Ultrasonic cleaning advice?

[The Banana]

Now I definitely got an odd look when I bought the thing at the jewelry store ... its 10" x 6.5" x 3" ... "you must have a lotta jewelry for a machine that big <huh huh huh>" "um no, its to fit my guns." <silence> As a test case I did toss my jewelry in and as better test case I tossed some tools in. But now its time for the guns and while the CLR/water mix did a great job on rusting tools, there is NO way I am tossing a Kimber on in after it. I saw that Brownell made a mixture but that is the only mix I have seen so far. When I spoke to Mike at OC Armory he had mixed emotions about an ultrasonic. He said he'd love to have one but wouldn't feel comfortable with the first few guns he tossed in to test.

So before I started being stupid and ruining perfectly good guns (my test part will be an AR15 lower but still hardly comparable to the Kimber or Sig finish-wise) I was looking for some advice. What mixtures do people recommend or is this whole ultra sonic idea a train wreck in the making? How much time/heat do people recommend? Also, I own a few Glocks and while I KNOW you never need clean a Glock I don't need the Glocks getting jealous when the other guns are all squeaky clean and those are stinky from neglect.

[The Custard Pirate]

Why do you suspect an ultra sonic cleaner would harm a firearm? I've never used one for that purpose, altho I know people who have, but I have cleaned lots of electronic components with no harm. As long as your cleaning solution is ok for cleaning firearms I can't imagine how the ultrasonic cleaner itself could harm a firearm.

[The Banana]

There was worry about stripping the finish off of the nicer guns and the concern of creating an environment for rusting. I wouldn't have thought there were any issues either. I do know there was concern about the dirt moving around from one location to another potentially causes issues so that I should take the guns apart. And that is a big question what cleaning products exist?

[Seesm]

I have a baron blakeslee ultra sonic generator I want to sell... Its bigger than yours and worth about 8K from what I find on the internet.. Anyone want to buy it pretty cheap...? :P

[VictorFranko]

Yes, you can definitely damage metal using an ultra-sonic cleaner.
We are required to use ultra-sonic on the military satellite components we manufacture, and we have found out the hard way, the costly way.
Use sparingly and for short periods of time. Don't allow metal to metal contact.
Many a bicycle chains life span has been drastically cut short due to ultra-sonic cleaning.

[s-s]

We use this (ATTAR-C) in Ours. We get it in 5 Gal Jugs. Use it on Aluminum, SST, Plastic parts.

[Seahawk]

I used to clean all my handguns in an ultrasonic cleaner and Brownell's cleaning solution. Now that it is no longer available to me I am cleaning, once again, in the usual manner.
It did a FANTASTIC job.

[winnre]

Never use it on a watch! The band maybe but not the works!

[s-s]

Might want to get some baskets for it. We have some with a rubberized coating.
The vibrations in the tank will cause the parts to move around and if they touch each other they will get scuffed up. definitely don't just throw parts in the bottom of the tank (if it's stainless) they'll get scuffed up for sure.

Don't put dissimiliar metals in at the same time.

[The Banana]

Many a bicycle chains life span has been drastically cut short due to ultra-sonic cleaning.

Can you go into detail about this? Pretty please?

Would you avoid all gun cleaning in the ultrasonic? And that also means I REALLY should take everything fully apart. I was told to leave my lowers assembled.

[Barabas]

I'm curious about the bicycle chain thing. Is it because of the seals being compromised and the solvent eating away the lubricant or from metal to metal contact while under vibration?

[high_revs]

i cleaned my pistols in an untrasonic cleaner. i did field strip (sans trigger) bthem though and put them in separate zip lock bags. did it on a hk usp 9mm and a glock 22. no issues. the slides looked grey'ish after but a little oil, it went back to its dark color. after a while, i got tired of it. reason being is you want to dry is fast so water doesn't sit. i don't have a heat lamp so a heat gun (low setting, always moving and far away) or a hair dryer got old after a while.

but i have zero functionality or cosmetic issues. i only used soap water too. and the zip lock was to prevent metal to metal contact. i didn't have any parts floating in the bag with the others.

it was a small ultrasonic from harbor freight. i also used it on my ar15's bcg. see some posts of mine on ultrasonic and pictures.

[VictorFranko]

Can you go into detail about this? Pretty please?

Would you avoid all gun cleaning in the ultrasonic? And that also means I REALLY should take everything fully apart. I was told to leave my lowers assembled.

In a prior life I worked in a bicycle shop, besides riding and racing all the time.
I thought I was so smart to clean my chain in an ultra-sonic cleaner. I'd get it pretty clean in a solvent tank, and then run it thru the U-S. Came out spotless. I began to notice my chains needed replacing often, too often, and I couldn't figure out why since I had the cleanest, most well maintained chains around.
My chains ran about 110 links, that's 220 link plates and 110 link pins, or 330 metal to metal contact points. The repeated vibrations, even that small were wearing out these contact points, killing my chains.
At my present work, we have seen the filler material of a braze joint "eaten out" by the U-S and that is just using DI water. Granted, braze filler material is softer than steel gun parts, but it does demonstrate that an U-S will damage metal.
Metal to metal contact in an U-S is bad.
Like someone else said, letting your slide vibrate around on the bottom of the SS tank may wear through the thin oxide coating over time too. Maybe put a rag on the bottom of the tank.
Just clean one part at a time, and don't run it too long.
Of course, this is just my experience and my opinion, YMMV.
PS:
Even though I have many U-S at my disposal, one big enough I could stick my AR in complete with the stock extended (just trying to give you an idea of the size, not saying I would do that!), I do not use them to clean my weapons. I just clean them the old fashioned way.

I make the wife do it

[cj cake]

I was looking for some advice. What mixtures do people recommend or is this whole ultra sonic idea a train wreck in the making? How much time/heat do people recommend?

I use a mixture of simple green and water. Mine heats up to 160F. I only run it for 5-10 minutes.

I found some cheap plastic baskets to use for all the small parts and a larger one for the slide. Kind of like a stong strawberry baskets. These were a buck at Biglots.

[timdps]

You definitely want to use plastic baskets or racks to keep metal from contacting metal. My commercial US died and I have been using a cheapie Harbor Freight US to clean small parts. Using cleaning solvent from the parts cleaner.

tim