Kendal Commercial Grade 780 watts 5.55 Gallon Heated ultrasonic Cleaner HB821

This review contains two parts: the product and the customer service of Shining Image.Part One: The ProductI purchased this HB27 ultrasonic cleaner as one step in the painting preparation of cast bronze portlights. The castings are 40+ years old and heavily platinised. This very dark outside finish produces over 190*F readings on the inside of the boat during broadside sun exposure. Depending on which side of the boat is facing the sun, there are either 6 or 7 seven by fourteen inch heat radiators warming the inside during hot summers. The plan is to apply an epoxy primer topped with a white LPU paint to reduce the heating inside the boat. Testing of the HB27 has revealed some interesting findings.First, the solution in the tank must match the "stuff" you're going to remove. There is plenty of information on the net about this. But do know that the solution very much needs to match the "dirt". This is most likely true for any ultrasonic cleaner.Next, this cleaner operates on a specific frequency, claimed to be 42KHz. Other, much more expensive, units offer a frequency sweep, that is a variable frequency during operation that is claimed to clean better. In addition to sweeping there are machines that operate at different specific frequencies. Claims are made that specific frequencies are better suited for specific cleaning tasks or objects. The ultrasonic portion is made of 10 transducers on the underside of the bottom, stated to be 600 watts total.The controls are simple: one set for temperature and one set for run time. Electrical plug in the back. If you want the machine fully off, you must unplug. Temperature and time can be adjusted up and down. Heating is claimed to be 300 watts. The temp indicator will show the current temp when running. A touch of a button will show the temperature set you started with. There is a feature that shuts off the machine if the solution gets too hot. This will occur if the run time is too long because the transducers are vibrating the solution and that makes the solution heat up. I have not done careful observation to plot the curve of time and heat rise. But it does exist. Once tripped you wait for the solution to cool down or dump and start with cool solution. A heat exchanging loop of metal tubing and small pump can be arranged and will get rid of this building heat. Again, this is only a problem during long periods of use.The idea of a metal heat exchanging tubing brings up the topic of what is good to clean and what is not. My experience is that soft items will absorb much of the energy and greatly reduce the cavitation effect. I tried an engine mount which is metal and rubber bonded together. This showed very little cleaning. A drinking glass with hard water deposits came clean with a short run. An intricate ring which was full of 3M 5200 came clean in a glass with an inch of orange type cleaner which was placed in the tank. The tank solution, mostly water, shook the glass which shook the ring and 5200. Amazing. Other items show they were cleaning by the loading of the solution with the "dirt". The bronze castings are still in search of the correct solution. There are pits in the castings and I'd like to get all tarnish off. Even inside the pits.A simple test was performed with a piece of kitchen aluminium foil: held suspended for 2 minutes run and removed. What showed was three distinct horizontal bands of cavitation activity. Does this indicate that cleaning only occurs in bands rather than all of the piece? Would a solid piece show a different pattern of cavitation? Would frequency sweeping alleviate this? I'll be watching.When the unit is operating there is a buzzing noise. Put on the lid and the lid ads its rattle to the racket. Maybe laying a bead of something along the under lip of the lid would take care of this.The unit has a quarter turn ball valve for easing draining. I added a 1/2" street ell and garden hose adapter. Nice.The unit is easily moved around when empty. Its stainless steel exterior is good. The control panel flexes in when setting temp or run time. There is no main on/off switch.What's my take on the HB27? The issue of "banding" of cavitation and the lack of frequency sweeping are its shortcomings. The unit does remove surface contaminates on some items, given a matching cleaning solution. The tank size is perfect for my project. The price is at the low end of machines this size. I give the machine 3 stars.Part Two: Customer ServiceWhen I found the defects in the unit I immediately sent email, through Amazon, to Shinning Image. Over the course of resolving the issue of a defective unit, they were always _very_ prompt with their responses. It appeared that English was a second language and I found it difficult to communicate because of this. However, they always stood up to the line and delivered. Shinning Image offers 12 months warranty on parts and labor, no shipping. So I can give customer service 4-1/2 stars.

First, you need to set your expectations correctly. This is 780 watts of total power, of which 300 is used for the heating element. That leaves 480 watts for cleaning power.Second, you need to purchase high quality cleaning products. They are not cheap. I wanted to do a few things. Clean oxidation off metal, (one cleaner) degrease, (another cleaner), clean carbs (another very expensive cleaner), clean jewelry (another cleaner with dispersion plates). All said in done, about $300 in cleaning solutions.The good news is, the solution is reusable. I diluted it in 5 gallon plastic water cooler jugs and pour out what I need, then use the valve and a garden hose adapter to drain it back into the containers. You could probably get away with using 2 1/2 gallons of fluid as you can't pour 5 gallons into the machine.About the 5.55 gallon capacity. Yes, it probably could hold 5 gallons, but it would be at the overflow point. You need to fill it about half way, and then when you put things in, it raises the water level due to volume displacement. Think of it like a bath tub. You can't fill it to the top and jump in. It would overflow.It takes a long time to heat up especially if the ultrasonics are not on. Then, it can overheat with long cycles as the ultrasonic action produces heat. it is not a problem, it just takes time to get used to. Think of it this way. At 300 watts, it takes a long time to heat 2.5+ gallons of water. You are basically heating it with three 100 watt light bulbs.Now to actual cleaning power. It works awesome. The mistake I made was leaving stuff in too long. Two things happen when you leave stuff in too long. It can actually tarnish metal. It can be reversed, but it takes some science. The people I bought the cleaning mix from are helpful and can actually give you advise based on pictures, temperature, solution and time in the tub. They actually have a chemist look at it and figure out the issue.Along the topic of cleaning. If you have plated of coated metal, like chromed parts, you need the dispersion plates. If not, away blasts the chrome or plating. So, no cheap jewelry in this thing.Once I got the science right, I can impress my friends with the cleaning power. You won't regret this purchase. The final test will be how long it lasts. I don't have any worries, but you never know. 5 stars to far.

Used in conjunction with ultrasound jell to steep vape juice. It works very well, but, with the jell, does require a cooling fan so the ultrasound transducers are not overloaded. No cooling required if water is used in the tank. I can't emphasize enough that if you are using an ultrasonic jell that you need to have a fan on the unit's vents if you are going to have it on for more that 10 minutes. The result will be overheating of the transducers and potentially permanent damage to them.Other than the heat issue, this is a really great product and performs very well.I highly recommend this unit over the less expensive units which are made for jewelry cleaning if your duty for the unit is intended for more than cleaning jewelry. This unit can be used very effectively for cleaning firearms parts (with water and a bit of Simple Green) and steeping vape juice (with an ultrasonic jell) as well.

Quit working after about 2 months. Main power switch is fried and the unit will no longer turn on. Parts are not available from the manufacturer overseas, so we're trying to piece it together with parts from the local electrical shop. Disappointed that it didn't last longer than 2 months.