The other day I broke down and bought one of those Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaners, and I would like some advice.

Using the Hornady solution, how long should the it take to get bottle next brass clean? It cleans my pistol brass very well, and want to get the same level on my rifle brass.

Is there a proven "Homebrew" for a cleaner? Thanks

Here is what I use in my Harbor Freight ultrasonic cleaner. Run the hot water tap. Fill to almost full mark. Add a teaspoon of Limi-Shine and one drop of liquid dish soap.

Dump in your brass. Run for up to 3-480 sec cycles.
Brass, including the primer pockets will be clean, inside out.
Rinse well, place on a cookie sheet in a low temp convection oven to dry your brass.

In a little over 30 minutes you've got clean brass and it's inexpensive!

I have the Hornady 2L and so far I'm looking for the best brew

I agree with Rusty for cleaning. Might need an extra cycle once in a while. Stir between cycles.

I shake the cases out in a bag made from a towel then air dry on a cookie sheet over night.

Ted, I don't think you can go wrong with Lemishine and dish soap for any cleaner. The same mix works with stainless also.

Limi-Shine.. Is that something you can get at the grocery story or do you need to order it (my bride buys the soap).

My bride just got a new stove, so I doubt she will let me put brass in it! Still, the batch I did last night dried quite well on a towel.

How many cases can you put in at a time?

Lemishine is with the dish wahing detergent in the store. I've never dried brass in the oven, but I have put it out in the sun if I do brass on weekend mornings.

Here is a good article by a friend of mine, Jason Baney, over on AccurateShooter:

Ultrasonic Cartridge Case Cleaning Made Easy

The best way to dry brass after washing is to rinse it in really hot water, drain them and shake out the water. Then rinse in isopropyl alcohol. Drain and place on a bath towel and roll back and forth to dry the outside.
Place mouth down in a loading block tilted at an angle in front of a fan. They will be dry in 15 mins or less. Be sure to clear the primer pockets of alcohol with compressed air or use a cotton swab.

quote:

Originally posted by SR4759:
The best way to dry brass after washing is to rinse it in really hot water, drain them and shake out the water. Then rinse in isopropyl alcohol. Drain and place on a bath towel and roll back and forth to dry the outside.
Place mouth down in a loading block tilted at an angle in front of a fan. They will be dry in 15 mins or less. Be sure to clear the primer pockets of alcohol with compressed air or use a cotton swab.

I used alcohol on one batch. Worked well, but my bride complained of the smell. The last batch of 10 7mm Mag brass I just rinsed, blew out the inside with air, and set the cases on a towel by a dehumidifier.

I've been using an ultrasonic cleaner for my brass for a few years now and am real happy with the results, I'm not a high volume shooter, so this method won't be for you if you are, but cleaning small batches that will fit in the beaker work excellent, 20 7mm-08 fit with room to spare. I deprime with a Lee universal decapper, then place the cases inside a Kimax beaker as described in the 6mmBr article. Add just enough Birchwood/Casey case cleaner mix to cover the cases, then run them in the machine for 3 minutes, rinse good, then run them in water for 8 minutes. While it's running, preheat your oven to 200º, rinse again and make sure all the water is dumped out of each case, lay them on a paper towel on a cookie sheet and place in the oven, turn the heat off, they'll be dry in less the 30 minutes. These are once fired Federal 7mm-08, the results speak for themselves. The cases in the 6mmBr article are 4x fired, so they took a lot longer to clean.

http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html

Once I've taken them out of the solution I rinse them in water and then acetone. They dry clean in just a few seconds.

Ken....

The article was well written. But, I do get very good results with Simple Green in my heated cleaner. I add a cup of Apple cider Vinegar to my three gallon tank with a 40% mixture of SG,Vinegar,distilled water and heat to 180 degrees F. After ten minutes the cases are spotless.
I rinse in Reverse Osmosis water and let dry.

Ive used all kinds of potions and my brass is not even close to that clean

I didn't get the desired results either until I followed tips in the blue box on the 6mmBr article, particularly #4, when tuning the beaker, you hear the difference when the beaker is in the right position, I just used a flat piece of styofoam packing that fits over the Harbor Freight tank, cut round holes that fit the beaker, and use a rubber band around the beaker as an adjustable stop to control how deep the beaker sits.

Ultrasonic Cleaning--How to Get the Best Results


Reader "Gunamonth" has a great deal of experience with ultrasonic cleaning methods, perfecting his skills on small 17-caliber cases that are very difficult to clean with conventional brushing or tumbling. Here are his tips for getting better, faster results from your ultrasonic cleaning sessions.

