CREWORKS 1.8L Digital Ultrasonic Cleaning Machine

I'm not here to hate on this ultrasonic It's only $50 even though about a year ago when I purchased mine it was more like 65 or $70. I bought the small two or three liter version I forget exactly but that didn't really matter what matters is it's lifespan which was horrible. I have a lot of experience with using ultrasonics because I was a bench jeweler for 20 years and we used them all day every day. But not being able to afford a decent $800 unit this thing was very appealing especially at its price point and I did not need a very big one cuz I was only using it to clean jewelry not any major auto parts like a carburetor or anything like that. I mentioned earlier that I have a lot of experience using ultrasonics only because I want to make sure that folks understand that I know how to properly use one of these machines without giving it any chance to get damaged in any way. Basically it's not that hard just follow the instructions but make sure to follow the instructions Don't overfill your water past the fill line In fact if you don't need to fill your water that high don't just fill it enough that it will completely cover whatever it is you're cleaning If you're cleaning just some small jewelry parts I would still fill it up at least a third to halfway only because you don't want to risk burning up the heating mechanism. That brings me to the second part of the directions that you must follow never run this thing dry always make sure you have at least a third of a tank of water in there before you plug it in and turn the heating mechanism on. The real deal ultrasonics that cost anywhere between 800 to unfortunately a couple thousand dollars actually will heat your water up from room temperature to however hot you set the temperature to. These little cheap ultrasonics and I'm not just calling out Creworks on this issue but probably just about every budget ultrasonic that claims to be "self heating" or "heated" I would be very weary of what that claim actually means. If you want it to heat up to whatever temperature you said it to it's going to take some time some real time like possibly an hour or more depending on how much room temperature water you put in it to go from room temperature to your desired heat. You should always preheat your water not quite to boiling as a lot of people suggest but pretty darn hot then add it to your ultrasonic and turn your heater on after you plug it in It works much better at maintaining already heated water then actually heating up the water itself which is kind of a letdown because it's a whole other step that takes time if you do it on your stove top specifically. I suppose you could heat your water in the microwave much faster but still what's the point when it's supposed to heat itself up? Still that is not a big deal who cares right So you got to heat up your own water as long as it maintains the heat I'm cool with that for 50 bucks. This is my real true complaint about this specific ultrasonic itself. I followed the directions to a t each time I've used it which was only 3 times it worked great all three times. The fourth time I went to use it I heated up my water, added the water to the unit, plugged in the unit, turned the heater on and set it to my desired temperature, then was ready to start cleaning but after setting the timer on the ultrasonic I pushed the on button that actually starts the ultrasonic and unfortunately nothing whatsoever turned on. That was it after only 3 uses of this ultrasonic unit it was dead and gone for good. I noticed that it does come with a spare fuse so I we t ahead and switches it out even though you could clearly see that the original fuse was fine and wasnt even close to looking blown or burnt. Without having to tell you the outcome obviously that didn't fix the problem. The problem was the train due switch had already gone to crap and I treated that thing like it was a very fragile crystal bowl. I took wonderful care of it and it crapped out on me after only getting to use it 3 times. So on that 4th attempt to use it when I discovered it was broken I had used it so speringly up to that point it was wayyyy past Amazon's 30 day money back guarantee and what really sucked is that it was just about 1 month past Creworks 1 year manufacturer's warranty. But I was going to try and contact Creworks anyway and see if they would be willing to do me some kind of solid, I wasn't expecting them to replace it I was kind of hoping I could send it into them and they would repair it for me That was also a no but after a few emails back and forth between me and one of the customer service agents I got my final email from them and it was titled Great news we have the replacement parts you need so I was excited and I clicked on it and began to read what needed to be done and how I needed to go about getting these replacement parts. After about the second or third sentence I realized that the great news was actually pretty crappy news yeah sure they had the replacement parts I needed to fix it on my own but the great news to them was and I quote we have the parts you need to replace in stock for only $34.99 and we will send them to you. They seriously expected me to pay $35 to replace the crappy transducers that broke after three uses when I can literally buy another brand new unit for 15 more dollars which I was not even considering doing. I took a chance on CreeWorks because it had a lot of decent reviews maybe I got a dud I'm not sure but I will never buy one of their products again specifically because they were not willing to cut me any kind of deal to replace parts that should not have broken after three uses. That's like losing $10 and paying somebody $7.50 to get the $10 back but you're actually paying $17.50 for that $10 if that makes any sense to y'all. It appears in the world of inexpensive cheap but industrial "looking"ultrasonics on Amazon the two major players are Creworks and Vevor. I don't have any experience with Vevor but they come with pretty decent reviews just about equal to what kree works has on most of their models. I doubt I'll ever buy a Vevor though I've come very close several times because I really need an ultrasonic and not one of those little plastic things that you put your dentures or your glasses in I mean a real ultrasonic that is made out of 304 Steel that does make an obnoxiously loud rattling sound because those are the only ones that actually work. And having a heater or no heater isn't even an option for me You have to have a heated unit if you really want to get your stuff clean it's a no-brainer. It's also a major no-brainer to avoid this Creworks ultrasonic and their greedy customer service. I apologize This is probably the most negative for you I've ever given on anything but I can't get past them wanting to charge me $35 to fix a $50 unit and fix it myself I've never taken one of these apart I mean I'm sure it comes with instructions but they weren't even willing to let me send it in and then fix it for me for $35 They wanted to send me the parts and I attempt to do some I assume soldering and whatever the hell else It takes to replace a transducer. No thank you I will be buying an ultrasonic sooner or later but I think I'm going to have to cough up at least four or $500 just to be safe. The good thing about spending that kind of money on one is you know what you're getting and you know that it's going to last if you take care of it.