Ultrasound Cleaner

[GregLaROCHE]

I just ordered an ultrasound cleaner. The relative price seems to have come down since the 20 years plus, that I last used one. They now have heaters, that I don’t remember the one I used did.

I like to tinker with old guns, so most of what I buy needs some deep cleaning of all moving parts. In the past I would soak the parts in mineral spirits for a week and then start cleaning with an old toothbrush. I hope this new purchase will make things easier and faster. I don’t have a tumbler for brass, I have always done it by hand and accepted dull brass. Now maybe I’ll give it a go with ultrasound.

What I am most interested in is cleaning old greasy and gunky parts. What is the best solution to use? There are so many different things for sale these days. I think years ago we just used dish soap cold water and ran it overnight. Do I need these special products, or can I use normal cleaning products? Do you change the solution after each use? Any more pointers will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Winger Ed.]

For oil & grease, I'd use some sort of petroleum solvent if the container can safely handle it.
If it can't handle mineral spirits, I try something like 409 or maybe 'simple green' at full strength.

I wouldn't change it any more than I had to. The crud shakes off and falls to the bottom, and oil goes into solution.

Something a jeweler buddy does for cleaning stuff in a ultra sound is put the small stuff in as small of a glass
or glass jar as it will fit and run it like that at or under the solution level.
He swears somehow it amplifies the sonic vibrations and makes it work better & faster.

[beezapilot]

I've had an ultrasonic in the shop for a lot of years, mostly cleaning carburetors. Never had much luck degreasing in the U/S, run things through the parts washer for that. I have a "gunsmith tank" for mine, a polycarbonate tank that is filled with a light oil, the vibrations transfer through the plastic into the oil and it cleans gun parts pretty well without putting them into a solution that may cause problems down the line- oil in barrel threads on a revolver frame, how much H2O based solution has to be left behind for bad things to happen there? Tractor supply sells a 5 gallon bucket of parts washer fluid for about $50, I degrease mechanical parts in that- works a charm - then into the oilbath ultrasonic.

[JLF]

Alcohol vinegar (Acetic Acid)

[Omega]

I have a few different solvents I use, depending on what I am trying to clean, even used unleaded gas once for a carb. The thing is, I never use the machines chamber, I fill that with water and place a glass or plastic container, depending on solution, in the chamber with the item I am cleaning. Rusted items (non blued) get evaporust, small lots of brass get lemishine, water and dawn, some gun parts get simple green, real dirty gun parts get the NRA formula:

Yields 3 cups
2 cups of water,
1 cup of white vinegar,
1TBS salt
1tsp dish detergent

Makes 1 Cup
10 Tablespoons, 2 Teaspoons Water
5 Tablespoons, 1 Teaspoon Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Salt
0.25 (1/4)Teaspoon Soap

[Ford SD]

for your ultrasonic cleaner

Try Hot Water from the hot water tap and a A shot glass or so of pressure washer degreaser or simple green

I cleaned one part with about a can of brake cleaner and then put in the above solution and turned it on

I was surprised when I came back 5 min later and the water looked like chocolate milk

Now I just scrape off what i can ( popsicle stick / old gift card etc) and put it in

3 or so water changes later its as clean as it gets

when I dump the water I wipe down the the inside of the cleaner with a paper towel

I put the trigger group from a 870 in and and I was surprised on the junk that came out of it

[GregLaROCHE]

I received my ultrasound cleaner the other day. I had some greasy parts to clean so I decided to use a heavy duty alkaline cleaner that is sold here. Here it’s a liquid, but in the US I think it’s similar to TSP, that was in a powder.
I turned it on and a minute later it tripped the circuit breaker. I unplugged everything on that circuit and it kept doing the same thing. It’s on its way back to Amazon and a new one should be here in a couple of days. After an hour I took the parts out and I could see the solution was starting to cut the grease without the ultrasound working. I’m interested to try it with ultrasound. As for the parts, I ended up cleaning them in mineral spirits with a toothbrush as always.

[Shawlerbrook]

Hot water, Dawn and Lemnishine in my HF cleaner works good. I use it on brass and after a couple cycles it’s clean enough for me.

[country gent]

I cleaned a lot of my Lathe, mill and grinder tooling in my ultra sonic cleaner. It came out very good. I use Simple Green Precision and aircraft in it mixed 10-1. It can be diluted more but then the rust inhibitors get leaned out to much.Mine is a 6 gallon unit so I have to be careful not to overload the basket to where I cant lift it. On small parts ( boring heads vises) I clean them assembled and re lube as needed. Machined parts get cleaned here after deburring and final finish to remove small chips abrasives and cutting oils residue. I am going to try the water and jar method shortly in mine.

