Sonic brass cleaners

[jharry]

Anyone use one of the new sonic brass cleaners?

I have seen them by Hornady and Lyman - any others?

Any good? - How do they compare with walnut/corn cob?

[brando]

The ultrasonic cleaners from Hornady and Lyman are basically rebranded jewelry cleaners. You can get better, cheaper ultrasonic cleaners from non-gun related dealers. Using them takes a bit of practice and experimentation as there is no "works in every situation" cleaning solution/method. I used a decent sized cleaner for a couple years and the big advantage it has over vibratory cleaning is that it cleans the insides of the brass, including the primer pocket, exceptionally well. However, the process is not as simple as vibratory cleaners where you just dump them in the media, run for 1-3 hours and sift. With ultrasonics you can only do small batches of brass - the fewer you use the faster and more consistent they clean. They are annoyingly noisey so you won't want to run them while you work in the same room whereas a lot of vibratory cleaners are just a low hum. Ultrasonics are a grating, electrical sound.

You can only run them for a bit at a time, so I developed a process of running them without brass for 10 minutes to prep the solution (a mix of dish soap and brass cleaner), then do the brass in batches of 10-20 depending on the cartridge. You have to change out the water somewhat regularly, so it's not something you can easily do a big batch of brass with (ie it's not quick). However when you pull them from the grate you'll see them looking almost virgin, albeit soaking wet now. So then I'd carefully lay them out to air dry or on a sunny day put them in the sun. Later on I started doing annealing as soon as they came out of the cleaner, the heat pretty much drying the brass quickly.

Overall the process results in the cleanest brass you can get from top to bottom, but it's so much more involved than vibratory cleaning. Personally, I would look at stainless steel media, which is a sort of best of both worlds process that works like a vibratory cleaner but with similar results compared to ultrasonics.

[Bill Steele]

The ultrasonic cleaners from Hornady and Lyman are basically rebranded jewelry cleaners. You can get better, cheaper ultrasonic cleaners from non-gun related dealers. Using them takes a bit of practice and experimentation as there is no "works in every situation" cleaning solution/method. I used a decent sized cleaner for a couple years and the big advantage it has over vibratory cleaning is that it cleans the insides of the brass, including the primer pocket, exceptionally well. However, the process is not as simple as vibratory cleaners where you just dump them in the media, run for 1-3 hours and sift. With ultrasonics you can only do small batches of brass - the fewer you use the faster and more consistent they clean. They are annoyingly noisey so you won't want to run them while you work in the same room whereas a lot of vibratory cleaners are just a low hum. Ultrasonics are a grating, electrical sound.

You can only run them for a bit at a time, so I developed a process of running them without brass for 10 minutes to prep the solution (a mix of dish soap and brass cleaner), then do the brass in batches of 10-20 depending on the cartridge. You have to change out the water somewhat regularly, so it's not something you can easily do a big batch of brass with (ie it's not quick). However when you pull them from the grate you'll see them looking almost virgin, albeit soaking wet now. So then I'd carefully lay them out to air dry or on a sunny day put them in the sun. Later on I started doing annealing as soon as they came out of the cleaner, the heat pretty much drying the brass quickly.

Overall the process results in the cleanest brass you can get from top to bottom, but it's so much more involved than vibratory cleaning. Personally, I would look at stainless steel media, which is a sort of best of both worlds process that works like a vibratory cleaner but with similar results compared to ultrasonics.

Great overview.

I tried it and it was too much work for the benefits.

I am back to walnut in one tumbler and corn cob in another. I think the wet stainless media method seems like the "uber alles" process, but one of those setups is about half way down my must have list (a really long list).

[ArmyMedicMoose]

Anyone use one of the new sonic brass cleaners?

I have seen them by Hornady and Lyman - any others?

Any good? - How do they compare with walnut/corn cob?

the hornady and lyman and the same as the harbor freight that i paid 39 dollars for

[C.G.]

I've been using this one:

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-liter-ultrasonic-cleaner-95563.html

for about two years now. Works well, heats the solution and was cheaper than Hornady and Lyman. It was about $50 when I bought it, however.

