Metal Finishing & Surface Prep Ultrasonic Cleaning Systems Australia

The Contamination Problem

What we remove in metal finishing & surface prep

Buffing & polishing compounds

Waxy abrasive residues packed into detail — the classic pre-plate failure.

Machining & stamping oils

Films that survive dip tanks and reappear under coatings.

Oxides & smut

On aluminium and steel ahead of anodising and plating.

Weld & heat scale

At joints where coating failure starts.

Handling soils

Fingerprints that become anodising stains.

The endpoint is a defined, repeatable process condition — cycle time, chemistry, concentration, frequency and temperature are recorded parameters, not operator judgement.

Trial Evidence

Paint and coating removal, before and after

Coated and painted components photographed as received and after a documented cycle. Drag the handle across to compare.

Bearing housing hub. Housing bores are a fit, not a finish. Clean without touching the dimension.

Same trials, photographed separately

Painted flange plate — before and after ultrasonic cleaning — as received — As received

Painted flange plate — before and after ultrasonic cleaning — after the cycle — After cycle

Painted flange plate. Coating off the whole plate, including the bore and the bolt holes, without blasting the substrate.

Surface Preparation for Painting

The finish is decided before the gun fires

Paint and powder do not fail in the film — they fail at the surface underneath it. Drawing compounds, machining oils, weld smoke, polishing pastes and handling residues are invisible at spray time and unmissable six months later: fisheyes, pinholes, poor flow-out and coatings that peel from the substrate. Solvent wiping moves contamination around; immersion ultrasonics removes it — from every face, hole and fold — to a condition you can test and record.

Pre-paint & pre-powder

Degrease, rinse and dry as a defined process step before phosphate, conversion coating or direct powder application.

The water-break standard

A cleaned surface holds an unbroken water film — a simple, honest pass/fail test for paint-ready cleanliness on the shop floor.

Repeatable, recorded prep

Chemistry, concentration, temperature and cycle time are recorded parameters — every batch prepped the same way, shift after shift.

Read the guide: surface preparation for painting & coating — the AS 1627 map and the water-break test →

Components We Clean

Real parts, real materials

Pre-plate

Components ahead of electroplating — compound and oil out of detail so the deposit bonds everywhere.

ZincNickelChrome lines

Pre-anodise

Aluminium ahead of anodising — uniform, stain-free surfaces into the tank line.

ExtrusionsMachined partsSheet

Pre-coat & pre-bond

Ahead of paint, powder and adhesive — where water-break-free is the entry ticket.

PowderWet paintBonding

Why Ultrasonics — And Why These Machines

Cavitation cleans geometry it cannot see

Bubble collapse at the liquid–metal boundary lifts contamination from passages, galleries and cavities without anything touching the surface. Nothing abrades, nothing embeds, no metal is removed.

GeneratorResonance held all shift

The VarioSonic G5 tracks the transducer array as temperature and load shift — conversion efficiency up to 95%.

Sound fieldSweep modulation

Eliminates standing-wave hot and cold zones across a loaded basket.

Process controlLogged, recipe-driven cycles

Stored recipes and logged cycles — audit evidence produced as a by-product of running.

Bath conditionFiltration & oil separation

Multi-stage filtration and weir oil capture hold results steady as the bath loads.

SupportOver-the-air diagnostics

Most faults identified — many resolved — without a site visit.

ConstructionBuilt to work hard

Heavy 316 stainless tanks, tested before despatch, every wearing part replaceable.

Equipment Fit

The machine follows the process

From manually loaded single-tank units to automated lines — and engineered systems where the catalogue ends.

MSX

Line-side cleaning for finishing shops.

Explore the range →

SonoLine

Automated lines feeding the finishing process.

Explore the range →

Chemistry

Matched to the soil and the substrate

Pre-finish chemistry is matched to both soil and the finishing process downstream — free-rinsing formulations that leave nothing behind to interfere with deposition or adhesion.

Applications Matrix

Component coverage at a glance

Component category	Specific parts / assemblies	Compatible materials
Pre-plate	Brass, zinc die-cast, steel parts	Substrate-specific chemistry
Pre-anodise	Aluminium components	Inhibited alkaline
Pre-paint	Fabrications, castings	Alkaline + rinse stages
Pre-bond	Assemblies, panels	Low-residue formulations
Rework	Stripped components	Per finishing system

Prove it on your parts

Where an application needs validation, we clean sample components in our laboratory, document the result, and specify the machine around the verified process. If ultrasonics is the wrong answer, the trial shows that too, and we will tell you.

Talk to an engineer

FAQ

What metal finishing engineers ask us

Will parts pass a water-break test?

That is the design endpoint — and the trial proves it on your parts before the line depends on it.

Can it remove buffing compound from detail?

Yes — cavitation lifts compound out of corners that dip degreasing never touches.

Does it fit ahead of an existing tank line?

Ultrasonic stages integrate ahead of your line, matched to its throughput and rinse quality.

What rinse quality do we need?

Depends on the finish — we specify rinse conductivity with the process, from mains to DI.

Ultrasonic Cleaning for Metal Finishing & Surface Prep