Ultrasound Cleaning gun parts

[GregLaROCHE]

Does an ultrasound cleaner have any negative effects on gun parts ? What I’ve be wondering most about are blued surfaces, both hot and cold blued as well as surfaces colored by case hardening.
Thanks

[Castaway]

The ultrasonic cleaner doesn’t have any negative effect, but your cleaning solution can. I wouldn’t use vinegar on anything blued or Simple Green on anything aluminum

[GBertolet]

The ultra sonic cleaners work great. It's best to get the commercial gun solvents, as they are designed not to damage most gun finishes. The more you can break down the gun, the better result you will get. Always remove wooden grips beforehand.
At least one home brewed solution, can be used. That's Dawn dish detergent, mixed with water in a strong concentration. It's a degreaser, that does work for modest cleaning requirements, although the commercial cleaners usually work better. After the gun parts are rinsed off afterwards, they need to be oiled immediately or rust will form, as the cleaning process, removes oil from the pores of the metal. Getting the solution very hot, will improve the efficiency of the solvents.

I find using the ultrasonic cleaner after every range session is a PITA. It's a drawn out process, that's reserved for the end of season, or for cleaning horribly dirty guns. For weekly range sessions, cleaning by conventional meams is preferable for me.

[TRX]

I bought an ultrasonic cleaner recently. It buzzed but didn't do anything. I checked online and there is a test; put a piece of aluminum foil in and run for three minutes; when you pull the foil out, it should have holes in it. The foil came out bright and shiny.

The replacement cleaner nibbles holes all through the foil. Since several of my pistols have aluminum frames, I was bummed.

I ran a bunch of stuff through the new cleaner, including my key ring, because the brass keys were scungy and all of the keys had pocket spooge on them. After five minutes they were clean... but some of the keys had been chrome(?) plated, and it had eaten the plating off. The fill was water and 1 tsp Dawn dishwashing liquid.

I like the cleaner, but it's more aggressive than I anticipated. I had hoped for a single-cleaning-solution, "throw whatever in and push the button", but while it works well, you have to be careful what you put in it until you know it won't damage your stuff.

[Geezer in NH]

It will eat colorcase colors in a couple of minutes. Learned the hard way.

[PopcornSutton]

Seems like it's not just a given to buy one and go for it. The solution makes a difference. I've been thinking about one too, but never took the plunge.

[Remiel]

I cleaned this original colt pocket in an ultrasonic cleaner using Hornaday gum solution and it didn't hurt the finish/patina

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[Winger Ed.]

A buddy is a jeweler, and they use them all the time.
I never asked what solution he uses, but there is always a few 'Formula 409' bottles in the shop.

What he does to amplify the vibrations is to put smaller pieces to be cleaned in a glass-- made of real glass.
It's then sunk down in the tank. He swears it makes the cleaning action faster and better.

[georgerkahn]

I have a Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner, and using the prescribed mix of Lyman PARTS cleaner and DISTILLED water, we dropped (gently ) an entire Smith & Wesson Model 41, sans only its grips in! The owner had it in a dishpan-type vessel in his car's trunk, and had put a couple of quart cans of motor oil and rags atop it -- he wanted the 41 to be out of sight. Anyhoos -- whether an oil can sprung a leak, or the cap had loosened -- it was indeed a mess!
We did three twenty-minute cycles, and I'd say no bluing or the like was in any way changed. The firearm came out with probably less petroleum residue than when shipped from S&W! So dry it was, we immediately sprayed it with a liberal coating of G96 to prevent rusting.
One of the REAL "dangers" of using the Ultrasonic Cleaner is it's decreasing: rust-promoting propensity.

[GBertolet]

Glass jars are great for cleaning small parts. Just fill the tank with water, place the jar with the solvent in the water, and turn on the machine. Using the jar, only requires a small amount of solvent. It's very efficient. I have seen people use plain ziplock plastic bags filled with solvent for small jobs. As long as the bags are airtight, they work well.

The number of transducers affect on how well the cleaners work. Most of the small, and lower cost cleaners have two transducers. The larger, and better quality ones have three.

[gpidaho]

My Lyman Ultra sonic cleaner is under powered and is not very good at cleaning brass but works pretty good for steel gun parts when using the Lyman cleaning solution and distilled water as George mentioned. I use mine mostly for bolt carrier groups, revolver cylinders and pistol barrels. Gp

[GregLaROCHE]

Anyone else had experience with it on color of case hardened steel?

[GBertolet]

Here is an informative article to read on ultrasonic cleaners. http://www.smallarmsreview.com/displ...darticles=2205

[Mk42gunner]

My experience is twenty plus years old, but here goes: When I was in NMCB-5, we had a couple of companies trying to interest the Navy in small arms cleaning products.

The ultrasonic cleaners can work well, if the solution is right for what you are cleaning. They are not faster than just cleaning a gun the old fashioned way. No idea as to the effect on CCH parts, but I wouldn't try it with something irreplaceable.

It might be okay for an individual, but it is way to slow for a whole company to clean their weapons with, let alone the whole Battalion.

A different company demoed a small steam cleaner. I had high hopes for this since I had memories of using the steam lance on a 1200 lb steam plant for cleaning nasty air filters. Didn't work well at all. The tiny steam generator would let you get about half of an M-9 pistol clean, then it ran out of steam. Literally.

Best thing I have found is either Ed's Red or Hoppe's #9 for my own use. You cannot give me BreakFree CLP.

Robert

[Remiel]

I have a Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner, and using the prescribed mix of Lyman PARTS cleaner and DISTILLED water, we dropped (gently ) an entire Smith & Wesson Model 41, sans only its grips in! The owner had it in a dishpan-type vessel in his car's trunk, and had put a couple of quart cans of motor oil and rags atop it -- he wanted the 41 to be out of sight. Anyhoos -- whether an oil can sprung a leak, or the cap had loosened -- it was indeed a mess!
We did three twenty-minute cycles, and I'd say no bluing or the like was in any way changed. The firearm came out with probably less petroleum residue than when shipped from S&W! So dry it was, we immediately sprayed it with a liberal coating of G96 to prevent rusting.
One of the REAL "dangers" of using the Ultrasonic Cleaner is it's decreasing: rust-promoting propensity.

Yep, when I do my pistols and ar parts they come out oil free, so after a cycle in the dryer (if needed) they go straight to the bench to be oiled/lubricated then reassembled

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[Winger Ed.]

When I was in NMCB-5, we had a couple of companies trying to interest the Navy in small arms cleaning products.

My early experience with them was on active duty too.
The Avaition Hydraulics shop had a really, really good one they cleaned these stacks of in line screen filters that looked like a big coin.

After our annual re-qualification-- We'd drop disassembled M-16 bolts & charging handles in it and hit the 'go' button.
In a couple minutes, they looked like they'd just came off the assembly line at the factory.

[BK7saum]

Aluminum and ultrasonic cleaners dont go well together. The aluminum will get pits or cavitation burns.