Ultrasonic clean question

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daddyo

Active Member
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Hi all, my ultrasonic cleaner has turned up so a quick question.
I am going to use a glass jar to hold my de primed cases with a
50/50 mix of distilled vinegar and water with a drop of washing liquid.
Does this sound about right?
how long time wise to run it or is it trial and error?
and should I then run through the cleaner with water with some barcarbonate soda
lot just rinse with water?
any advice appreciated.
Dale.
 
Hiya

The mix should work, dont know about the glass jar as the one I use has a plastic tray so I can only assume for a reason. I use yoghurt pots which are lightweight.
My mix is a teaspoon of Citric Acid (lemon juice) in clean water, several runs at the mid-timing setting and then just rinse off and allow to air-dry.
There have been a few posts on different mixes and how effective they are - would be worth a search in the Reloading section.
L
 
daddyo said:
Hi all, my ultrasonic cleaner has turned up so a quick question.
I am going to use a glass jar to hold my de primed cases with a
50/50 mix of distilled vinegar and water with a drop of washing liquid.
Does this sound about right?
how long time wise to run it or is it trial and error?
and should I then run through the cleaner with water with some barcarbonate soda
lot just rinse with water?
any advice appreciated.
Dale.
Click to expand...

I serviced dive regulators/cylinder valves for many years, including O2 cleaning, granted you are wanting the best result you can.
We used a product designed for that type of work, but would pe-soak the really cruddy parts in a stronger solution.
The units had heaters in them but what I would do was clean the parts in a plastic ( butter container) as then the solution could be changed and containers swapped over with out moving the unit.
This meant we only had to clean and dry out the machine at the end of the day....

Tim.243
 
Your water will be better if used warm, any good soft soap will work, & a plastic lemon juice from the supermarket for a short squirt of, if you overdose with any acid solution you will make your brass pink, ( the first signs of de zinc- ing), rinse well & dry gently in the oven, Steve. forgot to mention, try to keep your container off the bottom of your unit.
 
I tried a bunch of these home made cleaning solution recipes, which work OK. Then I bought a bottle of Lymann Turbosonic cleaning solution on a whim (to make an order big enough to get free shipping) & it works a lot better. The cases come out much cleaner & brighter, so is worth looking at, as I get 30 odd cleans from a bottle.
 
+1
I know others like the home made stuff but the time it takes to get the right % of each to gain the best results nahh got the stuff that said what it did on the tin? lol,
would add I decant the sonic tub into a old jug then let it sit and drain off the clear and bin the crud , I get de- water for £1.50 a gal last for ages I also have a old electric kettle that I use to speed up the heating time same on the drying by heating the clean case's in clean de-water then place them on a pin peg board to dry off .



QUOTE=Neumo;997088]I tried a bunch of these home made cleaning solution recipes, which work OK. Then I bought a bottle of Lymann Turbosonic cleaning solution on a whim (to make an order big enough to get free shipping) & it works a lot better. The cases come out much cleaner & brighter, so is worth looking at, as I get 30 odd cleans from a bottle.[/QUOTE]
 
I started off using water/vinegar/washing up liquid and then cleaned in bicarb. Have also used a number of the commercially available solutions (Lyman, Seaclean from Maplin). However, have been converted to using Citric Acid after reading this http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?83572-Citric-acid-brass-cleaner.

Works very well and does not seem to tarnish the brass in the same way other solutions can do. It is very cost effective - I use about 2 heaped tablespoons which does circa 75-100 243/308 size cases. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meridiansta...F8&qid=1437656808&sr=8-2&keywords=citric+acid
 
Hi

Ditto on Castboolits - where I picked up on using Citric Acid including for 'patinating' carbon steel blades (or any I presume) for a protective coating.

L
 
Just buy a 5 litre bottle of seaclean, don't buy it from napkin Google search and you'll find it much cheaper, I got one for £26.00 delivered which will last me a couple of years. A couple of generous capfuls in hot water in my 2.5L cleaner and the brass comes out really clean.

i use plastic inserts from factory ammo boxes for supporting the brass, clean it up right, one cycle primer pocket down a couple of cycles primer pocket up.
 
