Ultrasonic brass cleaning systems - Concerns

[Fossil4Life]

Does anyone own one of these and use them to clean their brass with? Is anyone aware of any long term problems/issues/drawbacks using ultrasonic cleaners to clean their brass with?

[DucatiRon]

I have used the smaller Hornady ultrasonic cleaner in the past. It now collects dust under the steps. I found it a total waste of time for brass. The built in timer is way to short. There is no way that brass will come clean (at least as clean as I want) in the 8 minute max timer setting. Plus the smaller one dosent hold enough brass to make it worthwhile. It was an overpriced piece of crap that I could have bought off of eBay for 25 bucks instead if the hundred that I paid. It never cleaned a primer pocket and although I've run brass for up to a half hour with it it still sucked. Oh and by the way don't ever leave fluid in it. The "stainless tub" that is another piece of crap will start to pit and leak". And if your environmentally concerned what are you going to do with the dirty water/chem bath your left with.

The real question is what you are looking for and how many you need to clean. How clean do you want your casings ? Are you just looking for a shiny outside or do you want a clean inside and never want to clean a primer pocket again. Are you trying to clean 100 or 1000 at a time.

I process brass in bulk (usually 5k at a time). I can give you guidance in any direction you want to go. I've tried just about everything out there.

[crnkit]

I have the small lyman. While it is true the timer is too short, if you keep it going 4-6 times and keep the heat up it will remove all crud from inside and the primer pocket will be left sparkling. It will not polish the brass but if you tumble afterwards it will look brand new. Save the extra money and buy it form Harbor Freight as it is only $79.95 same unit. Where these cleaners excel is cleaning your guns. I break my S&W 41 down after a day at the range pull off the grips and let it run 4 cycles at full heat and it is spotless. Reoil it and it is brand new bore and all. I put my AR bolts in and there come out new. 1911 clean as a whistle. One caveat is to buy the dedicated Lyman cleaners for the brass or guns as they are formulated for each task. While it is water based the gun cleaner leaves a protective film on the gun. I flush with WD40 then reoil with M-PRO 7.
The key to using this machine is patience. Keep the timer reset and make sure the heater is on and they work great. The fluid should be too hot to touch. 170 is the norm.
Good luck

[Fossil4Life]

I have used the smaller Hornady ultrasonic cleaner in the past. It now collects dust under the steps.

I have seen the Hornady ultrasonic cleaner (YouTube) and I am curious as to who "really" makes it. Would you mind verifying for me the manufacture of the cleaner by looking for a sticker on the bottom of the cleaner or elsewhere?

The real question is what you are looking for and how many you need to clean. How clean do you want your casings ? Are you just looking for a shiny outside or do you want a clean inside and never want to clean a primer pocket again. Are you trying to clean 100 or 1000 at a time.

I would be processing perhaps a couple hundred at a time. I would want the primer pockets to be cleaned as well as the inside of the casing. I do have a tumbler with media. Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

I break my S&W 41 down after a day at the range pull off the grips and let it run 4 cycles at full heat and it is spotless. Reoil it and it is brand new bore and all. I put my AR bolts in and there come out new. 1911 clean as a whistle. One caveat is to buy the dedicated Lyman cleaners for the brass or guns as they are formulated for each task. While it is water based the gun cleaner leaves a protective film on the gun. I flush with WD40 then reoil with M-PRO 7.

Do you happen to know if there are any long term concerns I should be aware of? I have an ultrasonic cleaner that was sent to me as a product review, but I am extremely hesitant to use it to clean my casings due to potential damage that the ultrasonic cleaner might do to them.

[Hawk]

Mines currently collecting dust under my reloading bench too! It works OK for cleaning 50-100 cases at a time. The timer is too short if you want them really, really clean. If you just want to remove range crud, before sizing, then it works fine. It will leave the brass clean, but dull (which I don't really care about the finish). The reason I don't use it anymore is the drying time. I don't want to have to wait for them to air dry, or have to dry them manually, or have to buy an electric dryer.

