Ultrasonic brass cleaning

[Mark.Diggle]

Has anyone tried using ultrasonic cleaning tanks for cleaning brass for reloading? If so does it work or is it a waste of time?
Cheers, Mark.

 

[LuckyEddie]

Seems to work.



I’ve still to get the mix right but it does clean up the brass.
Ok if you’ve small batches of say between 60 and 100 at the very max.
If more than this, or more frequent then I’d advise something more appropriate.

Ed

 

[Cottis]

Yep it works well. Worth getting a bigger one than above though unless you are loading small batches.

I do 50 large or 100 small cases at a time. 2/5's distilled white vinegar, 3/5's water (hot if your USC does not have a heater) and a dribble of dish soap.

Coupla 8 minute cycles is enough clean inside and out and tidy up primer pockets. Neutralise in a shallow alkaline bath (bit of bicarb in water will do) swish around and dry. I bang em in the oven for 15mins on very low heat around 115 degrees. Just enough to boil excess water away without drying the cases.

 

[Mark.Diggle]

Nice one folks. Hoped it would work & it looks like it does. Pounds saved. I'm only doing small batches & can split cleaning into smaller lots. Thanks both for the info. Cheers. Mark

 

[LuckyEddie]

Neutralise in a shallow alkaline bath (bit of bicarb in water will do) swish around and dry.

That’s where I’m going wrong

I just use copious amounts of hot water but didn’t feel it was quite right DOH!

 

[Orion]

I’ve one of the larger units and put the dirty cases in 2x glass peanut butter jars with a couple of teaspoons of Sea Clean, which then sit in the ultrasonic bath.

That way the unit stays spotless and it’s easy to wash the jars out afterwards.

 

[Cooter]

I follow the method below every time.
Works perfectly.

UltraSonic Case Cleaning

Ultrasonic brass cleaning with Ultrasound machine and Vinegar Solution Birchwood Case Cleaning. Tests on brass cleaners. 6mmBR.com is the best guide for precision shooting, complete with 6BR FAQ, Reloading Data, Shooter Message Boards, and Photo Gallery. Rifle competition accuracy training tips...

www.6mmbr.com

 

[malmick]

@Cooter
That's a good read, thanks for posting. Interesting information added at the end of the article about 'tuning' the system and not running a batch of cases for too long or having too many in there for the size of US unit.

 

[AN DU RU FOX]

As above 25 or thirty at at a time ,my cleaner is around the size above ,warm water little bit of cheap wash liquid half a teaspoon of citric powder when done rinse under cold tap dry on towel then stand in loading blocks and checked till dry .

 

[malmick]

As above 25 or thirty at at a time ,my cleaner is around the size above ,warm water little bit of cheap wash liquid half a teaspoon of citric powder when done rinse under cold tap dry on towel then stand in loading blocks and checked till dry .

I'm looking around for a US unit at the moment and that may well be my starting load

 

[Cooter]

I used a JML cleaner for many years, which is still going strong, but I bought a 2.5ltr one off the bay (more toys for the cupboard), which was half the price.

The beakers through a perspex sheet make it really easy to use and "tune", as the water in the tank gets hot just through the US action, so I am only replacing a small amount of water with each new batch.

I have been using the same (topped up) Birchwood casey solution for around ten years, and I still have most of the original tub left, and ti still makes the cases like new and, as everybody knows, clean and shiny cases make far better ammo.

Here's a pick of the last batch of 3 times fired hornet cases I did a few weeks ago.

 

[fizzbangwhallop]

I use a sonitek unit with the de-gaussing function ....bought a 7 litre version so I could do bits off the m’bike and the basket takes 2 Asda pickled onion jars side by side with water up to the neck.

i use water out of the rainwater butt, allow it to stand for 24hours to de-aerate it, a level teaspoon of food grade citric acid cheap from Fleabay and a spot of washing up liquid in each jar. The citric acid mix stays in each jar til I’ve done the batch.

20 odd cases in each get 8 minutes at 30c then rinsed and into a jug of hot water with a couple of teaspoons of cooking Bicarbonate of soda to neutralise the citric, rinsed a couple more times then blown through with an air line and into a Lakeland food dehydrator to dry off. Again, the bicarbonate mix does the whole batch....usually 100 cases at a time.

cheers
fizz

 

[mealiejimmy]

Has anyone tried using ultrasonic cleaning tanks for cleaning brass for reloading? If so does it work or is it a waste of time?
Cheers, Mark.

Whether you judge ultrasonic cleaning of cartridge cases to be successful or unsuccessful depends on how clean you want the cases to be and how much time you want the process to take.
Some people like dry tumbling with media, some like ultrasonic cleaning and some like wet tumbling.
I've tried them all, and since I like my brass to look and feel like new when reloading, I wet tumble

Cheers

Bruce

 

[devonair]

I've found that USC used first gets rid of crud from primer pockets and inside of cases then finish off in tumbler for an hour or so to get them proper shiny. I also add a drop of cheap car polish to the media, seems to stop cases from tarnishing so quickly.

 

[Muir]

I went through several small US cleaners and finally bought a industrial grade table top cleaner. Going strong after 7 years of hard use.~Muir

 

[wytonpjs]

Started with Ultrasonic cleaning but went over to stainless media in an imported Frankford Arsenal tumbler - much better results!

 

[Broadarrow]

is it possible to buy pre mixed use fluid ? I use my USC to lean the magazines on my CZ511 every few weeks in the bunny season....but has struggled with various mixtures of washing up liquid / vinegar / bicarb etc

 

[Orion]

Not ‘premixed’ but dilute to use:

 

[Littlekilmory]

1 tablespoon of citric acid and a squirt of washing up liquid for 100 (308) cases gives a sparkling shine and is kind to the brass too - vinegar/salt is quite harsh and corrosive. Rinse in warm water or a tiny bit of baking powder to be double sure.
20 minutes at 40degrees heat on my 2 litre machine which cost the princely sum of £30.00.
Lots of chat on YouTube about a US product called “Lemishine” - the above recipe is the same thing.
Don‘t waste your money on exotic cleaners and branded products.
Moderator goes in too...

 

[zambezi]

1 tablespoon of citric acid and a squirt of washing up liquid for 100 (308) cases gives a sparkling shine and is kind to the brass too - vinegar/salt is quite harsh and corrosive. Rinse in warm water or a tiny bit of baking powder to be double sure.

Don‘t waste your money on exotic cleaners and branded products.

Agree that citric acid+fairy liquid does the trick