Ultrasonic/Rimfire Suppressor Cleaning

[hafejd30]

Specifically looking for info for TBAC takedown .22 and Dead Air Mask (Ti and SS construction)

I’ve been reading through rimfire cleaning threads and have seen a few members here trying different methods with ultrasonic cleaners

Mainly I’m looking at getting an ultrasonic to use with purple power or simple green. Doing this in my reloading room in my house and have small kids so nothing toxic is obviously best

For simple green/purple power guys,

1) What ratio do you mix? 50/50, straight simple green etc?

2) Do you use heat? know some have a heating feature

3) What time durations do you run? Obviously how dirty it is will depend on how many cycles is needed

4) Do you do just baffles? Baffles and end caps? Baffles/end caps/tubes?

I’m new to .22 cans and never used a ultrasonic cleaner before. Just looking for easiest way (non toxic) to keep my can clean on a regular basis

TBAC says not to use CLR on the stainless baffles due to degrading over time. So any clr method for these don’t interest me currently

Thanks

 

[6gunner]

I use Simple Green on my Dead Air Mask. I don’t dilute it. I pour enough to cover the baffles and run it for 30 minutes.

 

[FuhQ]

Specifically looking for info for TBAC takedown .22 and Dead Air Mask (Ti and SS construction)

I’ve been reading through rimfire cleaning threads and have seen a few members here trying different methods with ultrasonic cleaners

Mainly I’m looking at getting an ultrasonic to use with purple power or simple green. Doing this in my reloading room in my house and have small kids so nothing toxic is obviously best

For simple green/purple power guys,

1) What ratio do you mix? 50/50, straight simple green etc?

2) Do you use heat? know some have a heating feature

3) What time durations do you run? Obviously how dirty it is will depend on how many cycles is needed

4) Do you do just baffles? Baffles and end caps? Baffles/end caps/tubes?

I’m new to .22 cans and never used a ultrasonic cleaner before. Just looking for easiest way (non toxic) to keep my can clean on a regular basis

TBAC says not to use CLR on the stainless baffles due to degrading over time. So any clr method for these don’t interest me currently

Thanks

I’ve had my US Cleaner for a decade, so the newer ones might be more powerful, so you’ll need to experiment with yours to find what time duration and heat setting works best in your particular unit. This is what works in mine.

1.) Straight Purple Power
2.) Yes, I set it at 145°
3.) 90 minute cycle (flip baffles halfway through)
4.) Just baffles. DO NOT put tube, end caps, or mounts in it.

 

[Electric B]

I just soaked these in some 30% vinegar for 1 1/2 hours. Wiped out with Q-Tips and soapy water.

Clean enough

 

[bucsfan69]

I’ll initially soak the baffles in CLR for about 5 minutes and get all the gunk off. Then it goes in the US with straight purple power for 30 minutes, minimal heat.. after the cycle they just wipe clean

 

[atepointer]

I’ll initially soak the baffles in CLR for about 5 minutes and get all the gunk off. Then it goes in the US with straight purple power for 30 minutes, minimal heat.. after the cycle they just wipe clean

How dare you the CLR will eat it into oblivion! I'm kidding. I put a cheap ass form 1 all alum in CLR for about 30 minutes and they come out great. Last time went 1200 + rounds b/t cleanings and clean as a whistle after CLR. Dielectric grease coating baffles is a nice touch easing this process too. I have an US and use it on my centerfire and was going to use it if need be for rimfire, but CLR seems to do all I need.

 

[TimK]

On my TBAC, I put the baffles in a small ziplock bag and fill with CLR. Dump that into the ultrasonic filled with water. Works great and uses way less CLR.

 

[cclfn]

I realize this is an older post but I thought somebody searching for similar information might find this information useful. I went way to many rounds through my DA mask and ended up with stuck baffles. I was under the impression that you could go 1500-2000 rounds on a new can before cleaning. Baffles were completely hard carbon coated. After soaking for several days in Kroil the baffles still could not be pushed out of the tube by hand. Bought the Banish baffle removal tool from Silencer Central and that made easy work for safe removal of all the stuck baffles. Once out of the tube the stacks were so carboned up I could not break them apart by hand. After more research I saw where the inside baffles (not exterior tube, front cap, or end cap) could be placed in CLR while submerged in an ultrasonic cleaner to remove carbon. I had one of the small HF ultra sonic cleaners, placed the stack of baffles in a zip/loc bag, used the heated water setting and ran them for 8 minutes. Pulled them out and all but two baffles came apart but the amazing thing is that the exterior and most of the interiors were spotless. I repeated this a couple times and all the carbon was gone except the two stuck baffles. After those came apart I ran them two more times to get the insides clean. A total of 32 minutes and my baffles are like new with zero scrubbing or scrapping. I submerged the cleaned baffles in 91% isopropyl alcohol to guarantee all the CLR was removed. Now I will put a little dielectric grease on them before reassembly. I won't run 2000 rounds through it before cleaning my mask, but I could now that I have the tools. Your mileage may vary and be careful with CLR it is a corrosive chemical that will eat aluminum and carbon steel. This procedure is for the stainless steel or titanium baffles only. There are YouTube videos and discussions on this if you search long enough.

