Ultrasonic Brass Cleaning

[mire3212]

So I started using an ultrasonic cleaner to clean my Tass before I start reloading it and I've been going off of the recipe from this site http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html and I've been getting clean brass. Tr only trouble I've been running into is that the brass is no where near the shininess of what they've been getting on the site. it appears as though some of my brass is actually corroding away.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this that might be able to shine some light. I'll see if I can post some pictures, though I think I just tossed the worst of the brass I had from one session. I did experiment a little and adjust te amount of vinegar that I would add to the mix, and while they're being cleaned they look amazing, but when I'm done with the whole process try come out looking kind of sad. I'm thinking that maybe I'm adding too much baking soda? Or maybe Indint need to add any at all? Anyway, let me know if and how you use an ultrasoniccleaner for brass.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

i tried the lyman turbo sonic liquid specifically for ultrasonic cleaners and it worked well for me. the price kinda sucks, so i'm gonna try something else. almost all of the crud came out of the cases and only a little was left in the primer pockets, which was easily removed with half a twist of a primer pocket uniformer. might not have needed that if i'd let it go a couple more cycles. sounds like citric acid is a good way to go. lemishine and such.

pics would be good. i'm still trying to figure out the best way for me to clean brass in my US as well. i do like it better than my vibratory tumbler, but i'll still use the tumbler when i wanna give the brass a good shine.

 

[mire3212]

Ya, i've been seeing a lot of people talk about lemi shine, but they have also been adding that as a supplement to a mix, usually dish soap and water. I haven't tried the lemi shine yet, but I've been adding lemon or lime juice to the mix to see if that works too. They do get really nice and shiny, but after finishing the rest of the process they come out and look pretty bland.

I know hornady also has a ultrasonic cleaner product and I've had my eye on that, but haven't dived in on that yet.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

i'm using the harbor freight model. it's identical to the lyman US cleaner.

i tried the simple green and it did ok, but i still had some buildup inside the cases. fwiw, the lyman turbo sonic stuff has that same citrus scent to it. i had to use it in a much higher concentration than the bottle suggested. just not economical.

 

[68wj]

Are you rinsing in water with baking soda? If not, the vinegar will be left unneutralized and will be eating away your brass (not dramatically, but will not give desired results)/

 

[mire3212]

So I'll run through a few cycles of water+vinegar+heater and then rinse it out really well, then add water+baking soda. Is it possible the baking soda concentration is too high and that's causing the cases to losse their shine? When they are being rinsed right after the vinegar they look great, not really shiny, but I'm also not adding lemi shine or enough citrus for that I'm sure, but they start to fade out after that.

I started with 50-50 mix of vinegar to water but I think it was too strong and got really bad results, so now I'm doing about 12oz water and 4oz vinegar and that works really well so far.

 

[jb27]

I have the Hornady US cleaner. Been using the Hornady solution. First batch I did I just used tap water. Brass was pretty clean but definatley not shiny. Second batch I used distilled water and the solution. This came out better than using tap water but the brass again lacked shine. For both attempts, I still had to do a little bit of work on the primer pockets to get the totally clean. I ended up using some fine steel wool to shine the cases. This worked but was way too time consuming. Ended up ordering a tumbler (on backorder won't get till end of month). I'm thinking I may run through the US to clean and then run through the tumbler to shine it up. May wait to run through tumbler until after rounds are loaded.

 

[mire3212]

Ya there's some solid tumbler shine additives to make cases sparkle. I've just seen a lot of posts on the net about using a us cleaner asthenosphere results they get are crazy clean and shiny. Just dot know what I'm doing wrong.

 

[rimfire32]

I use the Hornady us cleaner with their one shot cleaning solution, then dry the cases over night, then polish for an hour in a tumbler. The brass comes out clean an bright inside an out.

 

[blarby]

Ultrasonic cleaning is a great way to remove particles from any surface- flat, or porous.
However, it is not an abrading process, and isn't usually very helpful for "shining" per se.

The only "shine" that comes from even really thorough ultrasonic cleaning is a result of removing all of the dirt from your object, in this example : cartridge cases.

It does however set up your surface for a very good fine mechanical abrading or "shine" via tumbling.

Jewelers use ultrasonic cleaners to clean rings and such for getting in all the nooks and crannies..... they then dry them, and polish with an appropriate grit cloth or buffing wheel. ( used to be a jewelry repairman.... used a lot of ultrasonic in my day)

 

[mire3212]

great info blarby, thanks! maybe i should invest in some polishing media then

 

[blarby]

Cabelas tumbler kit is great.

 

[StringTwelve]

I jumped on the sonic bandwagon out of the gate when I started reloading. 3 weeks later I ordered a tumbler. I only bring out the sonic to clean gun parts now.
I tried all the different mixtures, solutions, cleaners, etc. and finally just gave up.

 

[clancy12]

Is it that big of a deal if it's really shiny? My ultrasonic cleans the powder residue, etcetera, off just fine. Isn't that the main reason to clean brass? Does the shiny brass have better functioning results or is it just that it looks nice?

 

[coebam]

Castrols "Super Clean" works well diluted with water in my sonic cleaner. I used 2.5 cups hot water to 1 tablespoon ( give or take a little ). It got all the carbon and junk out of the primer pock etc, left the brass moderately shiney. I did have to run 480 seconds twice. However, if you want really shiney and clean - the best I have found so far is the store bought brass cleaning/polish solution. Expensive but it works. 480 seconds, rinse, dry, and load.

 

[blarby]

Really shiny boolits have been scientifically proven to shoot way better than dull, lusterless ones.

I've actually seen a whitetail just fold over @ 80 yds upon having the the gleam of my brass fall upon it. Its just like that.

Realistically, I ultrasonic clean to remove residue then tumble to polish. Highly polished brass is far more revealing of visible structural flaws in the din of the night at my reloading bench.