Lemi Shine

[RACWIN375]

hi,
I know you guys told me but I 4 got,can't find post, sorry old and dumb :violin:

I should mix a 9mm case full of Lemi Shine into water but how much was that in a gal or in the tumbler I have a RCBS sidewinder it holds about a have a gal :confused:

I was going to do the 9mm of Lemi Shine a squirt of dawn a bunch of SS pins cover brass and other stuff with water (about 1/2gal)
is that a good mix ??? someone said less is better with the Lemi Shine

I hope you all did some shooting this weekend, I did and I don't know if I'm happier [smilie=w: with the shooting or that I have brass to try the Lemi Shine with hehe I know you understand the old lady just looked at me funny when I said I was happy to have dirty brass to play with hehe

thanks
Rick

:bigsmyl2:

[captaint]

Rick - Your measure of Lemi Shine sounds about right. I think my instructions say 1 gal of water and a little (1 TBSP) of soap. Stuff sure works well, no ??? enjoy Mike

[RACWIN375]

Rick - Your measure of Lemi Shine sounds about right. I think my instructions say 1 gal of water and a little (1 TBSP) of soap. Stuff sure works well, no ??? enjoy Mike

I don't know Mike I have not tried yet

Rick

:Fire:

[GRUMPA]

The thing about Lemi-Shine is that it's affects will vary to some degree depending on the quality of the water. Me I have well water and is rather hard water so I mix just a bit more than some other folks do.

I will give you this warning though, NEVER empty the contents out in direct sunlight without a pair of good sunglasses on, boy does that stuff shine.

[RACWIN375]

I'm on well water also, my water will turn the brass BLACK I use distilled water BUT I want to try my well water with lemi shine to see if that "fixes" my water I just have not tested yet that $.88gal does add up (ok I'm cheap) the less $$$ I give to wall mart the better

Rick

[runfiverun]

the citric acid will act like salt does in water.
in fact some soft water systems now use citric acid.
i use about 3 tbs to a half gallon of hot water.
be careful with how much dish soap you add to the mix,especially when adding it to the shaker.
remember the brady bunch episode when one of the kids tried to do the laundry?
my tumbler seals tight with a gasket on the lid, somehow soap suds didn't read the watertight part in the brochure.
i now clean the brass in a plastic container by hand then finish off in the tumbler media.
or just air dry if i need to full length size.
anhydrous lanolin case lube is not cut by water. so it gets tumbeled after sizing.

don't leave the cases in the solution for hours it will affect the zinc in the cases.

[geargnasher]

Sounds right to me. I use 1 teaspoon pure citric acid and a "squirt" of Lemon Joy per gallon, seems to be plenty, but I use mineral-free cached rainwater, that makes a HUGE difference vs. hard/rusty/sulfur well water

Gear

[RACWIN375]

WOW THIS IS THE SHIZ I ran the RCBS a few hours and as nice or nicer then with what I was using and cost way less with stuff I can get any place

I'll see if I can do photos

Rick

:awesome:

[leadman]

I am too cheap to buy a water-tight tumbler so I just use a gallon plastic jar with a lid. I put the brass in the container run some very hot water in to about double the height of the brass, a little dish soap, put the lid on and shake vigoriously for a minute, drain, rinse with hot water. Then I add the Lemishine and shake again, let stand for a couple minutes, shake again. If it looks clean I dump the water and rinse with cold water and put in the sun to dry.
This works good enough for me. If I think the brass could be brighter I will put it in the tumbler with corn cob and polish.

[felix]

Use plastic one gallon++ pickle plastic jars having wide screw tops from fast food joints. Free for the asking at most places. Tape the top on, making sure they won't unscrew after loading, and tumble dry some comforters with the jug(s) hidden within at a COMMERCIAL laundry place. Don't need a tumble machine at home, really, unless the case quantities are small. ... felix

[geargnasher]

Use plastic one gallon++ pickle plastic jars having wide screw tops from fast food joints. Free for the asking at most places. Tape the top on, making sure they won't unscrew after loading, and tumble dry some comforters with the jug(s) hidden within at a COMMERCIAL laundry place. Don't need a tumble machine at home, really, unless the case quantities are small. ... felix

That's the coolest idea I've heard of in years! You're talking the citric acid solution and SS media, right? I'll bet you want to make certain the jugs are pretty full of liquid. I might investigate "shimming" a liquid-tight container with layers of egg-crate foam such that it will fit snugly in my home dryer with a slight eccentric (maybe only an inch off-center) now that you've given me the idea. If I suddenly disappear from the forum it's probably because my wife has commited justifiable homicide :mrgreen:

Gear

[Cadillo]

If your not using some Lemishine in your final rinse water, you've got a pleasant surprise coming when you do so.

