Ultrasonic cleaning solution

[Bingo38]

after reading Jason Baneys fine article on homemade cleaning solutions I decided to try my hand. Seeing that the active ingredient in some of the commercially available cleaners was citric acid, I went to the canning department in my local WalMart and found Ball brand powdered citric acid, 7.5 ounces for less than three dollars. At home I mixed two (2) tablespoons of citric acid and a half teaspoon of Dawn dish soap in about a quart or so of distilled water. I ran my ultrasonic cleaner for 8 minutes and then added about 15 dirty .223 deprimed cases. After 24 additional minutes the cases were completely clean inside and out including primer pockets. After rinsing in fresh water the cases were dried using compressed air. Days later they are still bright and shiny.

 

[stubbicatt]

Is the distilled water critical in your cleaning solution? I've been experimenting with an el cheap-o Harbor Freight Ultra Sonic cleaner, and Frankford Arsenal concentrated solution, with the cases just sort of laying in the cleaner. It seems that they have to be run through several times before they are really clean, as the timer on the unit doesn't count up very far.

I wonder, and scour these postings and articles for solid "how to" information, whether one should load up the cleaner to the tippy top with brass, or place only a few cases in there at a time? I've seen fellas say to use a beaker with solution in it and cases standing on end, and place that in the bath with only water in it, and turn it on. I may resort to the beaker method one day, but as it is, I would like to develop a method without the beaker.

I feel certain that were the timer able to extend for a reasonable time, say 1 hour, I would be happier with this machine, rather than having to get up and go to the kitchen and turn it on again. Too, I could spend much more money and get an industrial ultrasonic cleaner, but until I see stellar results with this cheap one, I am leaning more towards the rock tumbler and steel pins method as a replacement for the old vibratory tumbler and walnut or corn media.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bingo38]

I started using distilled water because our local tapwater is very hard, full of minerals. Recently I've used bottled drinking water, also inexpensive and it works but not quite as well as distilled in my estimation. You are correct in your complaint about short run cycles, mine runs 8 minutes per cycle requiring me to stay close by.

I've had better results cleaning fewer cases at a time, giving them "elbow room" so to speak, 20 or 25 in the plastic tray that came with my unit. Also, I have not tried running it cold versus using the heater.

In my opinion unless one gets into industrial size cleaners, the small hobby size units such as mine are fine for small cartridge lots but for several hundred cases I still use my vibratory cleaner and corn cob media. Hope this answers your questions.

 

[Scott Harris]

I've tried it all, vinegar and baking soda, Citrinox, and a few others. Now I simply use dishwasher detergent with a dash of lemishine. It does not get it perfectly clean, but it is very simplle, cheap and 95% effective. PLUS it does not mess up my powder like Citrinox did. Citronix residue, no matter how well I rinsed the cases, would turn my black powder clumpy & yellow....can't be good for ES/SD

Regarding machines, once you overload their capacity (whatever that may be for your machine), the ultrasonic cleaning effectiveness goes to nearly zero. You simply cannot just dump cases into the machine and expect it to work. Figure out how many cases can be cleaned at one time and stick below that number. Otherwise, nothing gets cleaned no matter how long you leave it running. PS. You will need to spend some money to get a machine with decent capacity.

The rotary tumbler with stainless media is , by a mile, the best cleaning method I've used to date. It is super fast and cleans every nook and cranny given enough time..using simple dishwashing detergent. Use a little lemishine and your cases will look BETTER than new. Only downside is your case lips get peened. This can be mitigated, but it is the one downside to this technique.

 

[280nosler]

I have not strayed from the Lyman solution, I will say this:
A) stacking cases on their sides versus primer up makes a bunch of difference.
B) Like it has been said before, there is a cliff for the solution to work, and once it is close it is essentially garbage
C) the 4/6/8 minute routine is OK, but I get the best results (rifle only) with 2 8 minute (480 second) runs.
D) I use distilled water from groc. store. It is 97 cents for a gallon, and I use this method - Heat water in micro. safe dish, add to sonic cleaner, add solution. Drop in brass, run for cycle. After cycle rinse in bin that also has distilled water in it. I typically get 2 runs with 80-90 pieces of 308 brass, and use the same water bath to rinse afterwords. The "bath rinse" water is then used for the solution base next round. that makes sure you get the cleanest rinse every time.