Gunamonth's Ultrasonic Cleaning Tips
I thought it might be helpful to understand some of the principles involved and maybe how to stay out of trouble. I've noted that some members have observed that their brass comes out "too clean" or has a rough surface when finished. Here are some ways to avoid those potential problems

The Chemistry
Both metals used in brass cases (copper and zinc) are soluble in acetic acid (vinegar). The salts, copper acetate and zinc acetate, are also soluble. Zinc is more soluble than copper so it dissolves faster. In addition a galvanic action occurs that cause copper to be dissolved and then redeposited on the surface at the expense of the zinc.

When you clean brass cases in a vinegar solution you change both the chemical and physical properties of the surface of the case. There have been comments about cases being too clean, primers hard to seat, deposits on mandrels, etc. When you change the surface by dissolving some of it and etching it these things will happen. Whether they happen to the point of being a problem becomes the issue.

This doesn't mean that you shouldn't use acetic acid or that there is anything wrong with Jason's approach. Anything used to clean brass chemically is going to have some effect on the surface and it sure beats trying to get residue out of the flash hole of a 17 Remington with a brush.

Beaker Selection
I suggest you use one beaker and make it the largest you can fit in your ultrasonic unit. This gives more surface area for the tank water to work on and reduces the attenuation the beaker causes. Also, if you're in the market for beakers look for Kimax brand rather than Pyrex. Kimax is about 30% thinner and attenuates the ultrasound less.

How to Achieve Better Results
To minimize the effect on the brass there are some things you can do, most of which attempt to reduce the amount of time the cases spend in the acetic acid:

1. Keep the cleaning solution cool. In other words don't use hot water to mix up the vinegar solution. My ultrasonic tank is in the garage which isn't air conditioned so when I use it in the summer I empty the tank and fill it with cold water.

2. Clean a rather small number of cases at a time. I do about fifteen 17 Remingtons at a time. They're as clean as they're gonna' get in less than four minutes. I've tried as many as 100 at a time and it takes a very long time. Brass is pretty good at absorbing ultrasonic energy and too many cases translates to too little energy per case to clean quickly.

3. Keep the cleaning system "tuned". The unit I have has a tank that is about 5X10X5 inches. I cut a piece of Plexiglas to cover it and cut a hole the size of a 600ml beaker with a fly cutter. I made a collar for the beaker out of plastic foam that fits very snugly so the beaker can be raised or lowered. By adjusting the level of water in the tank, liquid in the beaker and depth of the beaker in the water it can be "tuned" so that the liquid in the beaker appears to boil while the water in the tank is calm. It only takes a few minutes and has a major effect on how long it takes to get them clean.

4. Don't let the beaker touch the any part of the tank, especially the bottom where the transducer is. The idea is to cause the brass to oscillate, not the container.

A "before and after picture of 308 cases cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner. Hot tap water, teaspoon of Lemi Shine, and drop of Dawn dish soap. Cases were just dumped into the ultrasonic cleaner.
I have a convection oven. set it at 170, and the cases dry in a short time.

I find this post interesting. What's wrong with the solutions that the manufacturer offer? It's Citric Acid (vitium C), works for me. I find it interesting that people will spend 20 dollars to save 5 cents. I may have to run the machine for 1 more cycle? OMG, I have to run it for 2 more minutes! What a waste of my time!

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:
I find this post interesting. What's wrong with the solutions that the manufacturer offer? It's Citric Acid (vitium C), works for me. I find it interesting that people will spend 20 dollars to save 5 cents. I may have to run the machine for 1 more cycle. OMG, I have to run it for 2 more minutes! What a waste of my time!

Vitamin C is Acetic Acid not Citric Acid. Spinach has more vitamin C than Orange juice. I won't use any acid to clean cases with because it dissolves the zinc and leave the brass weaker. The longer or more times it is exposed to acids the weaker the brass becomes.

Pull up the MSDS on Lyman's (and RCBS) Solution. Acetic or Citric, You make the call.

Vinegar is a mild solution of Acetic acid CH3CO2H and water, citric acid is C6H8O7. Vitamin C is L-Ascorbic acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C

You can buy 10lbs of citric acid on ebay for $26 shipped, it works as good as lemishine and costs a fraction of the amount, been using it in the dishwasher for years.

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:
I find this post interesting. What's wrong with the solutions that the manufacturer offer? It's Citric Acid (vitium C), works for me. I find it interesting that people will spend 20 dollars to save 5 cents. I may have to run the machine for 1 more cycle? OMG, I have to run it for 2 more minutes! What a waste of my time!

$20 plus shipping and handling for a 32 ounce bottle of One Shot Case Cleaning Solution.

Lemishine and Dawn about $8.00, Lemishine is a fruit acid also.

Nothing "wrong" with the bottled solutions if thats what you want to use. Personally, I'm not paying shipping for a bottle of water.

Sorry, I didn't realize that it was that expensive. I mix up a batch and keep using it until it doesn't clean any more so I haven't bought any for sometime now.

I said RCBS, I meant Hornady. RCBS doesn't make a Sonic cleaner that I know of.

quote:

You can buy 10lbs of citric acid on ebay for $26 shipped, it works as good as lemishine and costs a fraction of the amount

If you don't pour in down the drain every time you clean a few cases 10 lbs would last a life time.