Im thinking maybe Hoppes or shooters choice in a jar for firearms parts. Dawn dish soap and a little of the jewelry polish for cases.

I also have some solvent for watches I am going to try a bunch of sticky indicators in. Theses are the old Starret Last words and some other test indicators I got when I bought the shop from a friend. There are also some of the old Ideal / Starret Jr mechanical indicators I want to clean up and preserve. If the jar method works I can put each in its own jar and clean a group keeping parts together and each separate. There are also 6-8 old mikes that are stiff with the foam from boxes stuck to them I want to clean, Lufkin, prat and whitney, B&S, Starret.

I like it for the fact I can load and start it and do something else while its running. Come back and unload let cool and assemble

[GregLaROCHE]

That jar method sounds very interesting. You can save on the amount of expensive solvent, if you don’t have to fill the tank up it. I’ll be trying it soon.

[Omega]

I cleaned a lot of my Lathe, mill and grinder tooling in my ultra sonic cleaner. It came out very good. I use Simple Green Precision and aircraft in it mixed 10-1. It can be diluted more but then the rust inhibitors get leaned out to much.Mine is a 6 gallon unit so I have to be careful not to overload the basket to where I cant lift it. On small parts ( boring heads vises) I clean them assembled and re lube as needed. Machined parts get cleaned here after deburring and final finish to remove small chips abrasives and cutting oils residue. I am going to try the water and jar method shortly in mine.

Im thinking maybe Hoppes or shooters choice in a jar for firearms parts. Dawn dish soap and a little of the jewelry polish for cases.

I also have some solvent for watches I am going to try a bunch of sticky indicators in. Theses are the old Starret Last words and some other test indicators I got when I bought the shop from a friend. There are also some of the old Ideal / Starret Jr mechanical indicators I want to clean up and preserve. If the jar method works I can put each in its own jar and clean a group keeping parts together and each separate. There are also 6-8 old mikes that are stiff with the foam from boxes stuck to them I want to clean, Lufkin, prat and whitney, B&S, Starret.

I like it for the fact I can load and start it and do something else while its running. Come back and unload let cool and assemble

It definitely works, give it a try, you will be pleasantly surprised. Mine is a small Hornady model, it's too small for larger batches of brass or bigger gun parts but using something like a mason jar I can fit larger pieces than I could have in the built in basket. And yes, it definitely lets you use less solvent. Mine doesn't have a heater, but the solvent tends to get noticeably warm after the third or fourth (8 minute) cycle so make sure you leave a little room for expansion or leave the lid loose.

[country gent]

Those little indicators are a rel pain to open up and disassemble to clean. Usually its old gummy oils in them.

[John Boy]

Greg … no such animal … ultrasound. It’s ultrasonic

[1hole]

I've found nothing better or safer to use in my smallish (Harbor Freight/Lyman) U.S. cleaner than mineral spirits to clean greasy/oily parts to the base metal, followed by a warm wash of cheep TSP (from Lowe's, H'Depot or Ace Hardware) to remove any residual oils.

[glockshooter]

What brand/size ultrasonic cleaner do folks here prefer? I’d like to get one but prices and quality seem to be all over the place. I will use it for small gun parts plus slides, barrels and magazines. All expertise and suggestions appreciated.

[Shawlerbrook]

The HF cleaner has worked well for me. Unfortunately, they no longer give out coupons like they used to.

[45workhorse]

Be careful with anodized parts. Some cleaners can dull the finish. (upper/ lower receiver and charging handle)

[45_Colt]

I use a 50/50 mix of mineral spirits and AFT (auto trans fluid). Both for general cleaning and in the ultrasonic. Sorta' like Ed's Red without the kero and acetone.

As for filling the tub with water and putting jars/cans in filled with cleaner and parts, it works. Although I tend toward cans as with my luck I'd break a glass jar.

45_Colt

[Scrounge]

Alcohol vinegar (Acetic Acid)

acetic acid/vinegar works nicely for stripping blued finishes. Make sure that's what you want before you use it! It is good if you wish to remove light rust, but you need to degrease first to get the best results. Works fine without ultrasonics, might work better with. I've not gotten to try one of those myself. Trying to talk SWMBO into letting me get a bigger one for my stuff (gun parts and machine tool parts) and her jewelry. Working.Working...

Bill

Bill

[brassrat]

I came across a huge container of Brownells Solvent and just replaced what was in my HF unit after 3 or 4 yrs. I only put in handguns or handgun pieces. They will scratch so I don't put parts together. There is a bottom mesh insert that got very brittle and discarded. I put in a cd case to lay things on. I should check it.