Ultrasonic parts cleaner questions.

[8shot]

Looks like ultrasonic parts cleaners are available..not like primers, bullets, firearms etc.

Anyway I have some questions:

1) I'm considering a 6L unit with drain at bottom and manual control (don't want digital readouts). It will be an all around shop parts cleaner, reloading brass and automotive stuff. The 2 or 2.5L units capacity just seems too small.

2) What is an all around parts cleaner solution...prefer homemade and have read stories where plain water and detergent works just fine.

3) Has anyone ever compared sonic cleaned firearms brass against dirty brass (but tumbled) related to accuracy. Understand that it obviously looks better and primer pockets really clean up nicely. I suspect that if an undetected piece of media got stuck in the primer pocket flash hole...the ultrasonic cleaner has a better chance dislodging the particle?


Thanks

[XDROB]

I moved away from ultrasonic for cleaning brass. Use it for other things. Wet tumbling with stainless pins or chips is the way to go for cleaning brass and super clean primer holes.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[country gent]

I have an 6 gallon vevor in the shop. depending on what Im cleaning, I use simple green extreme aircraft and ? it does good removing oils greases and swarf. I add a small amount of Dawn dish soap. For light cleaning of parts its dawn dish soap and water. I need to find a couple culligan water jugs or 5 gallon cans cheap so I can drain and swap easier. Mine has a drain tube Im going to try adding an inline oil filter to it maybe a simple water filter to filter as drain into the storage container.

You might try water dawn and lemi shine in it for cleaning brass. The simple green was $60.00 for 5 gallons I mix it 10 to one so its good for 50 gallons.

Om going to try cold bluing some small parts in it, put the water in the parts in a peanut butter jar sealed in with the diluted soulution and run for 15-20 mins.the vibration and heat will transfer thru the water to the jar.

When I got mine I cleaned a bunch of lathe tooling and collets in it did a great job,Came out clean chip free ans nice looking. I would do aloris tool holders in it and they came out looking like new. My tank is 12 x 12 x 24 so you have to be careful you can load it with parts to where the basket is to heavy to lift. Another pointer when getting ready to remove the basket have a place with a tray or towel to set it ready. Also on parts the solvent gets dirty fast so for small batches use the jars with solvent in them in plain tap water.

[bangerjim]

I use US cleaning for everything but fired ammo brass. Clocks, machine parts, jewelry, antique items I restore, etc. I have a BIG powerful one, too.

Just not suited for brass cleaning. I use simple almost boiling water and citric acid with a bit of Lemashine in a plastic container. That's all I need!

Works for me.

[MrWolf]

I moved away from ultrasonic for cleaning brass. Use it for other things. Wet tumbling with stainless pins or chips is the way to go for cleaning brass and super clean primer holes.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Same here. Harbor freight dual drum and SS pins. Good luck

[robg]

mine is just big enough to fit in my non strippable moderator, or 50x308 cases.washup liquid and citric acid cleans them fine .if you want shiny brass tumble when dry.

[8shot]

Thanks for clearing up my concerns..this is the unit I am considering. 6L, bottom drain and manual controls.

https://www.newegg.com/p/334-0170-00007?Description=ultrasonic%20cleaner&cm_re=ultrasonic_cleaner-_-334-0170-00007-_-Product

[country gent]

Other than mine being digital they could be twins from the looks if them. I found an nipple and elbow to fit the drain valve and added a piece of clear tubing to it. Rhis now alllows me to drain directly into a bucket with it needing little attention

[jmorris]

3) Has anyone ever compared sonic cleaned firearms brass against dirty brass (but tumbled) related to accuracy. Understand that it obviously looks better and primer pockets really clean up nicely. I suspect that if an undetected piece of media got stuck in the primer pocket flash hole...the ultrasonic cleaner has a better chance dislodging the particle?


Media in the flash hole won’t be there once the decapping pin pushes it out. As far as polished pretty corncob tops the list on the outside, stainless with pins is best inside and in the primer pocket, I only use ultrasonic on really small batches and it gets them cleaner than my benchrest cases.

For the benchrest cases, I wipe off by hand and brush out the neck and pocket, they don’t looks as pretty and I wouldn’t go licking on them but I can consistently shoot one hole groups in the .1-.3” range at 100 yards, depending on environmental conditions and how well I read them that day, despite them not being squeaky clean, just clean. Once I spent the time prepping them, they never touch one another.

