Drying Brass after Ultrasonic

[blastit37]

Rinse first with a solution of baking soda then clear water. Gets all of the citric acid off. I then blow dry with compressed air and let set overnight or if needed right away, put then in an old 45 ACP plastic shell holder from boxed ammo and hold them if front of my 220V space heater for a minute or so and they are ready to load.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

After cleaning in my ultra sonic cleaner, using dawn and citric acid, I put the cases in a wire basket and sit it over the outside air conditioner. It is constantly blowing very warm air and in 30 minutes they are dry and no spots.

 

[MVRK28]

I built this little contraption for drying brass. It has a pair of AC Infinity fans built in to the bottom that blows air through the holes on the top. The top and nails have been coated in polyurethane.

 

[Shooter13]

I just tried later this afternoon using the ultrasonic with dawn and lemishine.
Same results, coming out of the cleaner, clean and nice and shiny.
Rinse off with cold water to get all the soap off and into the dryer after shaking all excess water off.
After 30-45 mins, the brass is dull with orange rusty spots and green spots.

I'm thinking the dryer is too slow heating up and air flow is not very strong causing the water to sit stagnant on the brass.

To much limishine?

 

[LGKLAS]

I have been ultrasonic cleaning for several years now. When I first started, I read an article from an engineer who had been ultrasonic cleaning things for decades. His recommendation was a 1% solution of Citranox with hot water. Citranox is a mildly acid cleaning solution made of citric acid and glycolic acid. Run your ultrasonic cleaning, then thoroughly submerge/rinse in water after the cleaning cycle to neutralize the Citranox (I use 10 to 20 minutes cleaning time depending on how dirty the brass is). Then I use compressed air to dry. No spotting or discoloration. I buy the Citranox by the gallon and it lasts several years. A gallon may cost you between $60 to $90 but it is still very economical when you consider how many rounds of brass you can clean with a gallon.

What is the ratio between Citranox and Hot water? Want to to try this.

 

[rkittine]

I use the RCBS Ultrasonic Cleaning Solution and then rinse in water I collect from my Dehumidifier. Should be close to distilled water. Built a rack with small mess screen on the bottom (with feet to raise it) and more open mesh above so I can put the cases in open end down and let them dry in the same room where the dehumidifier is.

Bob

 

[Webster]

Hello All,

Recently picked up the RCBS ultrasonic cleaner.
I'm having corrosion issues when drying the brass afterwards.
1st I tried the Frankford Arsenal Brass Cleaning Solution and after two 8min cycles, then rinsed off with cold water I placed the brass in the heated Lyman dryer.
The brass was clean and nice and shiny when going into the dryer.
The brass came out a dull brass/gold color and had what looks like rust spots and green spots in the primer pockets.

What am I doing wrong?
When I wet tumble never had this issue.

If you dry at a temp much more than 200F the brass will oxidize and turn dull

 

[Hoot]

If you dry at a temp much more than 200F the brass will oxidize and turn dull

Also, if you're using a gas fired oven with a glass viewing window, keep an eye on that window and don't put your brass in until all the condensation from combustion cooks off. AKA preheat the oven. That helps avoid discoloration from the steam bath that's inside before the condensation cooks off.
At least that has been my experience but then again, I preheat to 350, turn the oven off, put the brass in and let the temperature naturally decay. They come out shiny but if I didn't thoroughly rinse them in hot water, they sometimes take on a slight color cast. Not to add additional work to the process but a quick tumble in walnut with some dried, rubbing compound dust in it, brings them back the shiny, new brass color. By quantity of rubbing compound dust, I mean a couple of scrapes across the surface with a pocket knife. It doesn't take much and keeps me from regretting letting the rubbing compound dry out in the first place.

Hoot