Suppressors Best way to clean heavily fouled TBAC can ?

BurtG

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  • Nov 9, 2022
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    I tend to push things till they push back. Lack of cleaning on a Tbac 338 ultra bit in a big way at a gas gun match. Had chunks of carbon fouling action causing malfunctions.

    Can has north of 5000 rounds of 6cm 6.5cm and 556. Maybe more

    Have a ultrasonic cleaner and the boretech cleaner kit.

    Best course of action ?

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    Plug the end with an ear plug (I use the rubber plus that comes in copper tubing which is a bit more solid) and fill it with clr, yes the household cleaner) and watch it bubble the carbon away. Let it soak for a few hours, empty and refill and soak.
    You might have luck getting a pick in the two end chambers and physically scrap those, the internal baffles can’t get that treatment.

    I would like to try that pressure washer after a clr soak one day but I’m not gonna buy it.
     
    I had very good luck cleaning a TBAC CB Dominus with CLR. I’d plug the end with an earplug and let it soak for 24hrs. Hit the can on my wooden work bench to break up the carbon. Then flush it out with a garden hose. I did this for about a week, 6 flushes, and it got within 0.5oz of factory.

    It had probably 7500 rounds through it on 223/6br/6.5CM. Had never been cleaned since new and had over 6oz of carbon built up. The can was so dirty that when carrying barrel up the can had debris fall back into the action and gum it up. Firing pin was having light strikes due to carbon debris.
     
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    If it's so heavily fouled... Just send it to TBAC. They offer a cleaning once a year IIRC.

    Sure, you can do the CLR thing...

    The one nice thing I like about Area419, is they will clean your Maverick every 3-5k rounds and pay shipping both ways. As an end user, that service is invaluable.

    Sure hope that AREA419 keeps doing that service down the line, who knows when other products get released if they drop that on legacy cans.
     
    I had very good luck cleaning a TBAC CB Dominus with CLR. I’d plug the end with an earplug and let it soak for 24hrs. Hit the can on my wooden work bench to break up the carbon. Then flush it out with a garden hose. I did this for about a week, 6 flushes, and it got within 0.5oz of factory.

    It had probably 7500 rounds through it on 223/6br/6.5CM. Had never been cleaned since new and had over 6oz of carbon built up. The can was so dirty that when carrying barrel up the can had debris fall back into the action and gum it up. Firing pin was having light strikes due to carbon debris.
    This is how I clean mine, as well. I bought some rubber plugs on amazon and use those to plug the end, then sit it upright in an old glass olive jar (tall & skinny), and then fill with CLR Pro and let it sit overnight. Then dump, tap, rinse until the chunks stop, repeat until the weight is nearly factory new. If you can get within a 1/2 oz, you're doing good. If I get one that close in weight, I'll call it good and go on about my way.
     
    Just send it in to TBAC, they'll clean it for free.
    OCL offers the same service for their customer, I think. But if the OP doesn't want to go through the headache of doing it his self at home, yeah, I'd send it to TBAC and let them clean it professionally. They're nice folks, hell, they might even respray it with some fresh powdercoat if you ask them...
     
    I too just plug the muzzle end with a silicon plug...bought this set on Amazon for $10 and find them to be useful for a number of applications


    I too also stand it up...well, in my case in a old pickle jar....and then flush with a garden hose.

    I do use Bore Tech Carbon Remover vice CLR as I use A419 universal Hellfire adapters/mounts and I take their word on it that CLR will turn their parts pink! haha

    But CLR sure is less expensive.

    I also find that the BT Carbon Remover gets a lot of copper out of my Ultra-7. I pour the Carbon Remover into a small jelly jar, let it sit and have the carbon settle to the bottom, and I can see the solvent is nicely blue. A friend of mine pours it off thru a coffee filter after cleaning and reuses the BT solvent.

    And I find it to be similar to cleaning a barrel...the more often I do it, the easier it is to get clean. I'm cleaning my U-7 about every 300-400 rounds just....well, because. lol
     
    I too just plug the muzzle end with a silicon plug...bought this set on Amazon for $10 and find them to be useful for a number of applications


    I too also stand it up...well, in my case in a old pickle jar....and then flush with a garden hose.

    I do use Bore Tech Carbon Remover vice CLR as I use A419 universal Hellfire adapters/mounts and I take their word on it that CLR will turn their parts pink! haha

    But CLR sure is less expensive.

    I also find that the BT Carbon Remover gets a lot of copper out of my Ultra-7. I pour the Carbon Remover into a small jelly jar, let it sit and have the carbon settle to the bottom, and I can see the solvent is nicely blue. A friend of mine pours it off thru a coffee filter after cleaning and reuses the BT solvent.

    And I find it to be similar to cleaning a barrel...the more often I do it, the easier it is to get clean. I'm cleaning my U-7 about every 300-400 rounds just....well, because. lol
    Remove the mount first, that’s what I do. Just open HUB end, plugged muzzle end. Then you can use CLR. 👍🏼
     
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    Waiiitaminnit...