[Shawlerbrook]

My HF ultrasonic cleaner does a good enough job on my brass for me. Don’t really need them shiny, just clean. Hot water, Dawn detergent and Lemishine

[8shot]

Media in the flash hole won’t be there once the decapping pin pushes it out

10-4 was considering match ammo brass that would be cleaned with used primers removed ... but got your drift.

[Burnt Fingers]

I got a Hornady ultrasonic cleaner as part of a deal about four years ago. I've never taken it out of the package.

I mostly use vibratory tumblers, I have four of them, to clean brass. I've found that shiny like new brass doesn't make me a better shooter.

[jmorris]

10-4 was considering match ammo brass that would be cleaned with used primers removed ... but got your drift.

Are you sizing dirty brass?

[8shot]

Are you sizing dirty brass?

For match ammo..I clean it, size it, clean it again, then reload.

[kokomokid]

My ultrasonic was designed to clean diesel injectors and cleans brass well but it looks .... If anyone is going to see my brass it gets a tumble in SS pins.

[8shot]

My ultrasonic was designed to clean diesel injectors and cleans brass well but it looks .... If anyone is going to see my brass it gets a tumble in SS pins.

Was not familiar with the SS media....but doing a search...it comes in various sizes....where do you buy it and what size is suggested for handgun brass? (nickle and brass?)

[1hole]

I've found that shiny like new brass doesn't make me a better shooter.

Me too. But, I've never seen any new cases that glitter like gold so it was easy for me to skip the high shine.

[8shot]

Was not familiar with the SS media....but doing a search...it comes in various sizes....where do you buy it and what size is suggested for handgun brass? (nickle and brass?)

Went to the Lyman web site and found this statement: Areas such as primer pockets and the inside of cases are both cleaned using rotary tumblers, while vibratory tumbling just can’t get into these areas effectively

I have a vibratory tumbler...and it looks like SS pins may not be suited for it?

[XDROB]

Went to the Lyman web site and found this statement: Areas such as primer pockets and the inside of cases are both cleaned using rotary tumblers, while vibratory tumbling just can’t get into these areas effectively

I have a vibratory tumbler...and it looks like SS pins may not be suited for it?

SS pin/chips are not used in a vibratory tumbler. They are used to wet tumble your brass. I went from a vibratory tumbler to an ultrasonic and finally to wet tumbling. I like shiny brass and clean primer holes.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[8shot]

SS pin/chips are not used in a vibratory tumbler. They are used to wet tumble your brass. I went from a vibratory tumbler to an ultrasonic and finally to wet tumbling. I like shiny brass and clean primer holes.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

OK thanks..

[megasupermagnum]

I moved away from ultrasonic for cleaning brass. Use it for other things. Wet tumbling with stainless pins or chips is the way to go for cleaning brass and super clean primer holes.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

Correction, it is the way to go if you want to do a ton of brass. My ultrasonic cleaner has a 3 liter tank. You can get clean brass with spotless primer pockets with an ultrasonic cleaner. In mine, I can do about 100 cases of 308 winchester, or maybe 300 of 45 acp per batch. You can fit more, but there is a point where you stuff so many in, it takes extra time to work. Obviously a bigger tank would allow more. My thinking is that an ultrasonic is great if you do moderate amounts of brass, same as you would in a dry tumbler. If you want to do large batches, then I too would look into a wet tumbler. I've never felt hindered by mine. If I'm doing a bulk amount of brass, usually it is nearly done cleaning by the time I have the next batch sized and de primed.

I tried a number of home recipes. The only ones that worked involved vinegar, which also required a wash with baking soda, or it turned them dark brown. They did work well, possibly better than you can buy. I just didn't like the little brown speckled look that some got, no matter how well you rinsed them in the neutralizing bath. I then settled on Hornady's cleaner, the cartridge case solution. They make two solutions, and the gun parts solution is horrible for brass. I use 5 cap full per tank which I fill with DI water. I normally do two 10 minute cycles. Three if I had added too much brass. Rinse off in the sink, and set in sun or on top of furnace to dry. The few times I wanted brass done within the hour, I dried them off with a heat gun.

[XDROB]

Correction, it is the way to go if you want to do a ton of brass. My ultrasonic cleaner has a 3 liter tank. You can get clean brass with spotless primer pockets with an ultrasonic cleaner. In mine, I can do about 100 cases of 308 winchester, or maybe 300 of 45 acp per batch. You can fit more, but there is a point where you stuff so many in, it takes extra time to work. Obviously a bigger tank would allow more. My thinking is that an ultrasonic is great if you do moderate amounts of brass, same as you would in a dry tumbler. If you want to do large batches, then I too would look into a wet tumbler. I've never felt hindered by mine. If I'm doing a bulk amount of brass, usually it is nearly done cleaning by the time I have the next batch sized and de primed.

