Tried a new ultra sonic cleaner solution

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Sin City Shootist

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Well I was getting ready to clean some brass and thought I would see if I could come up with a solution that cleaned well and was not hard on the brass. I use the Harbor Freight unit. I filled the unit up with water out of my reverse osmosis unit. Then I grabbed a hand full of Goop(maybe 3/4 cup or just a tad bit more), you know, the white hand soap for mechanics. I then poured in about 1/2 cup of lemon juice.

It cleaned very well, didn't leave any discoloration on the brass(I need to look at it again tonight but after 4 hours it was still a nice pretty color. I'll do a couple of before, after comparisons tonight for your viewing pleasure.
 
Sounds interesting. I just bought one yesterday and tried the vineager, water, and lemishine solution. It works but you have to use a baking soda and water rinse or the cases change colors on you. The main ingrediants in goop are citric acid and pumice so i don't see any reason it shouldn't work just fine.
 
I was going to do some tonight with pics. I selected some nice and dirty brass(various sizes), tossed them in the cleaner and turned on the heater. I set them for 8 minutes and it ran twice. I checked after the second run, and they looked pretty clean, till I turned them over and noticed I forgot to decap them. Frustrated, I just turned it all off with the brass still in the cleaner. Well I pulled it out about 30 minutes later as I was going to redo it tomorrow with pics the brass looked pretty damn clean with out hardly using the ultra sonic feature.

I've got my select cases for tomorrows pic and cleaning.
 
Ok I did some pics.

Here are the starting brass.

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P1010006-1.gif

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After 8 minutes

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after 16 minutes

P1010012.gif

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after 32 minutes

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The brass will not stain like with the vinegar, cleans pretty fast. I'm doing a test. I put some 308 in a pistol ammo tray and set it in the cleaner without turning the unit on. I will look at it tomorrow and post the results.
 
Hey, we're just waiting to hear the results of your latest test. :) They look pretty good to me.

It would be great to know that you can just soak them in a warm go-jo solution.
 
I tossed 50 308 cases in the cleaner and just let the soak. They didn't come clean by itself but the sure did clean up fast after I turned the unit on. I've used that same tank of cleaner for about 300 cases and probably won't change it for some time.
 
Just use the lemishine and water, no need for the baking soda clean-up. I tried the HF (big) unit with no luck. I got the Hornady and can clean cases in 4 min. PP even come clean in that time. The pumice may help like tumbler media,.
 
Are you saying the harbor frieght unit is no good?
I was about to buy one until I read your post.
 
It was the larger unit, seem'd to be under-powered. Doesn't clean the PP as good as the smaller Hornady unit. The cost was about the same, plus the Hornady unit has a basket I use it for rifle, pistol brass, .40 barrel and AR bolt, with lemishine and dish detergent or ed's red for parts.
 
SinCityShooter,
I pre-clean my range pick-ups for about 15 mins in a container before using a vibratory tumbler.
I'd sure like to see you test 1/4-1/2 cup of your wife's liquid laundry soap and the lemon concentrate.
If the heated ultra-sonic cleaner 'speeds up the process', you may be pleased with the results.
 
My wife bought one for me, and I've had great luck with it. But damn it takes forever for them to dry out. Is there a secret to that? I swear, several days later I would tap them on a paper towel, and every 4th or 5th one would still have a drop of solution in it. how the hell do you dry the cases?
 
brass dryer

put them on a cookie sheet in the oven on 150 degrees for about 30 minutes
 
I've been debating picking one of these up but I need to pick my battles as to where I put my money with my wife. Reading this though has me debating trying to get one though I'm not sure in what timeframe.
 
I have one of the HF cleaners. The $60-70 one. Does a good job but it was just too much trouble for me.

My tumbler gets the brass plenty clean and it's a set it and forget it operation.
 
SinCityShooter,
I pre-clean my range pick-ups for about 15 mins in a container before using a vibratory tumbler.
I'd sure like to see you test 1/4-1/2 cup of your wife's liquid laundry soap and the lemon concentrate.
If the heated ultra-sonic cleaner 'speeds up the process', you may be pleased with the results.
Click to expand...

Well I just made another solution of the original, but after that one is done I will try one of your formula.
 
ohiochief wash the solution off with tap water. I tried the oven, hair dryer, laundry dryer and found the cases take on a stain. Now I just leave them on a towel in the sun for the afternoon. Takes a long time for dirty PP to dry. Somebody here made a box with a light bulb and computer fan in it that seemed to work pretty well. I'll probably make one without the bulb.
 
I've been debating picking one of these up but I need to pick my battles as to where I put my money with my wife. Reading this though has me debating trying to get one though I'm not sure in what timeframe.
Click to expand...

These things are great for cleaning jewelry, glasses(no harsh chemicals), and small stuff that is sensitive to scrubbing pads.
 
hi

i also use an ultrasonic unit for the cleaning of my cases.
the best i came up with was a cleaningsolvent that was made for glasscleaning.
just pick up a household soap that you would use for windows..
add a bit of vineager to the water/detergent mixture and the results should be very good... at least in my case.
dontknow if its neccesary , but i rinse of the cases with some dishwash and water.
as for the drying , i let them sit overnight upside down , in cold weather
on the heater .
(dont know if heater is the correct word but i mean the thing that warms your house)
im very satisfied by this method anyway.:D
greetings from holland !
 
re drying: Move to South Texas, 1 hr in the sun and you need gloves to pick them up.

Fact is, I'm not kidding.
 
re drying: Move to South Texas, 1 hr in the sun and you need gloves to pick them up.

Fact is, I'm not kidding.
Click to expand...

or Arizona. They dry as soon as you remove them from the solution :)
 
This year N texas is as bad as S texas. If you drop out the vinegar, you don't have to neutralize with baking soda. I'm going to try diatomatious earth instead of the pumice in Goop, when I have another batch of brass.
 
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