alright last night was a fluke, getting brass clean

[mozeppa]

well the gremlins got me again.

forgot they were running yesterday and they ran long , about 10 hours.
and they came out looking like brand new.

another 5000 brass ...same pins....clean hot water...same amount of armor all wash & wax soap.
but this time i used a tablespoon of citric acid. instead of a teaspoon.

let go 5 hours .

peeked inside....they look worse than when i started!

does too much citric acid turn the brass army drab grayish green?

it was 2-1/2 gallons of water to 2-1/2 ozs of soap

after 10 hours on the first time, the mixer was plumb full to the top with suds.....second time hardly any suds
after running only 5 hours.

the only thing i did different was the citric acid.

any ideas?

[mozeppa]

oh forgot to mention...cleaned everything out and started all over again at 4pm

new water, soap, acid ....now they look worse than when i started!

whole day wasted![smilie=b:

[billyb]

put your pins in your tumbler with simple green and water and let it run for two or three hours. Then try your brass in a clean tumbler, I only let mine run two to two and one half hours. A little citric acid goes a long way.

[nun2kute]

I got my second batch of 45 acp running right now, about 500 or so. First batch ran for and hour, came out looking like I just opened a box from Starline and dumped it out onto a white towel. All I used was a spoon full of Dishwasher soap, two spoons of citric acid and two spoons full of Armor-All wash n wax, stainless pins and hot water. I got my citric acid at the Health Food Store, just a small bottle for experimenting with. This is the first time I've used citric acid, but I got way better results than I ever got with Lemishine. I have never encountered green brass before. But I gotta ask, why do you let it run so long ? I don't believe I have ever went more than an Hour and a half.

[NyFirefighter357]

Yes, you are using way too much soap and citric acid. Rinse that whole thing out and tumble without soap or citric acid for an hour or two. Rinse again. Too much soap gums up the media. I have a Frankfort Arsenal tumbler and I use 1/8th tsp citric acid as a water conditioner for hard water and 2 drops of liquid Dawn soap as an emulsifier that keeps the dirt in suspension. I tumble many items in my machine with this solution: tools, tractor carb., jewelry, coins, copper & brass pipe fittings just about anything I want clean and/or polished. You may have to tumble the media in vinegar to get them clean before you do any more polishing.

[gpidaho]

I use one teaspoon each of Dawn soap and lemonshine. I run my Lyman Cyclone 2 to 2 1/2 hrs. And brass looks like new. Gp

[nun2kute]

What does simple green do ?

187827
First batch

[WJP]

I reserve ss for brass that I would generally throw out. Too much time involved but does give great results.

[reddog81]

I've loaded 1,000's of rounds and only used hot soapy water. Sometimes good enough really is good enough.

[JimB..]

You may also want to run a magnet over your brass, people have reported that accidentally tumbling a steel case in with brass will discolor the brass, and that's with just a little citric acid or lemishine.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

JimB just beat me to it. If you have anything steel in the mix you will get the gray deposit on the brass.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[runfiverun]

steel, or worse lanolin.
that will goop up the works and leave a coating on everything that needs some extra attention to remove before cleaning again.

[Dusty Bannister]

I am just getting started with my Lyman Cyclone but have had good luck with about 9 pounds of brass, enough water to just cover the brass, add the pins and then one tablespoon of Armorall car wash and wax and 1/4 teaspoon of lemi-shine. Running for three hours and all is well, and the barrel is filled with soap foam. Everything rinses clean nicely and then air dry under a fan. That cleaning material is going to last for a very long time.

[JimB..]

I am just getting started with my Lyman Cyclone but have had good luck with about 9 pounds of brass, enough water to just cover the brass, add the pins and then one tablespoon of Armorall car wash and wax and 1/4 teaspoon of lemi-shine. Running for three hours and all is well, and the barrel is filled with soap foam. Everything rinses clean nicely and then air dry under a fan. That cleaning material is going to last for a very long time.

I've always filled the drum to about 1" from the top with cool water, no idea if that is better or worse than leaving air, just what I do. Do you have a reason for filling just to cover the brass, or is it like me, just what you do?

[AlaskaScott]

Acid will reduce the ability of soap(alkaline) to suspend soil. I run these as two separate operations and stopped having this trouble

[jimb16]

I use 1 TSP citric and 1/2 TSP Dawn to 1 gal. of water for 20 minutes. IF I have any that aren't completely clean then I give them another 20. Rinse, dry then polish for an hour in ground walnut. They look factory new inside and out when I'm done.

[RP]

Cascade dish washing soap is good for cleaning out your tumber and pins. I made the mistake of using to much lube on my brass and not removing any before putting them in the tumbler and got a mess, I added the cascade since I knew how well it works to remove oil out of the coolant system on a engine and it did the same thing with my tumbler. I just added the cascade in place of dawn and ran it a hour or so and brass was clean along with the pins and tumbler.