Ultrasonic gun cleaning

[kkayser]

A while back we discussed ultrasonic cleaning. Here are a few observations:

There are a wide variety of units that will clean an entire pistol. They range from Chinese to American to German made. The German Elmasonic costs about 4 times a Chinese equivalent. The sizes advertised are deceptive. They give the tub or basket top dimensions. But, tubs and some baskets get much smaller as they get deeper. Capacity is also stated in liters. But, this is the total capacity of the tub, in use tub must be 2/3 full (at most)or an inch or so from the top. So, if you want to clean an entire pistol (disassembled) you will need at least a 5 liter unit.

Cleaning

I found that ultrasonic cleaning would not thoroughly clean any of my guns, no matter the unit or technique. I could always wipe more dirt off with a rag or q-tip. An exception was magazines. These felt smoother after ultrasonic cleaning than after manual cleaning.

I am going to buy an ultrasonic cleaner, a cheapo Chinese one. The good ones cost 4x as much, and neither the expensive or the cheap clean thoroughly. Furthermore, both the American made Sharpertec and German made Elma were defective but usable. Both of the Chinese cleaners worked ok. I have no doubt that the Elma will last longer than the Chinese units. So, if I were going to use the cleaner daily, I would buy the Elma.

Here is my technique: Heat the solution to as high as the cleaner will allow. Clean the gun. Rinse under running water. Submerge in 90% alcohol and drain several times. (This will remove all water.) Let alcohol evaporate for a few minutes. Submerge in Hoppe's No. 9 and drain several times. Allow to drain thoroughly and wipe as much off as possible. (This minimizes over-lubrication.) The inner parts that cannot be wiped are probably over-lubed. It might be desirable to blow some Hoppe's out with an air hose used briefly.

My feeling is that ulatrasonic cleaning of inaccessible gun areas, is better than no cleaning at all, but not as good as a gunsmith disassembling the entire gun and manually cleaning everything.

 

[hso]

You haven't said what you've used as the basis of this analysis.

Home units lack power while floor models I've used at Knob Creek and in the gunsmith shop have the power to loosen even caked/baked on fouling speeding the cleaning process considerably. None of them claimed to remove all material, but light fouling comes off while heavy fouling is loosened enough to be much easier to remove.

That said, I doubt many are going to spend thousands on a high power unit with the cleaning and oil tanks.

 

[joem1945]

I bought one of the larger ones. I fill it up with "Ed's Red" and heat it to 120 degrees, built in heater. It really cleans well. I've put really dirty pistols in it and they have come out cleaner then what ever I could do. I've never used the solution advertised for cleaning guns. Only drawback for me is the parts are way too hot to handle until they cool off.

 

[JTQ]

Submerge in Hoppe's No. 9 and drain several times. Allow to drain thoroughly and wipe as much off as possible. (This minimizes over-lubrication.) The inner parts that cannot be wiped are probably over-lubed. It might be desirable to blow some Hoppe's out with an air hose used briefly.

What Hoppe's #9 are you talking about?

This Hoppe's #9 (which is what most think about when they read Hoppe's #9) http://www.hoppes.com/bore-cleaners/no-9-solvent

or Hoppe's #9 Lubricating Oil http://www.hoppes.com/gun-oils/lubricating-oil

 

[kkayser]

Models, solvents

I used three units: Elma 3 liter, Sharpertec 3 liter, Chinese 5 liter. I bought the Chinese on eBay. Many sellers have them under various names. They all look the same.

The Hoppe's No. 9 was the solvent. This solvent has oil in it which remains after the solvent evaporates.

 

[kkayser]

I bought one of the larger ones. I fill it up with "Ed's Red" and heat it to 120 degrees, built in heater. It really cleans well. I've put really dirty pistols in it and they have come out cleaner then what ever I could do. I've never used the solution advertised for cleaning guns. Only drawback for me is the parts are way too hot to handle until they cool off.

I looked on the net for Ed's Red. I seems to be a mixture of acetone and various other hydrocarbons like ATF, mineral spirits, turpentine, etc, probably inflammable. Every ultrasonic I have seen warns against putting any inflammable substance in the cleaner. Furthermore, ultrasonic cleaning works by cavitation of an aqueous solution. I don't know if cavitation will occur in a hydrocarbon solution.

 

[joem1945]

I left out the acetone. My mix is Hoppies # 9, red ATF, Kroil and diesel. Yes it is a bit flammable but you car or truck sits out in the summer sun with temps that may reach 120 degrees and it doesn't catch fire. The transmission fluid runs a higher temps.

 

[rdtompki]

The beauty of a 1911 is that there are no inaccessible areas!