best way to clean out a lubrisizer?

[AbitNutz]

I have an old but working RCBS lubrisizer. This has not really been a problem till I started using a really soft lube designed for black powder. The previous lube I was using was MUCH harder. I tried to clean it out the best I could but it seems there is always some left. So why is this such a pain?

Well, the bullets lube grooves fill incompletely on one stroke or sometimes even two. If I crank the pressure up...I get a pretty good mess. The soft stuff squeezes out well before the trapped harder lube, as you would expect.

The mix of really soft lube with a much harder lube is just a pain.

I was thinking about taking it all apart and putting it in the oven at a couple of 100 degrees for a bit and melt it out. I can't think of any other way to do it. I just can't get it all out and the new softer lube seems to push past the older, harder lube for the most part. Not to mention the color mix is just ugly as sin.

Am I the only one with these kind of problems?

[leadhead]

That putting it in the oven sounds like a good idea to me.
I've heard of using a hair dryer. I've used a propane torch
a few times on a real low flame.
Denny

[2muchstuf]

A bucket of boiling water works great.
2

[WHITETAIL]

+1 onthe bucket of HOT water.[smilie=w:

[Mk42gunner]

I boiled mine with dawn dish soap on my turkey fryer once. The next time I am going to use a heat gun or propane torch, outside of course.


Robert

[canebreaker]

My Lee sizer has a rubber o ring, remove it. Place sizer in a snack or sandwich baggie and spray with wd-40 or oil. Let sit for a few days. Old lube wipes right out.

[afish4570]

I boiled mine with dawn dish soap on my turkey fryer once. The next time I am going to use a heat gun or propane torch, outside of course.


Robert

Take a metal can or pot that the unit fits into. Fill will water a little detergent won't hurt. I heat mine with a Harb. Fr(cheap model) Brush Burning torch. Boil water till clean. Preheat any water you add to the pot with unit in it so it doesn't crack any cast iron components. Do not dump boiling water and lube mess on your driveway or lawn. A pr. of Visegrips is what I use to to pick up pot and hot cleaned Lube machine. Cleanup takes 15 min. once you get your act together. The boiling water does not appear to damage rubber O rings or any machine pats. Do not apply torch flame directly to machine, afish4570

[Mitch]

I have cleaned several lubesizes in boiling water.Got a cheep pot from wallmart.Strip enough parts off the sizer so the lube can get out. Fill with water a few drops of dish soap.put the sizer in.i use my smelting burner.bring to a boil.i use large adjustable pliers to swish the sizer around to make sure the lube is all out.Blow off the water let dry done deal.

[dragon813gt]

Very old thread but I’ve boiled a few lubesizers. I only do this w/ ones I’m refinishing and will sandblast. Lube gets all over everything. Even if you wait for the water to cool and the lube to solidify on the top. The cleanest method is heat gun. If it’s a Star you can remove the plug, forget the actual part name, and push all the lube out. W/ an air cylinder you don’t need to do anything except turn the pressure up.

[fecmech]

+1 on the heat gun or propane torch. The torch idea is not as crazy as it sounds. If you keep it moving all over the sizer it won't hurt the paint a bit but do it outside.

[Land Owner]

Depending on the lube, and your hurry to clean it, you can usually use a 60 watt light bulb to heat the barrel of the lube sizer. Just channel the heat from the light bulb across the lube sizer barrel and let the sizer drain into a can for 24 hours or longer. The lube will melt and drain itself out without the need for more direct heat.

[georgerkahn]

I've several times done what Mitch posted. I put some water with a cap-full of Dawn in a small galvanized trash can (one I use for wood-stove ash removal) atop my lp gas "smelting" burner, and wait until water comes to a boil. Having removed lub sizer handle and all other parts, I lower it into boiling water with an attached stove-pipe wire, and in no time at all, so it seems, all the wax inside melts and floats to surface. Being a tad "OCD", I dumped out now-soiled water, and repeated -- the second time was "the charm"! I was so very happy the unit came out looking like it was new! As a btw, I sprayed it generously with G96 -- an aerosol -- as I was concerned I had gotten it so clean it might rust!
Good luck!
geo

[sharps4590]

Hmmm...I have wondered the same thing as "A bit nuts", (Gotta love that one!!!). Even though it was a question I hadn't asked I'm grateful for the answers.

