Ultrasonic cleaners

[Route5.56]

[G.O.D.]

I am also looking for one. Most of the Cleaners (in the 100 Dollar Range) (on Amazon) Seem to Fail. Hopefully someone will Speak Up.

[Philinsocal]

I have an ultrasonic cleaner and have thought of using it for this purpose. That said, you do have to be careful what you put in there. The vibrations will hurt certain surfaces. Parts such as the barrel would be fine. Sites, on the other hand, would likely be damaged.

[yacko]

I use a vevor from amazon.

I dont use it often, but had it for about 4? years? Still works.

The key, is to use the right cleaning products and process.

I emailed tech support for trijicon about the sights in ultrasonic, they said no problem.

Some people use cleaners specifically for ultrasonic gun cleaning, others use simple green or other things.

I use ultrasonic gun cleaner- and lube solutions- have used hornady, and another brand. no problems.

After cleaning, rinse in hot water to remove the cleaner residue, use compressed air to remove as much water as you can, the the parts go back into the ultrasonic with a water displacement/dry lube/rust prevention solution.

After that cycles through, remove the parts, let dry and lube the parts as you normally would. oil/grease like normal- the water displacement/rust prevention/dry lube solution is meant to remove any trace of water, and provide a protective coating- you still need to oil/grease as normal.

[Liberty Rules]

I have a Lyman Turbo Sonic Professional ultrasonic machine. I have used it extensively in the past for large batches of parts/kits to remove cosmoline and such. I occasionally use it to clean rifles. A few points:

I don't recall any issues with night sights. However, they were vintage night sights on com-bloc AK variants. They were dim to begin with due to age. I haven't tried it yet on modern pistol night sights.

Be careful with aluminum parts. There are some steel cleaners that will eat aluminum in an ultrasonic. This worsens with exposure time. Read the instructions for your machine and for the specific cleaning product. I cleaned an old military tripod with a steel cleaner. It had some aluminum parts that were coated. The tripod had a lot of soaking time due to the amount of cosmoline. Some of the aluminum parts lost their color coating but were otherwise fine.

Beware of any paint-type coatings. As they say, test on something inconspicuous if you can. I have had paint come off steel and cast iron parts in the ultrasonic. One example was the WWII tripod. It had unknown paint that could have been post-war or field-applied. A 45 minute soak in the ultrasonic dissolved most of that coating of paint. I don't know if that was from the Lyman steel cleaning fluid or the ultrasonic itself.

I have an HK clone rifle with a black painted-on coating of some sort. There was a spot from day one where the coating didn't adhere (cracked) and there was some rust underneath. I'd guess the builder didn't neutralize the underlying metal treatment in that spot before coating. I asked Lyman when I first got the machine if it was safe to ultrasonic a coated firearm. They cautioned that it depends and some coatings may be affected, particularly with longer exposure. Because of this, I chose never to put that rifle in the ultrasonic.

I also used the ultrasonic to clean some 1950's drill press parts. The shop-applied paints peeled off in many spots from the press parts. (Those were coats of paint applied haphazardly by shop employees over the years. Not great paint jobs and done over layers of dust bunnies.) I'd guess they were latex paint but there were multiple layers and I don't know for sure. The original layer of industrial paint from the 50's held up well.

The strength of the transducers in the machine will have an effect, as will the amount of exposure time.

Use hot water. It helps break down greases and oils much faster. Aside from being more effective at cleaning, it helps reduce exposure time if that's an issue. Using hot water also helps remove residual water afterwards (assuming the part soaks long enough to become hot itself). If so, when you remove the part the water will evaporate quickly. On a related note, it is imperative to immediately dry the part and oil it after a hot ultrasonic cleaning. Parts can flash rust within minutes if you don't. On anything with internal nooks and crannies, it is best practice to soak the part in some sort of oil. Completely submerge it. Using compressed air to blast residual water out before soaking it in oil is a great idea and helps the longevity of your oil.

I have cleaned many rifle bolts and barrels with zero damage to phosphate coatings or bluing.

I did not have any issues cleaning an AR15 upper (which has anodized aluminum).

Because of the sheer size of my machine, I don't use it that frequently. That is because the capacity is between 5 and 7 gallons of water/solution. It takes many hours to heat that up to 175 degrees with the internal heater so I boil big pots of water to fill it and then use the internal heater to keep it at operating temp. I also have to drain it and store it afterwards. All of that takes time, so I do it on a "rainy day" when I have enough stuff to justify it. That said, it sounds like you will be using a pistol sized unit so this shouldn't be a concern for you.

Lastly, I emphasize again to consider the cleaners you are going to use because it will make a difference to some materials. They make different cleaners for other metals. Lyman makes a steel cleaning fluid as well as a brass cleaner. I have some of the brass cleaner but I have not used it yet. I don't believe I ever used simple green but I have read where others used it.

[oddjob]

I have a Hornady stainless model (not sure who made it for Hornady). Bought it used here on Calguns and its going on 4 to 5 years. I'm using Hornady cleaning solution for now till it runs out. Gunsmith said to use purple Simple Green when I run out. Its supposed to be aircraft safe and will not harm the gun. I would still be careful and test a small part first. The ultra sonic works really well. I field strip/takedown the gun, run it it in the hot solution for 30 minutes, take it out then dry it with a heat gun (carefully).

It does remove ALL lubrication so you have to lube it.

[Azul Mar]

emop?Thank you for any help

Some popular brands include iSonic, Hornady, and Lyman.
Pros:
Thorough cleaning: ultrasonic cleaning uses high frequency sound waves to agitate the cleaning solution and loosen up dirt and debris from nooks and crannies
Time-saving: ultrasonic cleaners can clean parts much faster than manual cleaning methods
Improved functionality: a properly cleaned firearm can function more reliably
Cons:
Cost: ultrasonic cleaners can be expensive
Damage risk: some parts may not be suitable for ultrasonic cleaning, as the vibration can cause damage
Maintenance: the cleaning solution can become contaminated over time, requiring regular replacement.

[Joe Register]

I use the harbor freight version. Works good on carb parts. Ok on gun parts. Mostly just clean by hand though.