Do Ultasonic cleaners really fix anything?

[shanenin]

I can see the value in using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean boards, but how do they work to fix issues? If the cleaner is just removing stuff, which would probably even include a small amount of conductive metal, how does that repair anything? I have never heard Rossman say in a video that he uses them for anything other than cleaning(I have only watched a fraction of them). With all that said, based on what people say, they seem to fix things somehow.

How do you guys use them in your procedure of fixing boards?
What about the issue of cleaning all of the hints away?

Any help in understanding this process would be greatly appreciated

 

[shanenin]

Watched a few more videos and Rossman does talk about how well they work. I still wish I understood why. You would think cleaning and removing bits of metal would only make connections worse. Unless the corrosion is causing shorts and removing them is what fixes stuff. That seems more likely

 

[shanenin]

As said above, the way they must fix things would be by removing shorts that the corrosion may have caused.

 

[JohnB8812]

Not so much shorts as much as corrosion that causes signals to get pulled down or connections that are being eaten away at. Always good to flux and heat corrosion before ultrasonicing, but sometimes you can?t see corrosion so the UC helps a lot. I personally use it on 99% of my liquid damage repairs

 

[shanenin]

thanks John!