Ultrasonic case cleaning

R

radmcg

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 5, 2008
535
9
Mobile, AL
#1
Got a Harbour freight US cleaner today. They are on sale for 59.00 and got a 20% discount so it was 47.00 bucks.
What do you use for cleaner?
How long do you clean them for?
How do you dry them? I mean do you let them air dry use a blow dryer or what?
If I am only neck sizing would you deprime and clean them first then size? I was just wondering if lube on the case would mess up the ultrasonic cleaning action?
AHA
Rad
 
#2
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

I use the Hornady solution to clean with.

I decap only and then clean

I use small glass containers that are for holding candles to put my cases in. The purpose of this is to have the cases pointing down so when all the crap comes loose inside the case during cleaning it will fall out. They don’t get as clean if you just lay them in there.

I run mine 2 cycles of 480 seconds.

Then I roll my cases around on an old towel to get most water off.

Then I put them in aluminum foil and into the convection toaster oven on 225 degrees for 15 min. They only spend maybe 10 min at 225.

Then I have a small 6" fan I use to cool them for like 3-5 min.

So 16 min to clean
2 min to towel dry
15 min to toaster oven dry
5 min cool down
done in under an hour

That is what I like about ultrasonic, its fast!
 
#3
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: repiv</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> They only spend maybe 10 min at 225.
</div></div>

I do the same but I go for the lowest my oven will do 175 for about 30 mins and then I turn off the oven and leave them for a few hours. After about 3 hours they are room temp.
 
#4
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

Try a 1.5% solution of Citranox and then rinse in water, no need to neutralize that stuff unlike some other cleaning options that can harm the brass if no neutralized. Also, the glass can cut down on some of your UF seen by the cases so I suggest using metal to lower/raise them into the UF cleaner if you want to put them in something. I have had the cleaner for some time now and am just getting ready to put it into play so I can't say first hand but all my research lead me to that being the quickest option that still does a killer job. You can take it a few more steps if you want the brass to look better than new but I just want my brass clean, don't care about all the rest.
 
#6
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

gfunkUK do you use regular water in the cleaners tank and only put the celaing solution in the beaker? How many cases do you guys do at a time? The above article says the more you do the longer it takes? So 10 20 50 what is a good number to clean at a time?
Thanks for all the help.
Rad
 
#8
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

I use two manicurist beakers (bought at local beauty supply shop)
Place the cases on the basket and that keeps them off the bottom of the beaker and out of all the gunk that settles to the bottom. I use Citranox in the beakers because it works better than anything else I have tried. I use plain water in the ultra sonic machine itself. The solution can be used a few times, as it gets depleated, you have to run the machine a couple minutes longer.
myerfire
 
#9
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

For about 15 years this has been my solution, 50/50 water and vinegar, in a 12
ounce jar 1 1/2 teaspoons lemishine (walmart), 2 teaspoons of a liquid dish soap
with Ammonium laurel sulfate ( your necessary surfactant) and 3 to 5 drops of
iodine. I rinse in hot water and leave them to dry. I do my sizing, trimming etc. then
tumble to clean my lube. The tumbling gets rid of the almost too clean sticky feeling
the brass gets. Takes about 10 minutes in the machine to clean them.
 
#11
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

I clean my brass for about 30 minutes in a 50% white vinegar solution, with a little bit of dish soap added.

Once this cycle is finished i then pour the solution down the sink and flush the cases out a few times with warm water to remove any residual "dirty water" out.

I then use Birchwood Casey Brass Case Cleaner solution as a finishing touch. I pout the solution back into a container for reuse in the future. I find this makes my cases just that little bit shinier.

For best results once they are clean its a good idea to remove any water from the cases by "flicking" them... I then use a heat gun on low heat to dry cases. If you just leave the cases to dry naturally, eventually they will end up with patchy looking oxidation on the surface and if your anal about your brass looking brand new this will require you to polish them up.
 
#13
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

Sorry late reply rad,
I don't use the beakers idea, just the the whole solution in the tank with the brass. Vinegar mix etc cheap enough to use and throw away in tank size quantities. I miss out the birchwood cleaner bit, purely because it's expensive and hard to buy here in the UK.
I throw the brass in the tumbler to get the polished effect anyway.
I did try 50 cases once, and doubled up the times, but prefer x2 lots of 25 even if it's using twice the amount of ingrediants.

I assume vinegar and bicarbonate of soda is as cheap to buy with you as it is here.. I use distilled water on our farm so have gallons of it kicking around anyway.
Hope your happy with results
smile.gif
 
#14
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

I am surprised how many of you dump your solution. I get about 60 to 80 308 cases out of 8 to 10 ounces. The heater takes about two batches before it ever gets the
tank hot (and beaker) and it really doesn't clean well until the temps are up to 120
or so.
 
#15
Re: Ultrasonic case cleaning

This stuff works great. He is right on the money. Cleans the brass the best.I tried the other mixes but this has work better for me.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Jer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Try a 1.5% solution of Citranox and then rinse in water, no need to neutralize that stuff unlike some other cleaning options that can harm the brass if no neutralized. Also, the glass can cut down on some of your UF seen by the cases so I suggest using metal to lower/raise them into the UF cleaner if you want to put them in something. I have had the cleaner for some time now and am just getting ready to put it into play so I can't say first hand but all my research lead me to that being the quickest option that still does a killer job. You can take it a few more steps if you want the brass to look better than new but I just want my brass clean, don't care about all the rest. </div></div>
 
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