[RACWIN375]

If your not using some Lemishine in your final rinse water, you've got a pleasant surprise coming when you do so.
how much do you put into the rinse water???

Rick

[felix]

Ian, I have never used the acid solutions to do any of this. Dog liquid shampoo soap makes water typically at ph 7.2. Human soap is set to ph 7.4 ideally. However, you can adjust any soap when dissolved to 7.0, and in my opinion this should be done in the final rinse water for sure. Use MONO-potassium/sodium-phosphate to lower; TRI-potassium/sodium phosphate to raise. MUST have a kit to verify, or better yet, go to a swimming pool place, or college, to have them test and you adjust the water on the spot. Talking 1/4 teaspoon, or less, of the selected phosphate per iteration. Only chemical houses, or colleges, will have these lab grade phosphate chemicals. These phosphate chemicals are VERY powerful ph equalizers. In other words, once the ph is set, adding another pint of water, or just- now-cleaned cases, will have NO effect on the ph of the system. The cases should not change in color after a rinse in such a water bath. Of course, you can do a final, final rinse in distilled water. Save the phosphate water for the next batch. ... felix

Better yet, take several small batches of really dirty cases to your local high school. Tell the teacher what you want done, and why, of course. Let him guide the students and have them take notes like a professional lab person would do. You should NOT be present. ... felix

[runfiverun]

i actually use lemishine in my dish washer...
if i don't the calcium build up will ruin it in about 2-3 months.

[felix]

Make sure your dishwasher soap has about 7 or 8 percent elemental phosphorous. Play games with what you have by adding the two ingredients as suggested above. Measure ph of the soap as from the box. Maintain that ph to start with when adding the phosphates. No more calcium/magnesium/iron problems thereafter. ... felix

[RACWIN375]

Make sure your dishwasher soap has about 7 or 8 percent elemental phosphorous. Play games with what you have by adding the two ingredients as suggested above. Measure ph of the soap as from the box. Maintain that ph to start with when adding the phosphates. No more calcium/magnesium/iron problems thereafter. ... felix

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ???? (hehe)

[RACWIN375]

Brass that was cleaned before shooting

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/RAC420/5-1-12brass004.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/RAC420/5-1-12brass006.jpg

same brass after Lemi shine SS pins and Dawn,they are a little cleaner and a little more shiny then with the RCBS stuff BUT I only tumbled about 3 hours and the RCBS stuff I wold do 8-12 hours

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/RAC420/5-1-12brass010.jpg

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n152/RAC420/5-1-12brass011.jpg

Rick

:Fire:

[runfiverun]

WHAT ARE YOU SAYING ???? (hehe)

i know what he's talking about...
when we make the lemishine baths we are making a weak citric acid of about 3-5%
when we use vinegar we need to add salt to it to make a weak acetic acid of about 3%
which of course needs to be neutralized.
the tri-phosphor and mono phosphor make a weak solution of thier own based on what ph we start with only it's an acid that works in the neutral ph range.
instead of on the high or low end of the scale.

[RACWIN375]

OK
you do know I was joking with him getting so technical on us

[prs]

Cadillo, so far I have not found out. What goes wrong? I place dirty black powder cartridge and smokeless cartrige cases, spent primers still in, in a Model B with just enough water to cover and a teaspoon of citric acid powder plus a squirt of dish soap. Try to do batches of about 3/4 full in the drum. Let'm tumble until I sober-up and they be like new. I rinse in clear tap water and drain while in the sink. While they are still damp I toss in a dib of Lee case lube and mix with my hands. Into an Orange sack and air dry a few days The case lube leaves a slight haze, after going through a progressive press, the ammo looks new. Looks new still when shot days, weeks, or months later. No stainless steel pins used. Will my cases go bad doing this over time?

prs

[Cadillo]

Cadillo, so far I have not found out. What goes wrong? I place dirty black powder cartridge and smokeless cartrige cases, spent primers still in, in a Model B with just enough water to cover and a teaspoon of citric acid powder plus a squirt of dish soap. Try to do batches of about 3/4 full in the drum. Let'm tumble until I sober-up and they be like new. I rinse in clear tap water and drain while in the sink. While they are still damp I toss in a dib of Lee case lube and mix with my hands. Into an Orange sack and air dry a few days The case lube leaves a slight haze, after going through a progressive press, the ammo looks new. Looks new still when shot days, weeks, or months later. No stainless steel pins used. Will my cases go bad doing this over time?

prs

I have no experience with the "Citric Acid" you are using, though it may well be that Lemishine contains citric acid. I just don't know. I've always been told that any form of acid is bad for cases, but that is just what I've heard.

