Ultrasonic cleaner

[DeanWinchester]

I was given a stainless steel Crest ultrasonics cleaner. It's a tiny little fellar but will easily hold (50) .308's and it was free!

Anyway, I think it's a dud. You turn it on and it makes a crazy chirping kinda buzz but it does nothing! I've used hot water and lemishine and citric acid based degreaser. I can't see any difference than just soaking the brass in a bucket.

Shouldn't the water be pulsating or have SOME kinda motion visible? With the unit on the liquid is as still as a pond on a windless day.

[Master_Mechanic]

my hornady sonic cleaner has no visable movement, after 4 mins of running the liquid starts to warm up a bit and the items are cleaner.

[DeanWinchester]

Hmmm, I will see if it gets warm.

[montana_charlie]

Place a wire across the top of the tank and hang a sheet of aluminum foil from it so it is vertical in the water.
After about thirty seconds of 'buzzing', check the condition of the foil.
It should have lots of tiny holes in it.

If nothing happens, or the surface is just kind of 'dented' a little, the transducer is probably shot.
They can be replaced.

If you ... or anyone before you ... ever ran the unit without liquid in the tank, that's a sure way to kill transducers.
The other way to kill them (more gradually) is to lay heavy articles on the bottom of the tank while cleaning them.
A rack or basket should be used for that.

CM

[DeanWinchester]

Okay, I guess it's working. It completely destroyed a piece of aluminum foil (2 inches square) in about 60 seconds. Had to dump my degreaser!

I guess they just won't do what I want it to do. With a tank full of orange degreaser (straight out of the bottle) it will NOT remove case lube or fired boolit lube residue.
Ohh well. :(

[bangerjim]

Those little tiny things are made for cleaning jewelry and have very little if any power. You will not see the water "boil" from the action of the xducers! I have 2 units that are over 1500 watts and the solution really moves around. You can hear the buzzing and really see the action. Those have tanks that are 10x14 inches......professional cleaners for industry.

But your little thing will probably clean a handful of shells at a time. Sounds like it is working. You cannot just lay them on the bottom. they must be suspended off the bottom in a basket or something.

You cannot put that thick orange gel cleaner gunk in a little ultrasonic!!! I MUST use a water-like fluid.

If you want to dissolve case lube or any other kind of grease, for get the ultrasonic path. Use laq thinner in a Tupperware container. Do NOT use flammable liquids in that little cleaner! Once the shells soak and you swirl them around, rinse off with VERY hot water and Simple Green solution.......the BEST degreaser on the market. Then a final rinse of just VERY hot water and let them dry.

banger

[DeanWinchester]

Thanks Jim. I went to their website and even though they are pretty expensive, the model I have only puts out 55 watts.

The orange degreaser I've been using is the cheap stuff from the dollar store. It's thin as water.
It's clearly a matter of being underpowered. Looks like this one may be headed to ebay.

[DeanWinchester]

This is what I have.

http://store.crest-ultrasonics.com/product-p/tt2001t.htm

[leetkd]

How much cleaner did you put in the tank? Can't put too much or it will not work well either...

[beezapilot]

I've had a SharperTek in the shop for years, it started with 3 transducers and I'm down to one... no longer cleans carburettors well enough to be viable. Ordered in a new one- with the "GunCleaning" kit- basically a polycarbinate tank liner that is surrounded by water and is filled with gun bits and a "lubricating" oil. The water transmits the vibrations to the oil through the polycarb. I tried it out with an old K-38 of my neighbors... Holy Cow! I pulled off the side cover off the S&W and put that side down, amazing the junk that came out of it, cleaned in an oil bath. Jonesing to see what it does for leading in a barell.

The manual warns time and time again that ANYTHING that touches the bottom of a tank from a screw to a jet can wipe out a transducer. I've made a finer mesh screen out of stainless that I put in the bottom of the factory supplied basket to keep any parts that vibrate lose from falling to the bottom of the tank.

For carbs I'm on the same page as BangerJim- Simple green solution and fuel varnish explodes. For Brass- SharperTek sent a gallon of pink solution, cut 8:1 with water and, while it is a dull finish, residue does not stand a chance.

[DeanWinchester]

It has a fill line I fill to, so there's not too much cleaner. It also has a nice wire basket to suspend parts in the solution.

[montana_charlie]

This is what I have.

http://store.crest-ultrasonics.com/product-p/tt2001t.htm
I have the same machine. If you don't like yours I'll give you a twenty-five dollar 'profit', and pay the postage.

I clean rifle brass and bullet moulds in mine.
I use Micro-90 for brass cases and iron moulds, and Surface-Cleanse/930 for aluminum moulds.
Generously-sized samples of both of those detergents are available on the internet.

In each case I use a 2% solution.

A '55-watt ultrasonic cleaner' means that you have one transducer.
If your tank was twice as long, you would need two tranducers to cover the area ... and then you would have a '110-watt cleaner'.
It wouldn't be 'more powerful' ... it would just be 'bigger'.
Power ... as in how powerful the explosion is when the cavitation bubble bursts to blast the dirt off of a surface ... is determined by frequency, not wattage per se.

When you see '1500 watts' it is a machine that is probably using most of that to run a heating element.

If your machine will destroy aluminum foil, it will remove 'dirt' from your stuff.
Just use materials (liquids or powders) that are intended for use in ultrasonic cleaners, and don't use any concentrate 'straight out of the bottle'.

CM

[Guardian]

Another point that no one has mentioned yet, don't overload a sonic cleaner. The more you put in it, the more you reduce the sonic action through attenuation.

I use straight Simple Green in mine and its been removing swaging lube, which can be skimmed from the top after a settling period.

[TNsailorman]

I don't have your unit but a small Hornady unit. It cleans just fine once I learn how to use it. I never overload it and I have found that just one cleaning cycle does not clean as well as I want. It has a 8 minute timer on the unit and I usually have to run cases thru 4 cycles to get them really shiney but they will get there on the 4th or maybe 5th cycle. I like my unit, I just wish it was a little bigger. So far I have used the Hornady solution that came with it. I have bought a small bottle of Simple Green and a small bottle of Lemi-Shine and I am going to see if they do any better.

[slumlord44]

White vinegar and water is supposed to be good. What ratio? 50% maybe?

[boho]

Mine has a basket and I bribed a waitress at Joes crab shack for the nets they boil seafood in. Fill the net with brass, cover it with distilled water and a few drops of dish soap. Let it run until it reaches temp. Add a little food grade citric acid. This should clean your brass nicely. Let it go longer and it should clean out primer pockets.

[Zymurgy50]

The local craigslist has a "golf club" ultrasonic cleaner for sale, $4000. Looks to be big enough to to about 40 gallons of brass at a time.