Food for thought on sonic cleaners, read Lyman.

[jdgabbard]

Ok, here is some food for thought.

1) How often should one change their solution in a sonic cleaner? The manual, nor the product gives the slightest insight to this. I'm assuming once the solution turns a deep greenish/bluish color.

2) How to dispose of said solution? Solution obviously contains a certain amount of lead. Should we really just pour it down the drain? Can't just pour that in the back yard either. What say you?

[williamwaco]

I have never used one but I expect you could use the same rule as for tumbling media.

I replace it when it no longer works within the time limit I expect for clean cases.

What to do with it?

We need a chemist to chime in here.



.

[fcvan]

My polishing media gets washed in a burlap sack with hot soapy water. Once dried the media is coarse like new but stained dark. I don't use a sonic cleaner but I do wash the brass with hot soapy water and a little lemon juice before tumbling. Soap and lemon juice goes down the drain along with whatever residue rinsed off the brass. I wouldn't pour really toxic stuff down the drain. I prefer to save that up and pour it on the horns of baby unicorns or on condor eggs. I'm not really popular in California, especially around Berkley. Frank

[GaryN]

"I prefer to save that up and pour it on the horns of baby unicorns or on condor eggs."

I love it.

[marlin39a]

I use a Hornady LnL 2L Sonic Cleaner. I don't use factory solution. Lemishine and Dawn does a great job. When done, it goes down the sink.

[dragon813gt]

Down the sink after every session. I use a citric acid solution that's cheap so I don't see a need to save it.


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[frugal]

Normally you use a separate container for the solution to clean your brass and have the ultrasonic cleaner filled with water. the water in the bath will get slimy with bacteria/algae so you use a very thin piece of copper wire placed in the water to inhibit their growth. I use a small amount of very strong detergent with the rifle brass upside down. primers removed and it does an awesome job of cleaning.

[KYCaster]

Soak it up with cheap cat litter or disposable diapers, double bag it and send it to the land fill.

Jerry

[snuffy]

It depends on what you were cleaning and what solution you were using.

If you were using a product like the Hornady cleaner, it's simply citric acid, a pinch of ordinary soap and water. It would be like dumping pickle juice down the drain.

If you were using something like Aqua clean, for cleaning gun parts, It's a powerful SOAP, that's all. Hornady also makes a parts cleaner, it too is a heavy duty soap. Dispose of it like you would if doing dishes.

My harbor freight US works like magic for cleaning guns with aqua-clean.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/311703/shooters-choice-aqua-clean-firearm-action-cleaner-degreaser-gallon-liquid

Three cycles of 8 minutes, all the crud inside a 45 slide and action is laying in the bottom of the tank. No need to completely strip either.

As for brass cleaning, I use the Hornady solution. Once mixed it can be used for a very long time. The citric acid that's in it does not loose power very fast at all. De-priming before cleaning will get the primer residue out of the primer pocket. It will settle on the bottom of the tank, so it could build up to where you might have to filter the soup.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/711474/hornady-one-shot-sonic-clean-ultrasonic-case-cleaning-solution-32-oz-liquid

It's diluted 40-1, so a bottle will last a very long time.:mrgreen:

[popper]

Mostly powder, primer crud and a smidge of brass salts. The crud gets HARD when left a long time. Dump it on the grass - it hasn't died yet. I use lemishine and dish soap. I change when it gets dark as the soap has crud in suspension, i.e. is used up.

[prs]

The spent liquid solution of water, citric acid, and detergent will also have lead staphinate in solution after use from the spent primers. Don't throw it out on the lawn. Mine goes down the drain and eventually comingles with the natural lead deposits of Earth.

prs

[jdgabbard]

The spent liquid solution of water, citric acid, and detergent will also have lead staphinate in solution after use from the spent primers. Don't throw it out on the lawn. Mine goes down the drain and eventually comingles with the natural lead deposits of Earth.

prs

And that is the point I'm getting at. The water has lead in it. ALL major citys reuse their water supplies. So the pouring of this down the drain contaminates the city's water system, and ultimately is consumed by everyone in the city. So what now?

[gunseller]

What do you do with what you get when you flux your lead pot? That is where you go with the stuff out of a sonic cleaner. If it is safe for one it is safe for the other.
Steve

[popper]

eventually comingles with the natural lead deposits of Earth. Dirt in my lawn. Plus, if the rabbits eat the contaminated grass ---.

[Hickory]

A plain old coffee filter will remove the lead.

[uscra112]

And that is the point I'm getting at. The water has lead in it. ALL major citys reuse their water supplies. So the pouring of this down the drain contaminates the city's water system, and ultimately is consumed by everyone in the city. So what now?

Um, name for me a city in the USA that actually recycles wastewater to put it back in the potable water mains. Any city at all.

I would have no inhibitions at all to pouring this down the drain. The amount of lead is miniscule. When you've been handling boolits, do you wash your hands? Where does that lead go?

[jdgabbard]

Every city that has a water treatment facility. Here in Tulsa they were telling people to stop flushing prescription drugs several years ago, because there were trace amounts showing up in the water supply.....