Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

[Gideon]

For those who use an ultrasonic cleaner for your brass, do you:
- put the brass loose on the bottom of the floor of the bath
- put the brass loose on a plastic tray
- put the brass into a beaker that is suspended or sits on a plastice tray
- use some kind of partitioned plastic holder

I think everyone gets the gist of my question. What is your method?

Also, how many rounds of what cartridge do you do per batch?

 

[Belisarius]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

I use a suspended beaker, in my experience works the best

 

[oldfatguy]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

Beaker(s) sitting on the stainless tray in the Hornady Magnum sonic cleaner.

OFG

 

[jkonzal]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

I use the small Hornady Ultrasonic cleaner. I lay my brass in rows, inside the plastic basket that came with the cleaner. I can put 100 308's in at a time.
One trick I learned is after they are covered with cleaning solution, tip the entire cleaner back and forth until no more air bubbles come out. This ensures that the cases have cleaner inside of them.

 

[Genius.]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

Not to hijack, I just picked up a ultrasonic cleaner, is there a homemade solution that can be made?

 

[oldfatguy]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

A lot of people use 50% vinigar in distilled water. Then you will need to rinse and use a baking soda solution to neutralize the acid in the vinigar. There are on-line instructions for this method.

OFG

 

[Gideon]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

There are many threads that address homemade cleaning solutions. A search of the reloading forum using "ultrasonic" yields lots of good info. The member "Gene Poole" has written about his recipe using citrus acid (in the form of Filter-Mate from Lowes) with the following thread as a good start:

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthre...rue#Post3404917

Now back to the topic, I can fit about 60 .223 cases in a 600 ml beaker. Is that too many? (I don't have a plastic tray for the bottom and don't believe I shound put them on the floor of the stainless bath.)

 

[Bob 964]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: biggenius29</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not to hijack, I just picked up a ultrasonic cleaner, is there a homemade solution that can be made? </div></div>

I use a citric acid solution in a 600 ml Kimax or Pyrex beaker. You can order 2 lbs of 100% anhydrous citric acid from Summit Craft LLC (see SummitCraftoh.com)for $13.95. S/H is free. Just mix a couple of tablespoons of the citric acid in a gallon of water. Add a few drops of Dawn dish washing detergent.

Bob

_________

 

[gunsnjeeps]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

To answer both questions at once. I have the Harbor Freight 2.5 liter, same cleaner as the Lyman but different timer I think.

Any how I put the brass straight in the cleaner, no trays or beakers. I put in 100 at a time and stir them when I reset the timer.

I use tap water with a little Lemishine and Dawn in it. Rinse well with tap water. The measurement of Lemishine I was given was a .40 S&W case worth. I give it a good sprinkling. Lemishine is available at Walmart for less than $5.00, look with dishwasher detergents. It is crystalized citric acid. That cleans the cases, Dawn (or other dish soap) and holds the dirt and carbon in suspension off of the brass.

 

[crashcrew]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

Go to an appliance repair shop and get a silverware basket from a dishwasher.
They are shaped in a variety of sizes etc. They. an also be cut to your specific size needs
and re-assembled with plastic zip ties.
Tip : Never have anything in contact with the bottom of the cleaner.
This inhibits the high frequency movement of the floor pan which
makes it work.

 

[Gideon]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

My first experiment with my ultrasonic cleaner involved putting 60 .223 cases in a thin 600 ml beaker and suspending it in the water that filled the bath. The shells are really packed in the beaker. It took about 1 hour of operation to get all the primer pockets clean. I'm hoping to achieve this in less time.

Next, I'm going to use a plastic 100 round ammo box that I will cut shallow slots in the bottom with a table saw so the cleaning solution has free access to the primer pockets. I'll fill the ultrasonic bath with the cleaning solution and suspend this ammo tray into it. Hopefully the elimination of the beaker will result in more effective cleaning.

 

[Gene Poole]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

I've been experimenting with EDTA solutions and do it in beakers just to keep from having to mix up 2L at a time, but while testing, I've found that beakers in the bath work better than loose cases in the bath. I'm not sure why this is since one would think that the glass would attenuate the signal somewhat.

 

[azhank]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

Do any of you have experience with the ultrasonic machines effectiveness for cleaning gun parts? Part of me thinks that this tool would be amazing for cleaning an AR BCG, set it and forget it. Am I right?

 

[Gene Poole]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

I'm not too hip with putting volatile liquids directly in the US bath so I use a Pyrex glass bread pan set into the bath and fill it (just enough to cover the parts) with mineral spirits and it makes short work of cleaning the crud out of gun parts.

 

[rusty815]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

I put my brass directly in the bath without any sort of tray, I have found that putting in a tray diminishes the effects of the solution, and I can fit way more brass that way. I have used the cleaner to clean gun parts, for that I use nothing but water and a few cycles, cleans most of the stuff right off.

 

[plh]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

Zip-Lok bag with solution/brass placed in water-filled U/S.

 

[blacknzr1]

Re: Ultrasonic Cleaning - Beaker/Plastic Tray /Other

iv not long had my lyman one.
for solution i use a product that is used for removing water stain off kiwifruit before harvest. you guys might not be able to get it. theres a few different ones, this one is called kiwi lustre. the active ingrediant is lactic acid.
i use it 50/50 with tap water in a 1 litre beaker. i use warm water and i can stand up 30 7mag cases. i de-gased the solution for three full cycles. then put the brass in. the brass was clean in just one full cycle.