I tried a number of home recipes. The only ones that worked involved vinegar, which also required a wash with baking soda, or it turned them dark brown. They did work well, possibly better than you can buy. I just didn't like the little brown speckled look that some got, no matter how well you rinsed them in the neutralizing bath. I then settled on Hornady's cleaner, cartridge case solution. The gun parts solution is horrible for brass. I use 5 cap full per tank which I fill with DI water. I normally do two 10 minute cycles. Three if I had added too much brass. Rinse off in the sink, and set in sun or on top of furnace to dry.I should have mentioned that I like really really shiny brass. My ultrasonic cleaner does not let me do any more then 70 to 100 case's at a time. And maybe I didn't find the correct solution to get them as shiny as I wanted. That's when I moved to wet tumbling.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[jmorris]

Stainless with pins gets cases the closest to as new clean beats my ultrasonic cleaner by good margin. I have won the most handgun matches using brass that was tumbled in corncob media.

I built some really big tumblers for a business that tumbled wet 15 gallons of brass per drum before loading and used a bank of dry tumblers after loading for final polish.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlZOYjmAnO0

[jmorris]

Built 3 of those double drum wet tumblers for cleaning then they had a bank of dry for final polish that I made a media separator that would roll down the isle.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=275177&d=1610375494


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScrYaUscDe8

[8shot]

WOW ... you guys are serious!

[onelight]

Holy cow , those are some high volume case cleaners I bet you can clean more than one coffee can of cases at a time :)

[jmorris]

Holy cow , those are some high volume case cleaners I bet you can clean more than one coffee can of cases at a time :)

Yeah, they were doing more than 25,000 9mm cases per drum per run, in the wet tumblers. Built a gantry crane to load and unload the drums. They also had a room full of camdex machines to feed though.

[LEADLUBBER]

I have the ultrasonic from Harbor freight that is the same model as the Lyman turbo sonic 2500.

I have used this Harbor Freight US cleaner for several years now, doing every thing from carburetor part cleaning with solvents in small containers placed in a water bath of the tank, to cleaning dirty brass with Citric acid and hot water.

I use a tablespoon of citric acid to each quart of water. This works good with hot water alone in a container and even much better with the same mixture in the ultrasonic for just a few minutes, then a rinse in clean hot water and another ultrasonic bath.

The brass is much brighter, although not quite polished, and it usually removes 90% of any carbon staining. If I am being finicky, I rub the necks with some #0000 steel wool and clean the primer pockets with the simple lee primer pocket cleaner tool.


I like the look of perfectly cleaned and polished brass, but, I am not willing to spend that many more hours and steps to get it to be that way. I have a Harbor Freight rock tumbler that I could use with stainless steel pins, but I haven't messed with that yet.....



I figured out pretty quick that if I get to making this reloading too slow and too big of an operation, I won't actually get much accomplished. Not saying this is bad for those who have the time and want to make everything absolutely perfect, I certainly do that with some things myself, but, I like the idea of being able to make a few hundred dollars equivalent of commercial ammo in a few hours, spaced out over a day or two of off and on efforts.

[1hole]

8shot, bear in mind that people reloaded a very long time before even simple vib tumblers came available; about 1975 if I remember correctly. Few people were much concerned about the tiny residue in primer pockets.

Wet rolling tumblers didn't arrive until about 1995 (I think) and suddenly a lot of folks fell in love with spotless cases, inside as well as outside. They're pretty but I've never heard a single soul say surgically clean cases have proven to do a thing to improve accuracy.

[country gent]

My first vibratory was a neat little set up I bought at a gun show. a wood base with and electro magnet in it and a spring metal top on it you set the gap with a thumb wheel for amount of vibration. Used cool whip bowls or butter tubs for tubs.

You decide on what you need how big and media you want to use. I wet clean BPCR cases soaking at range and trip home then rinse to remove most of the fouling then dry and polish in a vibratory

[8shot]

8shot, bear in mind that people reloaded a very long time before even simple vib tumblers came available; about 1975 if I remember correctly. Few people were much concerned about the tiny residue in primer pockets.

Wet rolling tumblers didn't arrive until about 1995 (I think) and suddenly a lot of folks fell in love with spotless cases, inside as well as outside. They're pretty but I've never heard a single soul say surgically clean cases have proven to do a thing to improve accuracy.

