Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

P

Prison Mike

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Feb 4, 2011
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Wilmington, NC
#1
Ok so I'm about fed up with this whole brass cleaning thing. I have a good ultrasonic cleaner at work and today was my first time using it after reading for what seemed like hours. I used the 50/50 mix of vinegar and water with a couple drops of dish soap for about a total of about 30 minutes. I pulled out the brass and it was beautiful, nice and shiny. I think this is where I made my mistake.... After I pulled the brass out of the cleaner I took it straight over to the air and blew it out and sat all of the brass on the table for about 3 hours. When I returned the brass was starting to oxidize from the acid in the vinegar.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Questions</span>
So here is where I need a little advice... after I initially clean the brass in the vinegar cocktail, whats next?
Can I just put the brass back in the cleaner but with only water to remove any left over vinegar?
Would that suffice instead of using baking soda?
Are the oxidizing effects reversible other than using Brasso?

Im hoping to get some good pointers so I dont ruin anymore Lapua brass.

Here is a piece of uncleaned Lapua (left) next to a piece that I cleaned (right). The cleaned brass is darker and not as shiny and pretty as the "dirty" brass.
photo-3.jpg


Primer Pocket
photo-4.jpg


One of the worst oxidized pieces
photo-5.jpg
 
#2
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

I've never used vinegar. Try Lemishine in your water instead. I use Lemishine and Dawn then rinse with water. About a .40 S&W case of Lemishine to a couple quarts of water, with a little Danw.
 
#3
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

Lemishine is a good call. It is natural citric acid from lemon juice. I use pure citric acid powder. I never liked vinegar and got the same sort of post-clean discoloration. I use 1/2 teaspoon of powdered citric acid and about a teaspoon of detergent (dawn is fine, but I use the clear eco-friendly stuff or pure sodium lauryl sulfate powder) per quart of solution. For really dirty stuff (like scrounged range brass) I'll mix about 1/4 cup of simple green per quart of water (and nothing else) and let that run for an hour or more, then rinse and run the citric acid and detergent. Don't mix the simple green and citric acid. They'll neutralize each other. Don't use baking soda at all. It's slightly caustic and it'll do more corrosive damage than vinegar.

For the final rinse, I run the ultrasonic with distilled water or in a pinch, I'll use tap water with just a sprinkle of citric acid powder (to tame the hardness of the tap water) and then just blow-gun dry them.

I learned most of this through trial and error and what I can remember from my BA in chemistry some 20 years ago.

You can get nearly pure (like 95% or better) citric acid from Lowes branded as Filter-Mate water softener cleaner:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_272120-677-TO06N_0__?productId=3572834
 
#4
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

So when I go to the grocery store tomorrow would you recommend that I just get the lemishine instead of the baking soda and just do away with vinegar period? Then from there do a cycle of lemishine + water + dawn for 30 minutes, give or take, remove the brass, replace with distilled water and run for a little while longer. Does that seem about right? Will lemishine leave any discoloration like vinegar does?
 
#6
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

Vinegar is very harsh on the brass, thats why you need something to counteract the vinegar (baking soda), and really vinegar just makes the process harder.

Any sort of citric acid would be better since it doesn't hurt the brass as much, and all you need to do is rinse off the brass and it will be fine. I have been using this since I made my own ultrasonic thread (really helped) and I love it, my brass comes out beautiful.
 
#8
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

I used vinegar and water and had the same issue even after using baking soda and water. I broke down and bought some of the Hornady One Shot case cleaner and it does work better than vinegar and water and only requires rinsing. I am going to try the Lemmishine now.
 
#9
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jcfd2201</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I used vinegar and water and had the same issue even after using baking soda and water. I broke down and bought some of the Hornady One Shot case cleaner and it does work better than vinegar and water and only requires rinsing. I am going to try the Lemmishine now. </div></div>

The Hornady MSDS lists citric acid and <span style="text-decoration: line-through">detergent</span> as the main constituents in One-Shot.

Edit: Correction; only citric acid, but I'm pretty sure I remember it having some kind of surfactant when I tested it.

http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/msds/OneShot_Sonic_Clean_Case_Formula.pdf
 
#10
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

Why not just get the Hornady Ultra-Sonic brass cleaner its what I use in my Hornady Ultra-sonic brass cleaner and it works well.
 
#11
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

I just went with the lemishime option or now. I'm in the process of cleaning with it right now. Lemishine was much more convenient to obtain. A 5 minute drive and I had a bottle of it for $4.
 
#12
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

Because One Shot is over priced, $20 for a half gallon plus shipping. Lemishine and Dawn are available at Walmart for 6 to 8 dollars.
 
#15
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

Ok so by looking at the pictures you can obviously tell that vinegar is a pretty dumb idea when it comes to cleaning brass compared to Lemishine. On the left is the brass I cleaned today with the Lemishine and the right is with vinegar.

A huge difference
photo-6.jpg


photo-7.jpg
 
#17
Re: Another brass cleaning question (Ultrasonic)...

That brass is fine, if u plan to throw it out I'm sure many on here that use lapua would take it.

Those discoloration are surface deep. I had the same issues and was advised the same thing when I brought it up here. Some of mine looks much worse than even the one you have pictured. They work just fine!

I use citrinox with a little dish soap now. Even that changed the color of my brass on my 308, but not 338. Since I did much bigger batches of 308 I had to leave it in there for longer, so that's why I think it still did it to the
. Either way, they have all been working great so far.
 
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