Citric acid brass cleaner

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Learned something new today about the citric acid process. I had sectioned a case so I could look for a possible defect in the inside because of a bulge. I had the bright idea to wash it in the citric acid. I attached a paper clip to the case so I could just hang it in the solution for a few minutes and expected to be bright and clean. Went back in about 10 minutes and found the case was black. The citric acid had removed the zinc plating from the paper clip and deposited it on the brass case. So....... don't submerge metal parts of a different material in with your brass cases for cleaning.

[will52100]

I can attest to that! I normally tumble about 3 hours with stainless steel media and some dawn and lemi shine and they come out clean. If there's a lot of black powder fired cases I may have to stop at 2 hours and change the water and soap, then tumble for a couple more hours. The last time I tumbled for 3 hours and the brass was shinny black. Didn't have time to tumble again so I sifted the media and put the brass out to dry and would tumble again the next day. Found a case chamfer tool in with the brass. No idea how it got there, but it sure turned the brass black. I tried tumbling again and the brass was only marginally cleaner. Then read about cleaning your media so I tumbled the SS media for about 2 hours with nothing but water and simple green. Tumbled the cases again for about 2 hours and they came out like new. All that because somehow a black oxide coated case chamfer tool somehow wound up in my tumbler. Still don't know how it got there.

[El Greco]

Do you re-use the same solution or you make a new batch every time?

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I re-use mine. I store it in a couple of plastic jugs that came with lemonade or some such drink in it. I did add about another tablespoon of citric acid last time I used it, and replaced the water I lost during rinse.

I don't heat it either, just let the de-primed hulls sit in it about 10-15 minutes, then rinse.

[OnceFired]

@olejoeclarke I did that once with nearly 10 gallons of citric acid water. It grew mold like you would not believe. I won't be saving the stuff. I might maybe keep it for a week or two at most. Even if I was trying to conserve water on property without city or well water, I would seriously not keep it long. Way more of a pain to deal with than it was worth.

[62chevy]

@olejoeclarke I did that once with nearly 10 gallons of citric acid water. It grew mold like you would not believe. I won't be saving the stuff. I might maybe keep it for a week or two at most. Even if I was trying to conserve water on property without city or well water, I would seriously not keep it long. Way more of a pain to deal with than it was worth.

I get the mold also so no saving for me.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I've had mine for several months with no mold. When I get mold, I'll pour it out, but not before.

[dougader]

I store mine in old Snapple and other 1/2 gallon juice jugs, the kind with really thick plastic. I've never had mold problems, but after 3 or 4 uses it gets real dirty and then I throw it out.

I've also noticed that tumbling in media with polish after the ca bath makes the cases glide through carbide dies a lot more smoothly than just using the dried cases after a ca bath. The ca makes them squeaky clean and requires more pressure on the handle than cases that have even had 20 minutes in the media/polish tumbler.

[toallmy]

I have noticed that as well , strangely enough the brass is to clean after the citric bath , sticking in my case expander . I tried some liquid car wash and pollish to wax it but did not work had to tumble it with wax but that was quick.

[farmerjim]

Citric acid is so cheep, why would anybody want to save it?

[toallmy]

I might be a cheap or a conservative sorta fella , I am going to check my old citric acid bucket nope no jelly in it . The last time out I nuked it and the mold or jelly went away. But when it gets dirty I send it down the in-house whirlpool. 4 table spoons per haf gal but I still like to use it a couple times . I think I might be a horder.or lazy.

[farmerjim]

I use 1/2 teaspoon per 1/2 gallon, and do 3 batches of 300 each 9 mm per batch 5 to 10 minutes per batch. . You can get citric acid for about $3.50 a pound with free shipping. $10 worth will probably do at least a couple of million.

[toallmy]

1/2 teaspoon well I will try that I have been using 4 table spoons per haf gal . That will make it go a lot further.I might have been using to much. Will try next batch.

[farmerjim]

The brass that I am cleaning is not too bad. It is sometimes clean in a few seconds. Yours may need more cleaning than mine. Try less and see what happens. I also use hot water. The speed of a chemical reaction doubles for each 10 deg centigrade, on the average. And this is a chem reaction.

If you are using 4 tbs. then you probably have a lot of non reacted citric acid in your solution. with my 1/2 teaspoon it is all used up after 900 cases. so it is all thrown away.

[dougader]

Wow, 4 tablespoons? I use 1 or 2 teaspoons and only soak for 10 Minutes.

[62chevy]

I don't even measure citric acid just shack a bit in add soap and hot tap water shack it a few times then dump and rinse 3 time.

[DrDucati]

I'm going to guess that having these green and white steaks on my brass is a sign of improper citric acid cleaning.

[dsbock]

I'm going to guess that having these green and white steaks on my brass is a sign of improper citric acid cleaning.

Looks to me like insufficient rinsing. What's your rinse procedure?

David

[GhostHawk]

Agree with dsbock, and also suspect you using 5 x as much as you need.

I mostly do smaller batches, 50 - 150 pieces. I've never used more than a teaspoon, which dissolves instantly on contact.

That looks like you dumped in half a bottle, did not agitate or rinse. Of course looks can be deceiving so I could be wrong.

[DrDucati]

Agree with dsbock, and also suspect you using 5 x as much as you need.

I mostly do smaller batches, 50 - 150 pieces. I've never used more than a teaspoon, which dissolves instantly on contact.

That looks like you dumped in half a bottle, did not agitate or rinse. Of course looks can be deceiving so I could be wrong.

Yes I used to much...more like a couple spoonfuls. And rinsing was not thorough enough. Most were not a bad as this one.