Now that you mention it..I kicked a lot of butt about 30 years ago via my Lyman vibratory and corn cobb media...never worried about cleaning primer pockets. My Ultrasonic cleaner arrived today...may just see vintage car parts going inside :-)

What I really need are small pistol primers...but who doesn't.

[8shot]

Thanks all...my 6L Sonic Dental Lab Use Ultrasonic Cleaner arrived today $109.99 delivered via eBay. Sure glad I bought the 6L and nothing smaller.

[vagrantviking]

Topical thread. I just ordered a 6L yesterday. Looks just like the analog one in the link but with digital display.

I'll probably try brass in it at some point but really got it for trigger groups, bolt assemblies, flint locks, sewing machine parts etc, etc.

Sounds like simple green is a favourite and I've got some lemishine and vinegar so will start experiments with those. Will be following for more hints.

[8shot]

Topical thread. I just ordered a 6L yesterday. Looks just like the analog one in the link but with digital display.

I'll probably try brass in it at some point but really got it for trigger groups, bolt assemblies, flint locks, sewing machine parts etc, etc.

Sounds like simple green is a favourite and I've got some lemishine and vinegar so will start experiments with those. Will be following for more hints.

Guess I'm showing my age....intentionally kept it simple with manual buttons :-) Sewing machine parts? I just used my Juki LU-563 about 3 hours ago to make a nylon case for my chronograph steel screen supports. My new chronograph arrived today also...like xmas.

[country gent]

I use the simple green aircraft and precision parts I think it is with just a small dash of dawn. Works great on machine tooling and parts for me. I mix at 10 -1 right now. My only complaint on my vevor 6 gal is the warm up time. Even new machine tooling with the grease or thin cosmo it comes clean in one cycle.

Ive wondered about clp in a peanut butter jar for small tools.

[jmorris]

Thanks all...my 6L Sonic Dental Lab Use Ultrasonic Cleaner arrived today $109.99 delivered via eBay. Sure glad I bought the 6L and nothing smaller.

Start another thread once you have had time to play with it.

[pastera]

HF dual drum rock tumbler does a great job with or without pins - 25acp case of lemishine and a squirt of dishsoap (~1/2 teaspoon) in each drum. Use pins if you want spotless primer pockets.

I have a 3d model for a strainer for the HF drums - uses window screen to retain the pins and makes draining and rinsing much easier.

My ultrasonic cleaner has been relegated to parts cleaning because the tumbler is just easier and more time efficient.

[vagrantviking]

Guess I'm showing my age....intentionally kept it simple with manual buttons :-) Sewing machine parts? I just used my Juki LU-563 about 3 hours ago to make a nylon case for my chronograph steel screen supports. My new chronograph arrived today also...like xmas.

The girlfriend has taken an interest in antique Singer machines and others. Hell of a deal compared guns of the same vintage. Often in need of a serious strip down and cleaning.

[XDROB]

This is why I like wet tumbling with SS pins. I haven't tried the 'chips' yet, they are supposed to be better. Like bright brass because it makes it easier to see on the ground and in a dimly lit indoor range. 1 table spoon lemishine, two and a half caps of AmourAll wash/wax. Three hour tumble with as hot as I can get it out of the faucet. About two gals water. Around 300 pre-deprimed. And the plus is you keep your dies cleaner. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210123/3e6eb4fcbb73a8b855b4ad8069dd5618.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210123/269e6836676040bfaebb7a3323f9fd57.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210123/bdf8668b36acd68b539a94eff9b68522.jpg

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20210123/e852556d1c82536fc3b5b29bc757dcd7.jpg

[8shot]

Outstanding....

[megasupermagnum]

@XDROB, you can get brass that looks that same way from an ultrasonic cleaner. It is every bit as shiny too. You can do more at a time with a wet tumbler, but it takes longer per cycle too. They are two methods that end up in the same outcome.

[XDROB]

I actually went from dry tumbling. Walnut husks with a brass polish from Midway. Loved it, brass was shiny. But I couldn't get past the primer pockets not being clean. And I understand that they really don't need to be clean. So I did move to a ultrasonic cleaner. But even trying different solutions I never got that shiny brass. Then I got a Franklin Armoury wet tumbler. And wow I got my shiny new looking brass with clean primer holes. The ones I pictured (about 300) was a three hour tumble with one tablespoon of lemishine band two and half caps of Armourall wash and wax.

How do you clean yours?

