Wet Tumbling What went Wrong?

[Steve K]

I just wet tumbled 400 .223/5,56 LC cases and they came out grey. I had tumbled them in rice and NuFinish before processing and the cases were bright. I processed them using my usual mix of lanolin and 99% alcohol. In order to get the lube off I placed the cases in a wet tumbler with a table spoon of Palmolive, a cap of NuFinish, and stainless pins. They came out a dull greenish grey. The only variable was the NuFinish. I'm wonder if there was a chemical reaction between the NuFinish and one of the other ingredients. Right now they are in the wet tumbler with Palmolive and LimeShine. If this doesn't work, what will work? Also, will the cases be affected perhaps making them brittle?
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[TIMO]

Could be that combination, I use Dawn and a little Lemi-shine. Then a couple good rinses with cold water out of the tap. I do smaller quants usually, and shake out the pins by hand in the tumbler right after rinsing. Usually dry with a heat gun in a stainless pan until water evaporates.

Tim

 

[DShortt]

Dawn and citric acid and pins for range brass for me. I don't let my cases touch anything but my hand and the cartridge box once I own them, so I don't clean/tumble after the initial processing.

All I'm interested in is removing any grit prior to my possession of the cases.

Never noticed a shiny case to shoot any better than a dull one.

 

[pertnear]

Your pins need cleaning. Put pins in a bucket with about an inch of water. Add 3 or 4 cap fulls of Dep purple degreaser. Swish around well & then let soak 1/2 hour. Rinse them well afterward with fresh water. I suggest using Dawn dish soap & a SMALL amount of Lemishine.

 

[DShortt]

Your pins need cleaning. Put pins in a bucket with about an inch of water. Add 3 or 4 cap fulls of Dep purple degreaser. Swish around well & then let soak 1/2 hour. Rinse them well afterward with fresh water. I suggest using Dawn dish soap & a SMALL amount of Lemishine.

What?

 

[DiffEQ]

I believe Nufinish contains Teflon as a part of the wax base. You could be looking at a mixture of the Teflon and breakdown of the lanolin.
Palmolive is junk as far as cutting grease.
Citric acid really helps for the shine.
I rinse and dry my pins after a tumble cycle. I've never had to clean them.

 

[Webster]

Could be that combination, I use Dawn and a little Lemi-shine. Then a couple good rinses with cold water out of the tap. I do smaller quants usually, and shake out the pins by hand in the tumbler right after rinsing. Usually dry with a heat gun in a stainless pan until water evaporates.

Tim

Right on. Dawn and Lemi-Shine. Never fails.

 

[jds holler]

I've gotta say -- or wonder about using citric acid in combination with other solutions or substances that are on the other end of the PH spectrum. (such as most detergents) I think at best they may neutralize each other, or at worst, create some weird solution that does god only knows what.

Anybody have thoughts on this. jd (who took chemistry in high school)

 

[DShortt]

I'm no chemistry student and my experience is limited to myself and myself only.

The absence of citric acid using the public water system in 2 different locations has resulted in dull brass both times.

If I added too much citric acid at both locations, it resulted in a pinkish tarnish that I did not understand, but found undesirable.

So. I settled on an amount somewhere in the middle. And again, I only do this with range brass on high-capacity firearms with no information given as to the source of the brass.

Above all, I've noticed no distinction between the performance of brass no matter what the visual appearance.

 

[Webster]

I've gotta say -- or wonder about using citric acid in combination with other solutions or substances that are on the other end of the PH spectrum. (such as most detergents) I think at best they may neutralize each other, or at worst, create some weird solution that does god only knows what.

Anybody have thoughts on this. jd (who took chemistry in high school)

Dawn and LemiShine just works don't over anaylize it. If you get funny colors on the brass your using to much Lemi-shine. Been using it for over 10 years. More isn't better.

Interesting that many love LemiShine and Dawn and others say it's garbage. Where's the truth.

 

[anschuter2013]

Dish detergent has no place in the process of cleaning brass. Stick to citric acid and pins. Any time I've ever used dish detergent resulted in discoloration, sometimes gray, sometimes pink. Just my experience.

 

[Mike TackleBerry]

1 teaspoon of dawn and a 1/4 teaspoon of lemishine (No pins), Works amazingly well.

 

[Mike TackleBerry]

Dish detergent has no place in the process of cleaning brass. Stick to citric acid and pins. Any time I've ever used dish detergent resulted in discoloration, sometimes gray, sometimes pink. Just my experience.

I have used Dawn for over a decade and have never experienced what you mentioned. My brass looks brand new. The pink color you mentioned is from using too much lemishine, It has nothing to do with the dish soap.

 

[Walt Krafft]

Brass Juice will be your friend.

 

[DDRanch]

I use a couple of squirts of Dawn and a 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid/Lemon Shine with 5 pounds of stainless pins to clean 4 pounds or so of brass. When the brass starts coming out dull, I clean the pins with hot water a Simple Green, with a 2 hour tumble.

 

[DiRTY DOG]

I had this problem a while ago with a 5-gal bucket of range pickup brass. Turned dull grey in the wet tumbler for no apparent reason.

I did figure out how to remove the dark tarnish. I used a "Sulfamic Acid Concoction" I found on the internet. It worked!

1 tablespoon sulfamic acid (Home Depot and tile stores carry this powder for cleaning grout haze off tile. I bought a 1 pint container of liquid for about $10)
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 quart hot water

I quadrupled the batch and tumbled with pins for 30 minutes. Rinsed 3x, then tumbled with pins and soap for an hour. The result was 100% perfect brass like jewelry!

Never had this problem since then. Anyways I stopped using LemiShine and started using Brass Juice with fantastic results.

 

[Mastershot]

I use lemi shine and cap of automotive car wash soap which contains a little bit of wax. Brass always comes out bright and shiny. Here is pic of my 380acp brass after cleaning and loading.

 

[Clancy]

This is in NO way an attack on the creator of this thread, but wet tumbling is problematic. There’s a thread about it somewhere on the internet almost every day.

Just dry tumble and you won’t have trouble…. If you need to clean large amounts of range brass, Harbor Freight has super cheap mortar mixers. I use one to tumble coyote traps.

 

[bozo699]

This is in NO way an attack on the creator of this thread, but wet tumbling is problematic. There’s a thread about it somewhere on the internet almost every day.

Just dry tumble and you won’t have trouble…. If you need to clean large amounts of range brass, Harbor Freight has super cheap mortar mixers. I use one to tumble coyote traps.

100% spot on!….
Ultrasonic cleaners and tumblers with pins I use for cleaning car parts for brass if…..if I clean it at all I use a vibratory and media but usually just use steel wool on the necks n shoulders load and shoot. To the op, take the pins out of your tumbler fill it with your brass and top off with hot water add a little dish soap and they may clean back up
Wayne

 

[Rimneck]

You need to retumble to get the lanolin off. I use my own lanolin / red heet mixture for case lube.....works awesome, but the first wet tumble will leave you really po'd when you open that lid after 2-3 hours. What I do is tumble in a {cheap} degreaser like off brand purple power & water mix for about 2 hours. Then I retumble with my normal lemishine & dawn or AA Wash & Wax. Comes out great then.