Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner

[44Blam]

I got one of these, but it doesn't appear to be cleaning very well... Also, does anyone know how to make it go for longer than 8 minutes at a time?

[Rick Hodges]

I have a small Hornady cleaner....it will only run for 3 minutes at a time before you have to hit the button again. Twice through does a pretty good job with only water lemonshine and a drop of dawn. I have never used the commercial stuff that Hornady sells.

What cleaning solution do you use? I wish mine would go for 8 minutes without stopping.

[farmerjim]

Mine cleans fine. Don"t overload it. I stir the brass several times while the cleaner is on. I use citric acid and dish soap in the water. One 8 min cycle to start then two 1 1/2 min cycles over 30 min with soak in between. I bought a Frankford Arsneal Rotary Tumbler (FART) at Christmas when they were on sale for about $125 to speed things up.

[robg]

Wife got me mine for Christmas ,runs 15 mins max so I do two cycles with citric acid and washup liquid,tip it out refill with fresh solution for 5 min rince and leaf to dry then polish in tumbler.it's a quart capacity.

[Shiloh]

Depending on the wattage, will mean how much you can do at a time. Overloading diminishes the action. The better ultrasonics carry a serious price tag.
Buyer beware.

Shiloh

[pertnear]

I bought the Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner for de-carboning .22 RF cases as part of the bullet jacket making process. Let's just say, I've not been very impressed with the HF unit.

[farmerjim]

I bought the Harbor Freight Ultrasonic Cleaner for de-carboning .22 RF cases as part of the bullet jacket making process. Let's just say, I've not been very impressed with the HF unit.

It is definitely not a commercial unit. But it does work. It is much slower and has a smaller capacity.
For the small time user it is fine, no need to spend thousands, but it got to be too slow for me so I got a FART.

[Three44s]

I have a HF unit.

I use my wife’s outdated concentrated lemon juice, dawn dish soap and pour in pre-heated water.

The circuitry is cheap and light weight. You can not run long cycles back to back, that is just the way it is. But the alternative is spending a lot more money to save some time.

Best regards

Three44s

[6bg6ga]

Mine was a $500 unit off ebray at a 70 % savings. You can load it to the max and it cleans as good as if it were lightly filled at any time you choose to dial in.

[44Blam]

I "don't overload"... That's probably my problem. I filled it pretty full with shells, I'll take some out and see if it helps.

I'm using the Harbor Freight powder - lord knows what's in it... And a little dawn.

[dragon813gt]

I got rid of the Lyman version of that US cleaner. It's the same thing but it comes w/ a basket. It worked but the eight minute cycles, weak heating element and only one transducer caused me to upgrade. Expect to have to run cases through a minimum of three cycles to get them clean. Hot, close to boiling, water and dawn help a lot. You can buy a unit w/ more transducers on Amazon or eBay for a little more money. They're worth it.

[bangerjim]

The HF machine is just a toy......likd so much of thier Chicom stuff. Mainly sold to clean simple jewelry in small batches. Has no power to really clean at all! I have several very high wattage industrial units for cleaning clocks and those really make the dirt and grime “shake”. They have up to 8 tranducers on the bottoms. The solution you use is critical also. Water will do virtually nothing.

[bangerjim]

I "don't overload"... That's probably my problem. I filled it pretty full with shells, I'll take some out and see if it helps.

I'm using the Harbor Freight powder - lord knows what's in it... And a little dawn.

Try taking MOST of them out!!!!!!! US cleaners need room to work. And that little toy HF unit can clean only 1 or 2 things at at time. Do not treat it like a vibrator casing tumbler you fill to overflowing!!!!! Can’t do it.

Try using a cleaning solution of citirc acid powder and water. Get it in the canning secetion of food stores.

[dragon813gt]

The HF machine is just a toy.....
It's not a toy. I used one successfully for years. Use it w/in its limitations and it will serve you well. A reloader doesn't need the industrial units you have. There is no denying they work a lot better. But their price puts them out of range for most.

[bangerjim]

It's not a toy. I used one successfully for years. Use it w/in its limitations and it will serve you well. A reloader doesn't need the industrial units you have. There is no denying they work a lot better. But their price puts them out of range for most.

If one is seriously into a hobby (which I am in several venues, besides guns), “out of range” price is not in the vocabulary! If one can determine the tight limits of something like the HF cleaner and get it to work for their needs repeatedly, then great! I buy the tools and equipment I need to get a job done effeciently and rapidly when I need them. And having all those “widgets” on the shelf the next time around is really nice.

I acquired 3 of those HF cleaners in a box of junk I bought at a sale for $12 sometime back. After playing around with them and observing their limitations as to what I needed, I elected to donate them to Goodwill. More power (pun not intended) to those that find them sufficient for thier cleaning needs.

[rsrocket1]

Brass is an excellent absorber of ultrasonic energy and the HF cleaner is woefully weak. It took me four eight minute cycles to clean a maximum of 18 45ACP cases. Any more than 18 and it just acts as a vibratory cleaner which means you are just as well off by shaking the tub with a soapy solution.

