Cleaning carbon out of a suppressor

[Nomad47]

My suppressor has gained weight - an ounce of carbon.

Anyone have any recommendations or experience cleaning suppressors?

A friend suggested pouring carb cleaner in a bread pan and soaking for 24 hours. And I see that Amazon sells cans of carb cleaner that you dip parts in. But I would like to know if others have had any success with any other cleaners.

 

[Jackal2016]

I have no experience with suppressors, but I'm sure an ultrasonic cleaner would work that carbon out.

 

[savagedasher]

That would be
My choice Larry

 

[Gabe22BR]

centerfire? rimfire?

 

[Prairiedogger]

I use 50% hydrogen peroxide, and 50% viniger. Soak the parts in it. Bought a sonic toothbrush to agitate the solution.
{poor mans sonic cleaner} Cuts the carbon right off. Then treat it with DOT 5 brake fluid method.

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

I have one of the smaller Hornady sonic cleaners. My current fantasy, at least the one that is firearms related, that does NOT include the Dillon catalog ladies, is to afford the Sonic 9. It will take an M4 complete upper.

 

[MN50Shooter]

I've tried cleaning the carbon out of my 50 BMG Brake, using my sonic cleaner. Had zero success. I ended up, chipping it out. One of the top 50 shooters says he bead blasted his brake clean, and he now coats his brake with Pam, cooking spray (or generic) before each match, and claims he has no issues with carbon build up now.

The only down side is on his 1st shot of the day, it looks like he fired a muzzle loader, and the smell makes everyone on the line hungry.

 

[hogpatrol]

Ultrasonic unit, for my brakes, AR and other autoloader parts that will fit, I use a strong mix of Lyman Turbo Sonic gun cleaning juice and distilled water and run them through two 25 minute cycle. They come out spotless.

For hard carbon, you could try Seafoam liquid or some other internal combustion engine carbon removing solvent. May need to run through more than one cycle.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

My suppressor has gained weight - an ounce of carbon.

Anyone have any recommendations or experience cleaning suppressors?

A friend suggested pouring carb cleaner in a bread pan and soaking for 24 hours. And I see that Amazon sells cans of carb cleaner that you dip parts in. But I would like to know if others have had any success with any other cleaners.

This

 

[hogpatrol]

If you buy anything off of Amazon, link through this site helps fund it. ^^^^^ Top of the page.

 

[killahog]

Harbor freight sells an inexpensive ultra sonic, I use CLR cleaner in it. Works great for rimfire cans

 

[people]

I've tried cleaning the carbon out of my 50 BMG Brake, using my sonic cleaner. Had zero success. I ended up, chipping it out. One of the top 50 shooters says he bead blasted his brake clean, and he now coats his brake with Pam, cooking spray (or generic) before each match, and claims he no issues with carbon build up now.

The only down side is on his 1st shot of the day, it looks like he fired a muzzle loader, and the smell makes everyone on the line hungry.

You should try untreated RO reverse osmosis water. I was able to get it from the place where I used to work. We used it on our paint line. Tap water was worthless. Filtered water was better. Distilled water was good. RO water is magic.

 

[Milo 2.0]

I use 50% hydrogen peroxide, and 50% viniger. Soak the parts in it. Bought a sonic toothbrush to agitate the solution.
{poor mans sonic cleaner} Cuts the carbon right off. Then treat it with DOT 5 brake fluid method.

How do you dispose of this caustic mix?

 

[Milo 2.0]

I've tried cleaning the carbon out of my 50 BMG Brake, using my sonic cleaner. Had zero success. I ended up, chipping it out. One of the top 50 shooters says he bead blasted his brake clean, and he now coats his brake with Pam, cooking spray (or generic) before each match, and claims he no issues with carbon build up now.

The only down side is on his 1st shot of the day, it looks like he fired a muzzle loader, and the smell makes everyone on the line hungry.

Not to start an argument, but I'm calling BS. Would you spray the inside of your barrel with pam and fire it? The suppressor is going to burn the oil, all the while being coated with powder residue(carbon). IMO you're just adding a catalyst to accelerate the process.
There's carbon solvents, no one is going to shoot their can wet with a solvent either.

 

[tmwinds]

I've tried cleaning the carbon out of my 50 BMG Brake, using my sonic cleaner. Had zero success. I ended up, chipping it out. One of the top 50 shooters says he bead blasted his brake clean, and he now coats his brake with Pam, cooking spray (or generic) before each match, and claims he no issues with carbon build up now.

The only down side is on his 1st shot of the day, it looks like he fired a muzzle loader, and the smell makes everyone on the line hungry.

A good ultrasonic cleaner will cost about $300. It must be capable of heating the solution to about 160-180 degrees F. Use a 50-50 solution of Simple Green. About 15 minutes and it will remove the carbon from anything. Soaking the brake or suppressor in C-4 carbon remover will speed up the time.The cheaper units are junk. I know, I have one.

 

[MGYSGT]

I used an ultra sonic. It did get some out but not all. I ended up squirting Hoppes and liquid wrench and then with a wooden dowl drove the baffles out with a dead blow mallet. Seemed to work. I do remember when I bought the suppressor, the company would clean it for something like $35. How many rounds do you need to fire to get that much carbon?

 

[shoot4fun]

My suppressor has gained weight - an ounce of carbon.

Anyone have any recommendations or experience cleaning suppressors?

A friend suggested pouring carb cleaner in a bread pan and soaking for 24 hours. And I see that Amazon sells cans of carb cleaner that you dip parts in. But I would like to know if others have had any success with any other cleaners.

First, before introducing any type cleaner/chemical to your suppressor, I would read all the instruction manual and/or contact the suppressor manufacturer to see what they recommend. Many of the finishes can easily be destroyed by attempts to clean the inside.

 

[chkunz]

I have no experience cleaning a suppressor but will offer this for consideration. For cleaning my AR bolt carrier group I disassemble the group and soak it in Simple Green. I leave it over night but not 24 hours, it will turn a ugly color if left too long. That may not be a problem but I do not like the looks. After the soak the carbon is very easy to remove with the cheep carbon spray from WalMart. If you can disassemble the suppressor this may be an option.

 

[CaptainMal]

CLR.

Nasty stuff. Cleans carbon and is a cheap, readily available cleaning product. After use, barrel, suppressor, muzzle brake etc, rinse with light oil. The stuff is nasty on the hands and I guess, on raw carbon steel.

 

[Nomad47]

Thanks for all the tips. Really appreciated.

The suppressor is on a 6SLR and has about 3000 rounds thru it. It is a Form 1 which I built myself using freeze plugs formed into cones.

I haven't even tried to disassemble. But I plan to once I get at least some of the carbon removed. At the moment, it is soaking in full strength Simple Green. (I don't own an ultra sonic cleaner.) In the morning, I'll see how it looks and maybe attempt to disassemble. If it won't disassemble, then I will try a soak in carb cleaner.

Again, thanks for all the tips and suggestions. Great forum. And Happy Thanksgiving to all members.