[ArmyMedicMoose]

same one i have! Its the same thing as the lyman

[Endofcomment]

I am no expert but from my experience I can get really clean and polished brass inside and out in about 2 hours for 250 .45ACP but I use a combination of both ultrasonic and walnut tumbler.

A note on the cleaners. If you hold off and buy a bigger dual transducer unit with more watts, harbor freight unit has one 65watt transducer, you can clean more brass at once.

[Targets From Us]

why use small tumblers when you use these...go big or go home folks...

[TMcC]

The ultrasonic cleaners from Hornady and Lyman are basically rebranded jewelry cleaners. You can get better, cheaper ultrasonic cleaners from non-gun related dealers. Using them takes a bit of practice and experimentation as there is no "works in every situation" cleaning solution/method. I used a decent sized cleaner for a couple years and the big advantage it has over vibratory cleaning is that it cleans the insides of the brass, including the primer pocket, exceptionally well. However, the process is not as simple as vibratory cleaners where you just dump them in the media, run for 1-3 hours and sift. With ultrasonics you can only do small batches of brass - the fewer you use the faster and more consistent they clean. They are annoyingly noisey so you won't want to run them while you work in the same room whereas a lot of vibratory cleaners are just a low hum. Ultrasonics are a grating, electrical sound.

You can only run them for a bit at a time, so I developed a process of running them without brass for 10 minutes to prep the solution (a mix of dish soap and brass cleaner), then do the brass in batches of 10-20 depending on the cartridge. You have to change out the water somewhat regularly, so it's not something you can easily do a big batch of brass with (ie it's not quick). However when you pull them from the grate you'll see them looking almost virgin, albeit soaking wet now. So then I'd carefully lay them out to air dry or on a sunny day put them in the sun. Later on I started doing annealing as soon as they came out of the cleaner, the heat pretty much drying the brass quickly.

Overall the process results in the cleanest brass you can get from top to bottom, but it's so much more involved than vibratory cleaning. Personally, I would look at stainless steel media, which is a sort of best of both worlds process that works like a vibratory cleaner but with similar results compared to ultrasonics.

Thank you for this info. I went to the store recently to replace a tumbler and came home with a cheap ultrasonic cleaner. So far I'm not impressed, but I've only used it with a detergent/water combo. Will see what a decent brass polish will do for me. Thanks again for the nice write up.

[ArmyMedicMoose]

I use 50/50 vinegar for a few cycles. Then I do a few cycles with baking soda.. then 15 mins in a tumbler

[C.G.]

I use 50/50 vinegar for a few cycles. Then I do a few cycles with baking soda.. then 15 mins in a tumbler

And I thought I was the only one using this formula.

[lincoln45]

Anyone use one of the new sonic brass cleaners?

I have seen them by Hornady and Lyman - any others?

Any good? - How do they compare with walnut/corn cob?

[Southpaw45]

I bought the one from Harbor Freight about a year ago. I was mixing 6oz Simple Green with 12oz white vinegar and the rest hot water to make a gallon. The results we pretty good. I felt I couldnt load the cleaner with brass as much as I wanted to. I also felt that the brass was getting cleaner on the right side of the SC if your looking at the machine. Moving the brass around was a must. After a year, I no longer use it for brass but now use it to clean gun parts with Simple Green and hot water. It works great for this. You can just see the crud getting blasted off. For cleaning brass, I now just soak them in Simple Green and hot water. From there I rinse and throw them in the vibrating tumbler. They come out clean enough for me.

[Wrangler John]

My experience is that they aren't worth the trouble, time and extra steps involved. That carbon film inside cases has no effect on accuracy that can be objectively measured.

I did finally find a use for the Hornady ultrasonic cleaner I purchased; it cleans all those holes in a muzzle brake spotless. Just toss the muzzle brake in and run a few cycles until it comes out shiny, shake off and blow dry with compressed air.

[Don Edmondson]

I use mine to clean gun parts Plus if you use Lemishine the brass comes out clean in about 15 to 20 minutes. if you leave the brass in to long it will turn your brass PINK the pink rifle boys in Idaho love it easy to see on the ground I clean 250 to 300 45's at a time about 3 spoons of lemishine in my cleaner I start with hot water. just makes it faster Don Forgot to tell you it will take blueing off some gun parts so don't leave them in to long.