True ultrasonic cleaning should be achievable with nothing more than tap water and a drop of Dawn detergent. The brass needs to be separated and not touching each other. When the true ultrasonic action works, you will see tiny bubbles come from the brass and the soot coming off like smoke into the water and soap solution.

Obviously with such a slow process of needing to push the button 4 times every 8 minutes for just 18 pieces of brass, it was traded in for a vibratory tumbler and I haven't looked back.

[44Blam]

I gave up, gonna return it. Back to the the pack in a ton of shells into the vibro cleaner. :)

[Walks]

I returned mine. It needed 3 8min cycles to clean one layer of cases. Bought a LYMAN & LYMAN Cleaner "juice". Now I clean 100 223's in 8 minutes. Made a 300 case drying rack. By the time the 4th 100 are clean the 1st 100 are dry.

[MW3840]

I LOVE my HB unltrasonic cleaner. I only use it for tarnished brass, and only put in a single layer of .30-06 brass. or what would be about the same for handgun brass. Have had it for 3 years and use it a lot. No malfunctions yet. Of course, having said that, I imagine when next I use it, it won't run. But I would get another right away.

[dragon813gt]

I returned mine. It needed 3 8min cycles to clean one layer of cases. Bought a LYMAN & LYMAN Cleaner "juice". Now I clean 100 223's in 8 minutes. Made a 300 case drying rack. By the time the 4th 100 are clean the 1st 100 are dry.

The Lyman TS-2500 and Harbor Freight units are the same unit in a different box. If you bought one of the larger Lyman units they are different.

[bangerjim]

I guess the bottom line question here is “why all the kerfluffel about cleaning brass?”

I just wipe mine off and reload it. Dull brass does not shoot any worse that bright shiny brass. I see all the threads about different cleaners (vibrators, metal pins, etc). Why waste all that time and energy cleaning bass to bright shiny new condition????? Mine is shiny ONCE......when it was new. Wiping off with a rag has served me well for many years. When they get too dingy/black, I throw them into a solution of boiling water and citirc acid powder for a couple minutes and they are clean enough for my needs.

Do whatever floats your boat.

Banger

[pcolapaddler]

I can't speak for others, but I prefer to work with clean parts. Whether those are parts for an engine or reloading components, it is nicer to work with clean compenents.

I use a harbor freight dual drum rotary tumbler with stainless pins and lemi shine. Brass comes out clean and shiny.

That said, I might be just as happy with clean but not like new shiny.

Sent from my Frankenphone using Tapatalk

[dondiego]

I guess the bottom line question here is “why all the kerfluffel about cleaning brass?”

I just wipe mine off and reload it. Dull brass does not shoot any worse that bright shiny brass. I see all the threads about different cleaners (vibrators, metal pins, etc). Why waste all that time and energy cleaning bass to bright shiny new condition????? Mine is shiny ONCE......when it was new. Wiping off with a rag has served me well for many years. When they get too dingy/black, I throw them into a solution of boiling water and citirc acid powder for a couple minutes and they are clean enough for my needs.

Do whatever floats your boat.

Banger

Same here, I just put the brass in the vibrator and walnut hulls and give it a few minutes to remove the grit. A lot of my brass is brown from sitting on the ground in the rain at my private range, but it is clean and free of sand and grit that affects dies. Shoots good and gets some real second looks at the public range, but nobody picks up my .45 ACP brass.......unless it is to give it back to me! They know who's it is........I also get handed a lot of other, tarnished brass too.

[bangerjim]

You are reading from the same pew book! As long as there is no grit and grime on/in the brass, is will load/shoot just fine if a bit (to a lot) tarnished. I have some 44 mag and 45LC brass that was once new and bright and shiny and now is brown and tarnished.........but performs great.

Citric and water gives it a little “lighten up” but not shiny and bright. I’ll take that $50 or so I could spend on SST pins and use it towards powder and primers.

Just my view from the SW desert!

[Walks]

When I was a kid we used a small cement mixer with I can't remember what ? We're are talking 50's-60's-70's. I know they were wiped off, then resized&decapped first. Clean brass is always easier to inspect.

[44Blam]

I've always used the vibrating tumbler and you can clean a ton of brass in a couple hours. So, I only do it every once in a while and it is kind of a neglect operation - start it and come back after a few hours.
I wanted the ultrasonic one to really clean out the primer pockets and save a little time by not reaming the pockets to get the soot out. Sometimes having **** in the primer pockets makes it difficult to get the primers seated in fully without flattening them.

[Tonto]

It's not a toy. I used one successfully for years. Use it w/in its limitations and it will serve you well. A reloader doesn't need the industrial units you have. There is no denying they work a lot better. But their price puts them out of range for most.
I second this, mine works fine and was a great value for the money

[rsrocket1]

I also clean my brass mostly just to get any grit off of it when it hits the ground. 90% of the time I don't even clean my revolver brass or bolt action brass, just put 'em back into the reloading pile.

[jimb16]

I have an HF cleaner too. It is ok for small batches but where I live it gets cold in the winter and I reload in an unheated garage. Under those conditions, it leaves a lot to be desired. I recently purchase on sale an RCBS unit that heats the water to one of 4 different temps and has 5 different timer settings. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I'll keep the HF for small summer time batches, but from now on the RCBS unit will be getting a workout.