​

 

[Tortuga]

I put my DA Mask baffles in a glass pickle jar filled with Lucas Ultrasonic Cleaner and into a heated ultrasonic cleaner. I heard that glass worked better in ultrasonic cleaners than plastic.
Ultimate Tips for Using an Ultrasonic Cleaner

 

[Trung Si Ma]

I use the baggie method in an ultrasonic cleaner but have changed from using CLR to BoreTech C4. My cleaner only does 3 minutes at a time so I push the button 10 times and then rinse the baffles in warm water. They look like they're new.

 

[Bluedog82]

I realize this is an older post but I thought somebody searching for similar information might find this information useful. I went way to many rounds through my DA mask and ended up with stuck baffles. I was under the impression that you could go 1500-2000 rounds on a new can before cleaning. Baffles were completely hard carbon coated. After soaking for several days in Kroil the baffles still could not be pushed out of the tube by hand. Bought the Banish baffle removal tool from Silencer Central and that made easy work for safe removal of all the stuck baffles. Once out of the tube the stacks were so carboned up I could not break them apart by hand. After more research I saw where the inside baffles (not exterior tube, front cap, or end cap) could be placed in CLR while submerged in an ultrasonic cleaner to remove carbon. I had one of the small HF ultra sonic cleaners, placed the stack of baffles in a zip/loc bag, used the heated water setting and ran them for 8 minutes. Pulled them out and all but two baffles came apart but the amazing thing is that the exterior and most of the interiors were spotless. I repeated this a couple times and all the carbon was gone except the two stuck baffles. After those came apart I ran them two more times to get the insides clean. A total of 32 minutes and my baffles are like new with zero scrubbing or scrapping. I submerged the cleaned baffles in 91% isopropyl alcohol to guarantee all the CLR was removed. Now I will put a little dielectric grease on them before reassembly. I won't run 2000 rounds through it before cleaning my mask, but I could now that I have the tools. Your mileage may vary and be careful with CLR it is a corrosive chemical that will eat aluminum and carbon steel. This procedure is for the stainless steel or titanium baffles only. There are YouTube videos and discussions on this if you search long enough.

​

I don’t have a Mask but my can’s instruction manual says to clean every 250 or so, and it’s filthy at that point! Can’t imagine what 2k rounds looked like.

 

[Threadcutter308]

50/50 Simple Green & water, inside of a Baggie. Use distilled water in the ultrasonic cleaner, it'll extend the life of the ultrasonic transducer.

One hour, with heat. I don't put the tube or end caps in the ultrasonic cleaner.

I get everything clean, then hose down the baffles and interior of the tube with MIG Welding anti-spatter spray. Makes a huge difference in cleanup.

 

[SoftCookie]

How are you guys disposing of the dirty chemicals afterwards? Just curious because I Just picked up an ultrasonic cleaner.

 

[hafejd30]

CLR- 10 minute soak
Couple hundred rounds of federal bulk through it

 

[25ring]

CLR- 10 minute soak
Couple hundred rounds of federal bulk through it
View attachment 8186148View attachment 8186149View attachment 8186150

That's exactly the way I clean mine! One tip to save on CLR put your baffles in a freezer bag and fill with CLR then put in a water filled ultrasonic tub. Saves wasting chemicals.

 

[hafejd30]

That's exactly the way I clean mine! One tip to save on CLR put your baffles in a freezer bag and fill with CLR then put in a water filled ultrasonic tub. Saves wasting chemicals.

I just put in a small bowl. Put enough clr to cover the baffles. Maybe a cup worth. Then dumped the clr back into the bottle afterwards for next time

 

[Threadcutter308]

That's exactly the way I clean mine! One tip to save on CLR put your baffles in a freezer bag and fill with CLR then put in a water filled ultrasonic tub. Saves wasting chemicals.

Once clean, dry them off and hose 'em down with a good quality MIG welding Anti-Spatter Spray

 

[hafejd30]

Once clean, dry them off and hose 'em down with a good quality MIG welding Anti-Spatter Spray

I think I seen you post this before. Does the carbon just wipe off next time?

 

[Threadcutter308]

I think I seen you post this before. Does the carbon just wipe off next time?