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[megasupermagnum]

I use the Hornady cartridge case cleaner solution. 5 capfuls to my tank. It is a Hornady locknload mag, 3 quart tank. The key is to not overfill the thing with brass. I can do 100 maybe 150 cases of 308 winchester at a time. I usually do 2, sometimes 3 cycles at 10 minutes each. Rinse them off, and dry. They come out perfectly clean, including the primer pockets. They are just as shiny as what you have pictured. They usually have some water spots, but that just kind of comes with water cleaning.

[XDROB]

Mine is not that big. I'm thinking a 2ltr bottle. I have not tried the Hornady solution. And I do like Hornady products.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[megasupermagnum]

No reason to switch now that you have a wet tumbler. As I said, they are two methods that do the same thing. At first mine did not clean well at all with some basic cleaners. I tried dish soap, pine sol, laundry soap, etc. I did find a homemade mix that cleaned well, but the vinegar often turned the brass spotty brown. It sounds stupid to try the commercial bottled stuff last, but that is what I did. I forget the mix ratio that Hornady recommends, but by trial and error, I found 5 capfuls in my tank does a great job. I like simple, and it doesn't get any more simple than that. I can only imagine how many tens of thousands of brass cases that one $15 quart bottle has done. A gallon of the stuff would be a 10 year supply or better.

[XDROB]

Do you use heat?

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[megasupermagnum]

Well, it builds heat on its own just from use. I've never looked that close, but after a 10 minute cycle it goes up to about 115 or 120. It seems to stay there for the next cycle or two. My unit does have a heater on it, but being as it heats up that much on its own, I don't use it.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but I do use DI water from work. I've read that well water can trap tiny bubbles that impede function. I assume distilled water works good. All I have ever used is DI, as it is free to me, I use it in batteries too.

[XDROB]

It seems strange that it would build up that much heat. I have a digital gauge for time and heat. And it does not get hot unless I turn the heat on.

I have not tried distilled water. I do have city water. Who know what's in there.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[8shot]

Since I started this thread I bought the 6L unit....been doing brass and happy with results. BUT I learned that it really cleans rusty metal parts . I fill the cleaner with straight apple cider vinegar, drop in the rusty parts, turn on the heat then let it run for 30 minutes. Let it cool overnight then cycle it again...rust is gone....really gone.

[1hole]

2) What is an all around parts cleaner solution...prefer homemade and have read stories where plain water and detergent works just fine.

There is no "all around" sonic cleaning fluid. Some things clean well with soap and water, some will need to dissolve oil/grease.

Water and Dawn/SimpleGreen/PurplePower/Trisodium Phosphate detergents all work well. Mild acids like (white) vinegar, and citric acid (Limishine) will handle most "dirt", light oil, bullet lube and smoke removal. Citric acid and vinegar converts dark surface tarnish into a pale pink that will be easily seen and safely polished away with normal tumbling. And acids will not "leech" zinc out of the alloy; brass is just not that pourious.

Toss any cases with green corrosion, we can remove it but corrosion thins and weakens the metal.

I like low flash-point odorless paint thinner (mineral spirits) to ultrasonic clean thick greasy parts, usually followed by one of the common detergent mixes to remove all traces of oils.


3) Has anyone ever compared sonic cleaned firearms brass against dirty brass (but tumbled) related to accuracy. Understand that it obviously looks better and primer pockets really clean up nicely.

I know of no serious and documented accuracy difference for shiney cases; it's purely cosmetic. Case glitter is nice to look at and most of us try it, at least for awhile. A LOT of us return to our old ways.


I suspect that if an undetected piece of media got stuck in the primer pocket flash hole...the ultrasonic cleaner has a better chance dislodging the particle?

First, rotary wet tumbling with pins removes carbon scale and flash holes better than anything else. Dry tumbling can indeed plug flash holes but normal sizing decapper pins clear the holes. Most dry media (nut/cob) is a 12-20 grit and it will often plug holes. I prefer a 20-40 grit cob because it's soft and too fine to clog.

Second, the carbon scale flakes that form in primer pockets is thin and quite brittle, it's no obstical to the explosive primer flash.

Third, IMHO, the best sequence of case preparation is to clean cases before sizing/decapping. That way, only clean cases enter my Sizer dies and the decap pin will clear flash holes of any carbon scale and/or stuck kernels of tumbling media. (Yeah, I quickly went back to dry tumbling cases but I no longer bother with pointless brass polish.)

Some of us use a universal decapping die (I prefer Lee's) to remove spent primers prior to tumbling/cleaning and sizing because it is much easier/faster to inspect cases and see cracks after sizing.