning franchise.

Congratulations to Mick and the entire team at Kleena. Best wishes for your continued success.

Mick Bantoft gives his Morantz equipment a “thumbs up.”

Cleaning Keyboards with Ultrasonics

Yesterday I was looking at my computer keyboard and realized that it was time to clean it. Like everyone else, I too sometimes eat at my desk, drop crumbs in the keyboard and have general dirt build up over time. Unlike everyone else, I have unlimited access to ultrasonic machines to clean my keyboard.

Before starting, I decided to take some photos so everyone could see this quick and easy process. I also took some readings both before and after the cleaning so that everyone could appreciate the cleanliness difference that ultrasonic cleaning really makes.

First, the Swab Test

We took a pre-swab for an ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) test that measures bioluminesence or signs of bacterial life. This count gives a starting point and is a great way to verify that our cleaning is working. As you can see, the count on my keyboard was 181 (dirty!).

Most people don’t appreciate that their keyboards can be a breeding ground for germs. In fact, there has recently been much discovered and reported about in the news on how keyboards at nursing stations have been one of the main causes of the spread of MRSA in the hospitals both domestic and abroad.

Next, the Cleaning

Next, we submerged the keyboard for one minute in our M-115(Mighty One) ultrasonic cleaning system which is regularly used for cleaning electronics of all types.

Results

After removing the keyboard and drying it with both our Heated Blow Dry Gun and in our Drye Rite electronics drying station, we performed another ATP swab test. This time the result was only 29 which is great (for comparison, in the food industry, anything under 30 is considered to be excellent).

The result is that I am now typing this blog from a keyboard that looks better, functions better and is verified as clean. If you are currently working in or considering ultrasonic cleaning for offices, hospitals, schools and other public areas, I would recommend you consider ATP testing along with your ultrasonic process to show your clients the difference that ultrasonic cleaning makes.