Ultrasonic cleaning staining up cases??

[DngBat7]

Recently picked up a small but good DK ultrasonic cleaner. It does what it is suppose to. I use lemishine and dawn. Seems to be the crowd favorite. But my cases come out stained and tarnished looking. Nowhere near as nice as a job as the old tumbler I had did. Am I doing something wrong, or this is just the nature of a ultrasonic

Thanks

 

[GTyner]

do you wash the brass in hot water after ultrasonic washing

 

[Ranger007]

Try some Frank’s

 

[DngBat7]

do you wash the brass in hot water after ultrasonic washing

No. Just a quick rinse. Is thr brass suppose to get a bath in clean hot water in the ultrasonic after the dawn and lemishine bath?

 

[piie]

You should just rinse the brass after cleaning in the sonicator to get rid of the cleaning ingredients. If you see copper coloured "stains" - it's just the type of brass that does that - not seen Lapua do that (yet). I will typically also dry my brass by just rolling them between two towels - else you will get water stains on them once they dry.

 

[Big Mc]

Recently picked up a small but good DK ultrasonic cleaner. It does what it is suppose to. I use lemishine and dawn. Seems to be the crowd favorite. But my cases come out stained and tarnished looking. Nowhere near as nice as a job as the old tumbler I had did. Am I doing something wrong, or this is just the nature of a ultrasonic

Thanks

Use distilled water. Problem solved. Just my two cents Tommy Mc

 

[cw308]

It does happen in a wet tumbler too. I found when adding too much LemiShine will cause the problem. I haven't had the problem by first adding some water , then add the Dawn and LemiShine , mix it up and then add the brass , then add the remaining amount of warm water. By adding the chemicals on top of the brass was causing the problem I feel , also you could be adding too many cases or not giving it enough time . You have to get the right combination and the will come out looking like new brass every time, even the ones that didn't do so well on your last run.

 

[justinp61]

I wonder if a rinse cycle of baking soda and water in the ultrasonic cleaner would help by neutralizing the citric acid in the lemishine?

 

[crystalgayleguy]

get you some brass juice from thereloadingstation.com shines like jewelry

 

[marchboom]

Ultra sonic cleaners do not get the brass shiny clean like a tumbler does. The abrasive media is what shines brass. This is my method and the brass comes out looking almost like new:

I first deprime the cases then put them into an ultrasonic cleaner (or a bucket) for 1hr. The solution is 1/4 teaspoon of Lemishine per pint of water and a small amount of Armor All Wash & Wax (4-5 drops). Dawn also works OK (4-5 drops). After 1 hr, rinse the solution off the cases. Then into a Lyman Cyclone case dryer for 1 hr. Even with all 5 trays filled with .308 cases it only takes 1 hr to be completely dry. So far this has turned out to be a great case dryer. 30 mins in the oven at 250 degrees also works. Then they go into a large vibratory case tumbler for 90 mins. I use Zilla Ground English Walnut Shells Desert Blend from Amazon. Your local pet store might also have this. Before putting the brass into the media I put a little (1 half cap full) NuFinish car polish in the media and let it mix in for 15 mins or so. Then put in the brass. There is hardly no dust when using NuFinish. Also put in a USED dryer sheet cut into quarters. This will help collect any media dust or dirt. After 90 mins in the media put the brass in a media separator. Then I put the brass in an old large bath towel, grab both ends and "tumble" the brass for about 5-10 seconds. That's it. The Lemishine does a great job of removing the carbon deposits and the walnut shell tumbling puts the final shine on the brass. You may fine a very little primer residue in the pocket of a few cases but that won't hurt anything.

 

[DngBat7]

Thanks everyone. I will try a bunch of these techniques

 

[marchboom]

Forgot to mention. The reason I deprime prior to putting brass in the US cleaner is to prevent air pockets in the cases that are upside down and so that the primer pockets get clean.

The media I use will not get stuck in the flash holes.