Ultra Sonic Cleaner Unimpressive

[roostersgt]

Used Lyman Ultra Sonic cleaner with Lyman fluid on two loads of fairly clean brass. The brass on both occasions ended up with a pinkish film that was a ***** to get off. Lots of wiping, even after putting them into my walnut media tumbler for several hours. What gives? Suggestions?

[C.G.]

I am not sure what chemicals Lyman uses which may have caused discoloration, but also you may have left them in too long.

Here are a couple of articles on various cleaning solutions:\

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/ultrasonic-cartridge-cleaning-tips/

http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/ultrasonic-case-cleaning/

Personally I use white vinegar and soap as mentioned in second article.

[Unretarded]

I like the sonic cleaner I use........but I have their cleaner and it works good for getting everything inside very clean.

Did you immediatly rinse in clean water once removed ?

[Paseclipse]

I'm using Hornady One Shot and the only time I've had that happen was when I added too much solution.

[jericho89]

I am using a cleaner that has a heat option, I run it close to 180* with a little dawn soap and lemishine. They come out clean in and out and from the basket dump right into cool clean water. Not as shinny as I would like, But very clean and no change in color the next day.

[varanidguy]

I have found that sonic cleaners are awesome for cleaning guns/gun parts, but so-so with cleaning brass. Wet tumbling is really where it's at with brass if you want shiny and virtually spotless brass.

[stand125]

I have pretty much stopped cleaning brass unless it has dirt on it and even then it is just all tossed in a bucked with hot water and dish soap and swished around for a few minutes then rinsed and dries. It has some water spots but gets pretty darn clean. I don't find pretty brass shoots any better.

[roostersgt]

This was some really old military stuff that had a tar like substance on them. Left them in heated solution for the max time, 8 minutes and you could see the pinkish discoloration even submerged. Rinsed them and still looked bad. Had to use metal polishing cloth to get them shiny. Dawn liquid and water works in ultra sonic cleaners?

[Unretarded]

This was some really old military stuff that had a tar like substance on them. Left them in heated solution for the max time, 8 minutes and you could see the pinkish discoloration even submerged. Rinsed them and still looked bad. Had to use metal polishing cloth to get them shiny. Dawn liquid and water works in ultra sonic cleaners?

Mine have had the pinkish tint.......I soak some for 30 minutes to get the primer pockets and inside clean the lazy mans way.......sometimes 4 or 5 or 6 sonic cycles over a 45 minute span.

Nothing 2 hours in the walnut shells with polishing/wax to protect the cases will not fix........looks better than new brass and takes minimal effort.

rinse......dry and toss in the vibrator, nice and bright with a protective wax job when done !

[jericho89]

I have found that sonic cleaners are awesome for cleaning guns/gun parts, but so-so with cleaning brass. Wet tumbling is really where it's at with brass if you want shiny and virtually spotless brass.

You need a really strong ultrasonic cleaner for brass. Brass being more pliable (lack of a better work is coming to mind) absorbs the waves easily and dampens the effect. I do not need supper shinny brass, just very clean brass

[boomer135]

I found that I got a pink discoloration on some old brass. I only use the sonic cleaner for small batches of reloads. Off the shelf sonic cleaners are pretty weak but they can still do a good job.

For large batches of brass I just wet tumble. You can test you sonic cleaner's strength by using some tin foil and some wire. You tube it and try it out.

I use a few cap fulls or hornady's brass cleaning solution and get good results without over crowding.

[rsrocket1]

The pink is from the Zinc leaching out of the brass. Vinegar does that too. If you use an acid like citric acid or LemiShine, the citric acid will passivate the brass and protect it.

I tried the ultrasonic route early on in my reloading career. I tried the bigger Harbor Freight cleaner. To see true ultrasonic action, I used water with a few drops of Dawn. You should be able to see tiny bubbles forming on the surface of the brass and rising to the top of the water. You get very shiny brass with both the outsides and insides bright and clean. The downside is that for me, it took three to four 6 minute cycles and the ultrasonic action did not work for more than 18 45ACP cases at a time.

Bigger batches were simply being vibratory cleaned where the brass was no better off than being swished in a bucket with some Simple Green in it.

I exchanged the US cleaner for a vibratory tumbler and got some $ back to boot. With the vibratory tumbler, I just dump several hundred cases into the crushed walnut, add a couple of cut up used dryer sheets, set the lamp timer to 3 hours and come back to clean and shiny brass. Not as shiny as with the US cleaner but good enough to reload and shoot.

I suppose a used large capacity medical or dental ultrasonic cleaner would work well if you can find one, but I'll bet most "large capacity" reloading US cleaners are no better than attaching a vibrator or palm sander to a metal water tank. For true ultrasonic cleaning, the cleaner should be capable of cleaning without anything more than water. The Dawn is simply used to suspend and carry off the blasted off soot.

[roostersgt]

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. Will stay with tumbler from now on with the older brass and try water / dawn in ultra sonic cleaner.

[varanidguy]

You need a really strong ultrasonic cleaner for brass. Brass being more pliable (lack of a better work is coming to mind) absorbs the waves easily and dampens the effect. I do not need supper shinny brass, just very clean brass

Well, wet tumbling will get it very, very clean. And if you get the right tumbler, you can do 800-1200 pieces at once.