Ultra sonic questions

[1shot]

Have a couple of questions regarding which US cleaner to buy.
I need one large enough to do 100-200 rifle cases at a time.

1. Beakers
Some say just drop the brass in the basket and turn it on, others say to stand them up, bottom down in beakers. Do I need beakers? If so why?

2. What make and model would you recommend for my application?
I'm not looking for some cheapo Chinese junk the fails in a few months.

Thanks in advance,

Lloyd

 

[Preacher]

Hornady sells a good one...
Not sure why, but a glass beaker will do a better job than just putting them in the basket...
Put them in a glass beaker and place that in the basket...
I don't try to clean more than 50 at a time....

 

[rardoin]

Not sure why, but a glass beaker will do a better job than just putting them in the basket...

I find the same when cleaning surgical equipment in a high power US tank. I think (speculation) that the wire absorbs US energy and releases it as heat while the glass vibrates at the same frequency passing most of the US energy back into the fluid in the glass vessel.

 

[davecb]

I have a Branson ultrasonic cleaner that has a heater built in. Holds about 5-6 gallons of solution. I only use it if I need the heating option. I purchased a small ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight(looks to be the same unit as the hornady). It seems to work as well as if not better than the Branson(unless heating the solution). It's also more practical for doing smaller batches. Actually, I was shocked at how well the cheap unit worked.
I think I paid around $50-$60 for the Harbor Freight 5 years ago. The Branson on the other hand was over $2000.

 

[1shot]

A couple more specific question to those of you that use the glass beakers.
Do you stand the cases up, or just drop them in so are they covered with the solution?
Also, is the solution the same in the tank as in the beakers?
Thanks,

Lloyd

 

[Preacher]

I just drop them in the glass with the solution in the glass, the tank is just plain water, no need for the solution to be in the tank..

 

[fastarget]

Look into L&R, several available through a dental supply house, they even have their own name branded ones. They run all day in the office with instruments and seem to last for years. I use a plastic basket, although some of them come with metal ones from the factory. Expect 600-1200 depending on model and capacity.