My guess is that your cases will split due to work hardening before they suffer any other real issue.

I always deprime my brass first, which allows my steel pins to clean the case interiors and primer pockets of all residue, which make priming smoother on my progessive presses.

[geargnasher]

Make sure your dishwasher soap has about 7 or 8 percent elemental phosphorous. Play games with what you have by adding the two ingredients as suggested above. Measure ph of the soap as from the box. Maintain that ph to start with when adding the phosphates. No more calcium/magnesium/iron problems thereafter. ... felix

Yup, the phosphates keep the dissolved calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron in suspension in the water so they don't deposit on things, but wash away with the rinse water. Phosphate soap is still available, you just have to order it depending on where you live. The issue is farther downstream, though, when the phosphates decompose through fermentation in the septic tanks. Phosphates are being banned in many states for household cleaner use because public wastewater systems aren't equipped to remove them, and they are discharged into the enviroment causing algae blooms and all sorts of things that make "green" folks yell and scream.

My solution has been to harvest rainwater for all our household use, skipping the minerals entirely. We can do spotless dishes with a single chip of Ivory bar soap. Unfortunately, I just discovered that many states other than mine have outlawed rainwater harvesting, so I guess it's either phosphates or a softener system for them.

Gear

[Cadillo]

how much do you put into the rinse water???

Rick

I first hose(initial rinse) my tumbled cases in my version of a sieve, and then toss them into a small bucket than contains about 1 gallon of water with about a 9x19mm case full of Lemishine mixed into it. Our water here is very hard and the final rinse makes them come out shiny and stay that way for much longer.

And, yes, the Lemishine really helps keep both our dishes and dishwasher clean and free of scale. Hard water is well, just hard.

[runfiverun]

lemishine is 96+% citric acid.

[RACWIN375]

I first hose(initial rinse) my tumbled cases in my version of a sieve, and then toss them into a small bucket than contains about 1 gallon of water with about a 9x19mm case full of Lemishine mixed into it. Our water here is very hard and the final rinse makes them come out shiny and stay that way for much longer.

And, yes, the Lemishine really helps keep both our dishes and dishwasher clean and free of scale. Hard water is well, just hard.

very cool
I'm going to do that

Rick

[Cadillo]

Quite by accident, I learned something related to this. I always deprime my brass before cleaning using the SS media, soap, water, and Lemishine. I've done many many cases this way without incident. The other day, I was sorting some 9mm brass by headstamp some three to four days after cleaning and drying, when I found a couple of cases that had somehow missed being deprimed. I decapped them by hand and found that there was water trapped between the spent primers and the pockets.

As one might imagine, this would be BAD had these cases been loaded without my having noticed. I would recommend that any cases to be cleaned using water be decapped first, or at least long enough in advance to thoroughly dry before any attempt to prime.

[RACWIN375]

I learned that many years ago,I did a bunch of 223's and 3 weeks later I went to reload and found water in the primer pockets I was using the RCBS stuff after that I got a decaping die

Cadillo
your Lemi Shine rinse works so good I had to redo about 1000 cases in it hehe

:groner:

[RACWIN375]

some one said "Whether you use citric acid in Lemishine, or acetic acid in vinegar, you should always since them thoroughly afterwards in a baking soda in water bath to neutralize the acid. It will continue to work on the brass if you don't."

is that true ????

Rick

[Cadillo]

some one said "Whether you use citric acid in Lemishine, or acetic acid in vinegar, you should always since them thoroughly afterwards in a baking soda in water bath to neutralize the acid. It will continue to work on the brass if you don't."

is that true ????

Rick

Not in my experience over the last couple of years and many cases thus cleaned.

[Cadillo]

I learned that many years ago,I did a bunch of 223's and 3 weeks later I went to reload and found water in the primer pockets I was using the RCBS stuff after that I got a decaping die

Cadillo
your Lemi Shine rinse works so good I had to redo about 1000 cases in it hehe

:groner:

I can't take credit for the method. I read about it on another forum.

Whoever discovered it sure helped me out!

[Bullet Caster]

I use pure citric acid that came with my water distiller. I've got about 1/2 lb. of it and I use about 1 tsp. in a gallon of water to clean my brass after decapping. As another thread about citric was read, I found out that citric acid passivates the brass and that vinegar is harmful to brass.

The citric acid mix works very well and since I don't have a vibratory tumbler or a tumbler, I just use a cheap knock off of the scotch-brite pad to put the finishing touches on the brass. I like the "brushed" brass look and they are easily identifiable from other people's brass when I go to the range. BC