    Is that a poors Bushnell TRS-25 on top of your ZCO? I'm not even concerned about the torx bit that you forgot to remove at this point in time.

    Between this and those AICS-Remington photos you've been sharing in the AI picture thread, I'm starting to have my doubts man... :D
     
    Waiiitaminnit...

    Is that a poors Bushnell TRS-25 on top of your ZCO? I'm not even concerned about the torx bit that you forgot to remove at this point in time.

    Between this and those AICS-Remington photos you've been sharing in the AI picture thread, I'm starting to have my doubts man... :D
    Had to get a pic before I took it off.

    Wanted to try a red dot for the off hand portions last minute. My T1s in my junk drawer didn’t have mounts. But I had this brand new Bushnell I bought a couple years ago to put on a .22 pistol.

    Zeroed it the night before.

    Fucker was 3’ off in windage the next morning when I confirmed zero at match.

    F them poors optics



    Those AICS Remington’s are mid 2000s era GAP full customs . They were hot shit back then. Lol
     
    OCL offers the same service for their customer, I think. But if the OP doesn't want to go through the headache of doing it his self at home, yeah, I'd send it to TBAC and let them clean it professionally. They're nice folks, hell, they might even respray it with some fresh powdercoat if you ask them...
    OCL will clean and recoat once a year for free...awesome company.
     
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    ? Maintain
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    He says you don’t need to.

    My results determined that not to be an absolute.

    Still was top 10 finish. With all those malfunctions and manual bolt operation. Rest of my finishes there are too 5.
     
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    ? Maintain
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    He says you don’t need to.

    My results determined that not to be an absolute.

    Still was top 10 finish. With all those malfunctions and manual bolt operation. Rest of my finishes there are too 5.
    Yeah, it’s patently obvious that heavy shooters should clean their cans. Unless they like hard carbon shards in their bore and bits in their action. Bullets blasting over carbon bits…yeah.
     
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    There is a new suppressor cleaner on the market. It is safe for aluminum, carbon steel, and titanium. I used it a few weeks ago and it dissolved 10k rounds of carbon after soaking for a few days. I soaked AR bolts and random gas pistons too. There's a lengthy threads on arfcom in the silencer forum about it.
     
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    I soaked my ultra 7 5 times in CLR for 24hr each time and flushed in between. I also smacked it with a plastic hammer and on my work bench. I also built a PVC tube with a glued cap on one end and threaded on the other to put it in with hot water to shake back and forth violently. It only got 2.5oz of carbon out and is still almost 4oz overweight. Didn’t hardly do shit.

    I’m going to try an ultrasonic next.
     
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    There is a new suppressor cleaner on the market. It is safe for aluminum, carbon steel, and titanium. I used it a few weeks ago and it dissolved 10k rounds of carbon after soaking for a few days. I soaked AR bolts and random gas pistons too. There's a lengthy threads on arfcom in the silencer forum about it.
    Got a brand name? Save me from ARF! 😢
     
    I soaked my ultra 7 5 times in CLR for 24hr each time and flushed in between. I also smacked it with a plastic hammer and on my work bench. I also built a PVC tube with a glued cap on one end and threaded on the other to put it in with hot water to shake back and forth violently. It only got 2.5oz of carbon out and is still almost 4oz overweight. Didn’t hardly do shit.

    I’m going to try an ultrasonic next.
    Jeeze 6.5 oz in a ultra 7 ? I thought this one was bad

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    Has anyone tried CLR in an ultrasonic? It must be more better.

    Dipping various metals into hot cavitating acid is often educational. It will remove light rust from mild steel. I haven't tried it with 17-4PH, but let me see if I've got a spare baffle or coupon. It should be fine for any reasonable soak time.
     
    CLR is acid and it isn't safe to use on carbon steel and aluminum. DMSO is safe for all kinds of metal which means 22RF and 9mm silencers, AR bcg's, shotgun pistons, etc. If you search YT, there are videos showing carbon removal from aluminum pistons. If you love CLR, so be it, but it has a limited use case beyond titanium.
     
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    Has anyone tried CLR in an ultrasonic? It must be more better.
    Yes, I cleaned both of my OCL Hydrogen cans in the ultrasonic with CLR Pro... I used a 3:1 ratio (3 parts water, 1 part CLR). Worked well. You'd be amazed at all the shit that comes out of it... Don't use any heat, if you don't want to damage the finish.
     
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    On our really dirty R&D and Demo cans I use CLR plus a peristaltic pump (https://a.co/d/cQ8vFbe). Have the pump pull from the bottom of the container and back into the blast chamber. This doubles the amount of carbon we get out of a 4 hour soak. If you have a spot that isn't getting clean you can also use tubing to have the pump push CLR into that specific chamber
     
    Clr will eat through stainless steel?

    Time + temperature + mechanical agitation are a bitch.

    Things get worse if there's any contamination remaining from machining operations (such as ferrous deposits that act as a site for initial corrosion). On the other hand, chemical passivation via exposure to strong acids post-machining can make a part more resistant to corrosion under these conditions. We don't know any of the factors just by looking at a manufacturer's spec sheet.