[beagle]

In the summer you can place it in a cardboard box, lined with newspapers and leave it in your car trunk in the parking lot in the hot sun. This usually loosens things up after several days.
Had a friend that built a tumbler powered by a DC motor. He'd tumble to and from work every day using the 12 VDC from the car battery. We all know that casters are frugal but that's ridiculous./beagle

[RED BEAR]

Thank goodness i use the same lube for everything. And have never considered how to clean one out . I would think a heat gun would work.

[lightman]

A pan of boiling water works well. So does a heat gun. I have not tried using a torch and I don't have enough patience to wait on the Sun. Lots of good ideas everyone!

[ShooterAZ]

If you have a lube-sizer heater, just leave it plugged in for several hours. Make sure to have a bucket or something under it to catch the lube.

[Spruce]

I place mine upside down in my boolit catch pan and place on top of the wood stove. Doesn't take long and if you want to use the lube again pour it back in.

[abunaitoo]

Last time I cleaned an old Lyman by boiling it in water.
Take it all apart, and save the O-rings.
Boil until lube floats to the surface.
I dip dry newspaper on the surface to remove the old, floating lube.
This way it doesn't get on the luber when I take it out.
Take it out hot.
Let it air dry.
I sprayed it with spray silicon to keep it from rusting.
Silicone spray will dry to the touch.
Some of the paint came off in the boil.
Not a big deal.
Comes out really clean.
I've tried heat gun, hair dryer, propane torch.
Boiling water soak worked the best.

[skud007]

I had good success putting my Lyman/Ideal 45 in the oven @200 for a little while and then using blue shop towels to wipe everything out and down.

[stubshaft]

I torch it. Just gotta keep the flame moving.

[Dale53]

I have always just used a heat gun and have been happy with the results. Quick, safe, and neat. Just need to have it in a container to catch the melted lube...

Dale53

[higgins]

Last summer I cleaned out an old Lyman 45 by putting the body of it in a coffee can of water on the Coleman stove on about medium heat. It never had to boil. the lube, which I think was the old-time black Lyman lube, was pretty soft so it started oozing out of the lubsizer and floated well before boiling point. Turn off the heat and skim the lube off the water and keep it if you want. I didn't use any detergent, and the parts didn't seem overly greasy; a little will prevent rust. No mess to clean up.

[hermans]

I have cleaned several lubesizes in boiling water.Got a cheep pot from wallmart.Strip enough parts off the sizer so the lube can get out. Fill with water a few drops of dish soap.put the sizer in.i use my smelting burner.bring to a boil.i use large adjustable pliers to swish the sizer around to make sure the lube is all out.Blow off the water let dry done deal.

Exactly this!

[MN91311]

I once cleaned 1-45 and 2-450 using the boiling water method, one at a time. Worked great. Stripped all three. A large aluminum pot, gas burner, and plain water. All the old lube came out and floated to the top; beeswax/alox. Afterwards, I just let the pot cool, and the lube just solidified on top of the water. I still have it in a plastic bag. The sizers were left squeaky clean inside and out. Works well for the sizing dies also. Functionally, like starting out with new.

[15meter]

Thank goodness i use the same lube for everything. And have never considered how to clean one out . I would think a heat gun would work.

Until you run into a stick of lube that is defective. Recently put in a stick that turned out to be for lack of a better description, crunchy. It would not flow at all. It just crumbled out of the lube grooves.

Time to clean the sizer. I have an infared heat bulb left over from the farm when we bought day old chicks and had to keep them warm. That, mounted and aimed at the sizer with a waste basket under the sizer took about 45 minutes to completely melt all the lube out. Just make sure you take out the sizer die. Regular light bulbs would do, just take a little longer.

[woodbutcher]

;) Just a little FYI.If you use a propane torch,use the"Flame Spreader"tip.Much better that the small round one.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo