@oldaudiophile,
If you read this article Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-2nd Edition - The Vinyl Press - at the end you can download the 145-page book for free; Chapter XIV is exclusive to UCM. There is a lot of information describing the variables associated with UCM.
The position of the transducers does make a difference, firing directly at the record will get the best cleaning performance. Fundamentally during what is called the ultrasonic rarefaction phase, the pressure drops below the fluid vapor pressure and essentially the fluid boils creating a bubble and over a period of rarefaction/compression cycles the bubble that is formed grows until the surrounding hydraulic pressure violently collapses it. The cavitation bubble duration is very short - about 4 milliseconds - check this video starting at about time 6:20 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ul ... %3DHDRSC3;. The collapsing toroid jet in an UCM is some what direction.
The KL Audio at 200W and the Degritter at 300W with their limited bath volume are very powerful and can be very effective with just DI-Water. The low power units such as the Kirmuss need some chemistry such as a surfactant to help with cleaning, but add too much chemistry (or spin the records too fast) and the 'cavitation intensity' decreases. I know of people who use the Kirmuss with some chemistry as a preclean and then final clean/dry with the Degritter. The Kirmuss with its spinner makes it very convenient to use with the Degritter. The Kirmuss unit can also be easily modified to add a good pump/filter system.
Otherwise, people have been using UCM to clean records and similar type plastics for >50 yrs. The biggest issue is over-extended operation and subsequent over-heating. If you read the Degritter manual Degritter-manual-v2.2-ENG.pdf - it has a cool-down process which will kick in after two Heavy cleanings. The nice option for the Degritter is spare tanks that can be used for rinsing (if using chemistry) or to improve process time when using the Heavy cycle.
If you read this article Precision Aqueous Cleaning of Vinyl Records-2nd Edition - The Vinyl Press - at the end you can download the 145-page book for free; Chapter XIV is exclusive to UCM. There is a lot of information describing the variables associated with UCM.
The position of the transducers does make a difference, firing directly at the record will get the best cleaning performance. Fundamentally during what is called the ultrasonic rarefaction phase, the pressure drops below the fluid vapor pressure and essentially the fluid boils creating a bubble and over a period of rarefaction/compression cycles the bubble that is formed grows until the surrounding hydraulic pressure violently collapses it. The cavitation bubble duration is very short - about 4 milliseconds - check this video starting at about time 6:20 https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ul ... %3DHDRSC3;. The collapsing toroid jet in an UCM is some what direction.
The KL Audio at 200W and the Degritter at 300W with their limited bath volume are very powerful and can be very effective with just DI-Water. The low power units such as the Kirmuss need some chemistry such as a surfactant to help with cleaning, but add too much chemistry (or spin the records too fast) and the 'cavitation intensity' decreases. I know of people who use the Kirmuss with some chemistry as a preclean and then final clean/dry with the Degritter. The Kirmuss with its spinner makes it very convenient to use with the Degritter. The Kirmuss unit can also be easily modified to add a good pump/filter system.
Otherwise, people have been using UCM to clean records and similar type plastics for >50 yrs. The biggest issue is over-extended operation and subsequent over-heating. If you read the Degritter manual Degritter-manual-v2.2-ENG.pdf - it has a cool-down process which will kick in after two Heavy cleanings. The nice option for the Degritter is spare tanks that can be used for rinsing (if using chemistry) or to improve process time when using the Heavy cycle.