Kinda hard to not pour the citric acid down the drain when it's used in the dishwasher to keep it clean, I don't use it in the ultrasonic cleaner, I use Birchwood Casey's cleaner as I stated in my first reply, and I do reuse the mix, still working on the first bottle. After I use the solution, I pour it into a jar and let the particulates settle out, pour the clear part into a jar and filter the dirty stuff thru a coffee filter into the same jar, it seems to last forever. I have a bottle of Iosso to try someday if I ever need more!

quote:

I have a bottle of Iosso to try someday if I ever need more!

Interesting, I have a little less then a gallon of Iosso, never thought of using it in the ultrasonic.

I've used Iosso in my ultrasonic. It works. Be sure and rinse the cleaner reservoir well after using. Water and Lemi Shine and soap are so much cheaper.

Having said that, you ought to use what you like!

Cleaned about 30 cases of .300 WinMag tonight. Used the Hornady solution and cleaned for about 30 minutes. I think they got about as clean as they were going to after 20 minutes, but wasn't sure.

Then after a good rinse I used some rubbing alcohol to dry them out. Worked well.

The over all results are better than just a media polish, but nothing close to what the ads suggest. Not sure if I am going to do this all the time or not. It does work, and works well with pistol or straight walled brass, but not as well with bottle neck brass.

Mick, we may be talking two different cleaning solutions. The price I listed was One Shot, 32 oz for $20. It says you can use it for upto 65 batches before it doesn't work. I mix the Lemishine, soap, and water and pour it down the drain when I'm done at the end of the night.

Sam,

There are a few advantages to Limishine over One Shot. I think one of the best reasons is that you can just dump it after cleaning a few cases and start a new batch with hot water from the tap. I on the other hand, with my saved One Shot have to wait awhile for it to heat up. Waiting for it to heat up can sometimes be a real pain. Pre-heating it on the stove or in the microwave stinks up the house and then I have a mad woman all over me like a cheap suit.

quote:

Originally posted by wrongtarget:
Vinegar is a mild solution of Acetic acid CH3CO2H and water, citric acid is C6H8O7. Vitamin C is L-Ascorbic acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinegar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C

You can buy 10lbs of citric acid on ebay for $26 shipped, it works as good as lemishine and costs a fraction of the amount, been using it in the dishwasher for years.

As soon as I saw your post I recognized my mistake - brain fart on my part.

It has been my experience that ultrasonic cleaning of brass is a complete waste of time, offering no accuracy or brass life advantages over vibratory tumbling. Removing the residue from a case interior has absolutely no positive effect on anything. There is one thing I have found my ultrasonic cleaner good for: cleaning the crud out of muzzle brakes. Other than that, ultrasonic cleaning is a waste of time and money. We make up our own rituals, such as bore cleaning or barrel break in, and derive some comfort and feeling of technical prowess from our ritual, but little is actually accomplished. Still, psychology is a part of life and a happy mind is a good thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Wrangler John:
It has been my experience that ultrasonic cleaning of brass is a complete waste of time, offering no accuracy or brass life advantages over vibratory tumbling. Removing the residue from a case interior has absolutely no positive effect on anything. There is one thing I have found my ultrasonic cleaner good for: cleaning the crud out of muzzle brakes. Other than that, ultrasonic cleaning is a waste of time and money. We make up our own rituals, such as bore cleaning or barrel break in, and derive some comfort and feeling of technical prowess from our ritual, but little is actually accomplished. Still, psychology is a part of life and a happy mind is a good thing.

That is the truth! I have a ritual that I do with every new (or new to me) rifle. It is silly, but I do it. I also have a method for reloading certain cases that I don't do for others. I will use a balance scale for my "accurate" rifles, and a electric for my "hunting" ones. I check the scales with a nice set of NIST weights, and they both check out just fine.

Just something to amuse me.

I do like shiny brass. Helps me feel like I can inspect the cases that much more. But the Ultrasonic seems to be a bit more trouble for what its worth, since you still need to tumble it after words.

Will use it for some things. It makes my old WWII .45 brass shine like new. But it won't be my normal routine.

Wrangler, for me ultrasonic removes case lube before storing or priming brass and I don't have to deal with media in the flash holes.
I'll prep 500 cases a week starting with corn cob on Monday night and be ready to prime Friday night. The longest part is trimming for two nights. Next is the Giraud trimmer.

Sam,
You need to look at this trimmer.
Little Crow Gunworks
You can crank em out with this one!

I'll have to try that one, add a shaving catcher under it and I'd be in business. They index the same way and a corded drill is $20 bucks anymore.

One advantage to ultrasonic over tumbling is you can clean gun parts small enough to fit. On the other side a tumbler can molly coat but you need a separate container and the steel media.