What's a good cheap ultrasonic cleaner
- Thread starter Sniperwannabee
- Start date
What's considered "cheap?" I bought one for work off of Amazon that can hold a 22" rifle barrel for $500.
Not a fan of Harbor Freight in general but their cheap 2.5L unit has worked well for me.
Cheap ultrasonics are fine, just realize that it's pretty common for them to die young. When you compare, look at the power spec - many great deals on Amazon in the under $200 range.
Don't buy the harbor freight one. I almost did and found this one on amazon. "BestEquip Ultrasonic Cleaner Stainless Steel 6 L Commercial Ultrasonic Cleaner" Search that and you should find it. It is a 6L and around 130 bucks but mine has been great. I can fit a complete Glock or Ruger MKII upper in it. Plenty of room. Used it a bunch and it has held up well. It is heated. Use water and a drop of dish soap for most things. I use simple green as well but only if I am not cleaning aluminum. I am just cheap and don't want to buy solution.
Damn..... Thanks..... Now I have cleaner-envy!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0328QT/ref=biss_dp_t_asn
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M0328QT/ref=biss_dp_t_asn
I and friend who owns one have had good luck with Harbor Freight's model. 2.5L 80 bucks and less using 20% coupon. If, however, it dies early, I will try the one in the Amazon link above. 3 L size. I like the drain valve feature on it. (sorry if I commented in this thread earlier, I post on more than one forum and this topic came up elsewhere)
BTW, I use Lyman's liquid brass cleaner per directions and distilled water. My brass, including primer pockets comes out clean and looking shiney new. It also 'holds' that look. Another cleaner I used, alng with ordinary tap water, worked but the brass did not stay as new looking the next day. FWIW.
BTW, I use Lyman's liquid brass cleaner per directions and distilled water. My brass, including primer pockets comes out clean and looking shiney new. It also 'holds' that look. Another cleaner I used, alng with ordinary tap water, worked but the brass did not stay as new looking the next day. FWIW.
Last edited:
I got the Hornady one that does brass and will accommodate an M4 upper. Pros: it works. Cons: it doesn't work for long. Seems like a transducer or something worked loose and it "rattles" or vibrates a little when it's on now. I tried to use it to clean 10,000 of pieces of .50 brass and it did a good job, no AMAZING job, but after running all day I had to switch to a cement mixer (trick with making those work is to use hot water to wash and do the final rinse).
I did find that if you use Kroil in a pan and then put parts in that and then submerge that into the water, or sealing parts in a jar with kroil and placing in the water, tended not to damage finishes or aluminum at all but cut through carbon enough to make a filthy .22 can nearly wipe clean.
If you're really into the US cleaner, I'll give you a deal on mine. It still works fine despite the rattle, basically new, but it's just not industrial enough for me and the heavy duty industrial models aren't cheap. Finally, there isn't much to one, just a few transducers stuck to pan of water with a heater wired into it. Some buttons and viola! In short, I bet you could build one far more powerful for far less money if you DIY it. They're very simple.
They do work great though and they do it all on their own, now you got me to thinking maybe I should take all this damn brass to a US cleaner business and see if they'll just knock it all out at once --it'd be worth it to not spend days and days just cleaning brass and I could focus on loading it instead. Whatever you do, don't ever get an M2HB, that's the gun that owns you.
I did find that if you use Kroil in a pan and then put parts in that and then submerge that into the water, or sealing parts in a jar with kroil and placing in the water, tended not to damage finishes or aluminum at all but cut through carbon enough to make a filthy .22 can nearly wipe clean.
If you're really into the US cleaner, I'll give you a deal on mine. It still works fine despite the rattle, basically new, but it's just not industrial enough for me and the heavy duty industrial models aren't cheap. Finally, there isn't much to one, just a few transducers stuck to pan of water with a heater wired into it. Some buttons and viola! In short, I bet you could build one far more powerful for far less money if you DIY it. They're very simple.
They do work great though and they do it all on their own, now you got me to thinking maybe I should take all this damn brass to a US cleaner business and see if they'll just knock it all out at once --it'd be worth it to not spend days and days just cleaning brass and I could focus on loading it instead. Whatever you do, don't ever get an M2HB, that's the gun that owns you.
Awesome. Thanks for this, it looks like a decent option. I might get the smaller 2 or 3 liter ones just so I can clean muzzle brakes and bolts and whatnot.
