Precision cleaning

Part cleaning.

Ultrasonic precision cleaning of machined parts to aerospace flight-hardware requirements. Verified by water break, white light, blacklight and IPA wipe inspection to IEST-STD-CC1246 cleanliness levels.

The process

Clean enough that the inspection is the hard part.

Machining oil, fingerprints and floor dust have no place on flight hardware. Our cleaning line runs a five-stage aqueous process — ultrasonic degrease, ultrasonic rinse and deionised water finishing — built to the requirements of satellite and space-hardware programmes.

Cleaning is the last operation before packaging. Every stage is controlled: degreaser concentration verified by conductivity, heated baths, high-purity DI water, stainless-only transfer equipment and glove changes at every contamination boundary.

Anodised and plated parts run the same line without ultrasonication, protecting the coating while achieving the same verified cleanliness.

THE LINE · FIVE STAGESGLOVE CHANGE AT EVERY BOUNDARY

01

Preliminary rinse

DI water spray removes loose particulate and water-soluble contamination before the baths.

02

Ultrasonic clean

Parts fully submerged and sonicated in a heated ultrasonic degreaser solution.

03

Ultrasonic rinse

A heated ultrasonic DI water rinse strips residual degreaser from every cavity.

04

Final rinse & water break

DI water rinse, then water break inspection — any beading or film fails the part.

05

Drying

Dried using filtered air

Quality control

Verified clean. Not assumed clean.

TestMethodAcceptanceFrequency
01Water breakDI water spray after final rinseHomogeneous wetting — no beading or run-off discontinuitiesBATCH SAMPLE
02White light inspectionStrong white light · all surfaces · glancing anglesNo films, residues or gross particulate; wipeable ≤50 μm particles count as minor failuresBATCH SAMPLE
03Blacklight inspectionUV <400 nm · ≥800 μW/cm² at 300–380 mmNo fluorescing oils, greases or organic filmsBATCH SAMPLE
04IPA wipe test99.9% IPA · lint-free wipes & swabsNo residue on wipe — swabs reach blind holes and threadsBATCH SAMPLE
05Batch samplingRandom pull per batch sizee.g. 3 of 10 · 8 of 50 · 20 of 100 — any major failure recleans the batchEVERY BATCH
06Bath maintenanceConductivity · pH · temperatureTwice-weekly checks, weekly changeout · DI purity verified weeklyDAILY / WEEKLY

PROCESS QUALIFIED BY NVR AND PARTICLE-COUNT MEASUREMENT TO IEST-STD-CC1246 — NVR LEVEL R1 · PARTICLE LEVEL 300

Applications

Where verified cleanliness is called out.

SATELLITE & SPACE HARDWAREFLIGHT CLEANLINESS LEVELS · FIG. 01
OPTICAL & SENSOR ASSEMBLIESPARTICULATE-CRITICAL
FUEL, OXYGEN & PROPULSION SYSTEMSHYDROCARBON-FREE
SEALED ENCLOSURES & RF CAVITIESNO TRAPPED CONTAMINATION
CLEAN-PACKAGED DELIVERABLESCLEANED · VERIFIED · BAGGED
FIG. 01 · SPACE HARDWARE · NASA JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL)
Good to know

Cleaning comes last.

All machining, marking and inspection happens before the clean — parts go straight from verification to packaging, handled only with clean gloves. Anodised and plated parts are cleaned without ultrasonication to protect the coating.

SPECIEST-STD-CC1246 · NVR R1 · PARTICLE LEVEL 300
MEDIAAQUEOUS DEGREASER · DI WATER · 99.9% IPA
BATH350 × 350 × 120 MM · ULTRASONIC
RECORDSBATH LOGS · INSPECTION RESULTS · COC