Do you have to put the solution in the main body of the cleaner or can it be in a plastic tub that you put into the main body? Just thinking that having 2 or 3 tubs of various cleaner/rinse etc would be easier than emptying out the cleaner itself each time. Just didn't know if the ultrasonics would transmit through to a tub if the fluid wasn't in contact with the walls of the cleaner. Hope that makes sense.
 
de-prime and full size brass.

inspect

trim and de-bur

then

my cleaner has a small basket like a chip pan (holds the cases of the bottom to prevent over heating the unit)and I add 2 caps of sea clean to 3 ltrs of tepid water place the brass (100 6mmbr or 150 20 tac) in the mesh basket and drop them in cycle for 30 mins and they are done,

rinse and then spin in a old salad spinner place on a tray with tin foil to prevent contamination from the baking tray, then in the pre-heated oven for about 7 mins (heat setting at 120)

come out like new,

bob.
 
mr_magicfingers said:
Do you have to put the solution in the main body of the cleaner or can it be in a plastic tub that you put into the main body? Just thinking that having 2 or 3 tubs of various cleaner/rinse etc would be easier than emptying out the cleaner itself each time. Just didn't know if the ultrasonics would transmit through to a tub if the fluid wasn't in contact with the walls of the cleaner. Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...


wouldn't run an ultrasonic machine dry.
 
Mine has the basket so I just layed them in that. Tried a vinegar water mix and was surprised how clean they came out just on a 10 minute cycle.
Ive ordered some seaclean as that seems to be the favoured solution. Plus I hate the smell of vinegar. Lol.
 
finnbear270 said:
wouldn't run an ultrasonic machine dry.
Click to expand...


end off the cleaner I would say and if I don't use the basket the water gets so hot you can not put your hand in it to get the brass out, so I stick to what the hand book says even if others say they place the brass in the cleaner with no basket.

bob.
 
mr_magicfingers said:
Do you have to put the solution in the main body of the cleaner or can it be in a plastic tub that you put into the main body? Just thinking that having 2 or 3 tubs of various cleaner/rinse etc would be easier than emptying out the cleaner itself each time. Just didn't know if the ultrasonics would transmit through to a tub if the fluid wasn't in contact with the walls of the cleaner. Hope that makes sense.
Click to expand...

I have the main container full of clean water. I use a jam jar with citric acid and a drop of washing up liquid that stands in the basket and the fluid levels are roughly the same. I microwave the jar full before I start because the citric acid is more active when warm…vinegar works hot or cold but must be passivated or the tarnish forms fast. The cases are put in to the warm citric acid vertically, twenty fit fine. I give it a zap for 5 minutes maybe another 5 if they are not bright. Then pour out into a stainless sieve above an ice-cream carton. Rinse under the hot tap. Pop into another jam jar with warmed soda bicarb and zap again for a few minutes. Into the sieve over another ice cream tub, rinse under the hot tap and pour boiling water over them from the kettle.

I have not bothered to use the heater in the cleaner because the fluid in the jar stays warm long enough for the zapping. The liquid in the ice cream container is poured back into the jars after it has settled and is then re used.

It is a 10 litre 240w ultrasonic power and 300w heating power machine bought for £160-ish from ebay. And this routine I have just started, but seems to have done fine on a couple of batches.

Alan
 
Last edited:
bobjs said:
rinse and then spin in a old salad spinner place on a tray with tin foil to prevent contamination from the baking tray, then in the pre-heated oven for about 7 mins (heat setting at 120)

come out like new,

bob.
Click to expand...

Love the idea with the salad spinner...nice one bob...now heading into the kitchen on a thieving mission...:)


Got it, tho nearly got caught...:)

BTW, I just found a couple of bottles of Loctite Rust Remedy, could I use that in my sonic cleaner??

Loctite 7503 Rust Remedy 90ml: Amazon.co.uk: DIY Tools
 
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