Finger Lakes Ultrasonic

Musicians use sound to calm, excite and sadden. The U.S. Navy uses sound to detect enemy vessels.
Finger Lakes Ultrasonic uses sound to clean away dirt and grime.
Partners Richard Weinberger, president, and James Carney, vice president, founded the company around an ultrasonic cleaning system for window blinds, light lenses and fire-damaged articles. The company dips these items in a machine filled with a mild water and detergent solution, and subjects them to high-frequency sound waves from 42 generators at the machine’s bottom.
Water vibrations from the sound waves clean off dirt, nicotine and other nasties. Another part of the machine holds a rinsing and sheeting agent for dipping.
The contraption itself looks like a long stainless steel bathtub with partitions, Weinberger says, and then takes back his statement.
“It’s a $16,000 machine,” he says. “I probably shouldn’t call it a bathtub.”
The expensive bathtub resides at company headquarters in Phelps, so Finger Lakes Ultrasonic picks up and drops off customers’ items, Weinberger says. For large jobs, the firm can transport the machine and use it on-site.
Finger Lakes Ultrasonic is investing in a custom-built, self-contained van, to make location work easier, as well as a second machine. More equipment will mean an addition to the company’s four employees, including the partners. A storefront is another possibility.
Finger Lakes Ultrasonic is a spin-off of Carney’s company Enertech Inc., which installs efficiency lighting in commercial properties, Weinberger says. Enertech used to dust off light lenses while changing fixtures, and using the ultrasonic cleaning procedure for the lenses seemed a logical step. Finger Lakes Ultrasonic is building its lens- and blind-cleaning business with contacts made through Enertech.
With the development of commercial business under way, the company is looking to target more of the residential market. Weinberger expects that with spring cleaning, the residential business will pick up dramatically.
Says Weinberger: “I guess people hate to do blinds.