Yeah, I probably did post it before. I'm old, I forget.

Not sure if it just wipes off. I'm fundamentally lazy. It's easier to just throw everything into a baggie with CLR and throw it into the Ultrasonic Cleaner. I think it would be more involved to try and hand wipe each individual baffle/part. Particularly if there was caked on gunk that had to be hand scraped.

 

[hafejd30]

Yeah, I probably did post it before. I'm old, I forget.

Not sure if it just wipes off. I'm fundamentally lazy. It's easier to just throw everything into a baggie with CLR and throw it into the Ultrasonic Cleaner. I think it would be more involved to try and hand wipe each individual baffle/part. Particularly if there was caked on gunk that had to be hand scraped.

I was going to give these a shot of Rem oil and a wipe down before putting back together. I won’t be firing huge volumes before cleaning and most will be either the Ruger MK4 which I used the other day or SK ammo through precision .22 bolt guns

Figure if I clean every couple hundred rounds it won’t get much easier than this

 

[Threadcutter308]

I was going to give these a shot of Rem oil and a wipe down before putting back together. I won’t be firing huge volumes before cleaning and most will be either the Ruger MK4 which I used the other day or SK ammo through precision .22 bolt guns

Figure if I clean every couple hundred rounds it won’t get much easier than this

The MIG anti splatter has silicone in it and is probably cheaper by weight/volume. The idea of the smell of burned Rem Oil doesn't sound enticing. But, give it a try, I'm sure it won't hurt anything.

edit; Oh and BTW, don't put any of your MKIV Blued parts in CLR. It'll remove the blueing.

 

[Hey You]

I like the Zip-loc idea to save on CLR and will try that. I try to clean every 500 rounds. Lapua gunks up the baffles worse than other ammo...I cleaned two TD-22's about an hour ago. One of them had only CCI standard and the other only Center-X. Wildly different levels of crud! I put the baffles and end caps in my ultra sonic cleaner with CLR for 8 minutes with heat. The CLR will be so dirty I pour it in a jug and replace with clean CLR. Four more minutes and then wipe clean.

 

[scotty2hotty]

What Ultrasonic cleaners are you using? There is a bunch of them on Amazon

 

[LeftyJason]

What Ultrasonic cleaners are you using? There is a bunch of them on Amazon

I got this one. Pretty good.
Anbull 4.5L Professional Ultrasonic Cleaner Machine with 304 Stainless Steel and Digital Timer Heater https://a.co/d/fsTgpy6

Edit: chose it based off recommendations from here.

 

[Threadcutter308]

I got this one. Pretty good.
Anbull 4.5L Professional Ultrasonic Cleaner Machine with 304 Stainless Steel and Digital Timer Heater https://a.co/d/fsTgpy6

Whether it's true or not, I have been told to run nothing but distilled water in the tub. "Supposedly", sediment from tap water collects on the transducer and prematurely clogs it up/ruins it. So, I buy the 2.5 gallon jugs of distilled water at the grocery store and use that. I also put my parts into a ziplock bag with either CLR or Simple Green (depends on what I'm cleaning) and put that into the distilled water.

Haven't had a failure yet, but who knows, these are all chinesium.......

 

[LeftyJason]

Whether it's true or not, I have been told to run nothing but distilled water in the tub. "Supposedly", sediment from tap water collects on the transducer and prematurely clogs it up/ruins it. So, I buy the 2.5 gallon jugs of distilled water at the grocery store and use that. I also put my parts into a ziplock bag with either CLR or Simple Green (depends on what I'm cleaning) and put that into the distilled water.

Haven't had a failure yet, but who knows, these are all chinesium.......

When I cleaned my tbac 22td I used diluted simple green in an empty pickle jar. Next time will probably do straight simple green. Rest of container was filled with distilled that I have from cpap. I make distilled at home with one of these. Able to use hsa money to get it since it's for cpap.

Megahome Countertop Water Distiller Stainless, Glass Collection https://a.co/d/8pwQ2yB

 

[FuhQ]

I just put in a small bowl. Put enough clr to cover the baffles. Maybe a cup worth. Then dumped the clr back into the bottle afterwards for next time

I use an old Manzanilla olives jar filled about 3/4 full of straight CLR Pro. But any old glass jar with a lid works great...Like a pint size mason jar. Perfect size for putting baffles and parts in. You do have to fish them out with a pair of needle-nose pliers, but no big deal.

 

[SpeedyR]

how does this compare to tumbling in SS pins in a rotary tumbler? always looking for easier solutions for 22lr cleaning...

 

[HPIguy]

I prefer wet tumbling. Hot water, Dawn dish soap, no chemicals to futz with. This one had a couple thousand rounds through it.