I went back to a tumbler and walnut media. The only thing I hate about tumbling is the dusty media.

BTW, don't worry about ultrasonic wave damage to the cases. It won't hurt them.

[DucatiRon]

Well I looked on the bottom if mine and it says China. Other than that just a model number. Nothing else helpful.

On a side note if you want a full detail clean of your cases and shine them to a gold like appearance the best way is the water and stainless steel media in some type of rotary tumbler. You average person will use a Thumbler's tumbler, about a gallon of water, 5 lbs of stainless media, a dash of Dawn liquid soap, and a pinch of Lemi-Shine dishwasher additive. A Thumbler's tumbler will hold about 150 .223 cases or about 200-250 pistol cases. It's a 4 hour set it and forget about cleaning cycle. It by far has provided the best results for making even the worst looking range brass look like new again.

Since I process a lot of brass I use a cement mixer that I bought from Home Depot. When using a rotary style tumbler you are limited by weight. So a Thumbler's will tumble 16lbs if I remember. So that's 5lb of media 8 lbs of water and leaves you with 3 lbs of brass. My cement mixer in the other hand will process a combined weight of approx 240lbs for just under double the cost of what the Thumbler's run. But not everyone has the room for a small cement mixer at their house. Plus it makes a much bigger mess. Nice part about the stainless the media dosent wear out, get dirty, or need to be replaced unless you lose it.

Regardless if you try ultra sonic or go with wet stainless you have to let the casings dry. You can come up with creative ways to force dry them or simply hang them in mesh bags for a few days before you use them.

All my casings are sized and deprimed then go into the stainless bath. They get rinsed then dried then off to be processed for loading.

[Fossil4Life]

Well I looked on the bottom if mine and it says China. Other than that just a model number. Nothing else helpful.

Thank you for looking. I have a NewTrent ultrasonic cleaner, model number CD-4810 which looks very suspiciously like the Hornady Lock-N-Load ultrasonic cleaner that they sell. Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny.

The manufacturer that makes my ultrasonic cleaner is called "Intertek" and trademarked by "Codyson". Comparing the two ultrasonic cleaners as far as specifications go, it's a match all the way down to the wattage of the ceramic plate.

NewTrent CD-4810:


Hornady Lock-N-Load:

On a side note if you want a full detail clean of your cases and shine them to a gold like appearance the best way is the water and stainless steel media in some type of rotary tumbler.

How much abuse does the brass receive from this type of tumbling? Do they exhibit dings and dents after a few times through that kind of media? Are there ANY drawbacks to using steel media versus walnut or corn?

Since I process a lot of brass I use a cement mixer that I bought from Home Depot. When using a rotary style tumbler you are limited by weight. So a Thumbler's will tumble 16lbs if I remember. So that's 5lb of media 8 lbs of water and leaves you with 3 lbs of brass.

I can say that I have never heard of someone doing this. That is frickin' awesome! Leave it to good 'old American ingenuity, ROFL!

All my casings are sized and deprimed then go into the stainless bath. They get rinsed then dried then off to be processed for loading.

Can I ask what primer pocket cleaner/flash hole deburring tool do you use? I was looking at the Possum Hollow Product tools. Have you any thoughts on these (please see link)?

[Manxdriver]

I once heard an instructor say, " Don't ever use one to clean an aluminum pistol. It will destroy the gun". Don't know if it's true or not, but I do respect the guy who said it, so I took the advice to heart.

[DucatiRon]

Thank you for looking. I have a NewTrent ultrasonic cleaner, model number CD-4810 which looks very suspiciously like the Hornady Lock-N-Load ultrasonic cleaner that they sell. Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny.

The manufacturer that makes my ultrasonic cleaner is called "Intertek" and trademarked by "Codyson". Comparing the two ultrasonic cleaners as far as specifications go, it's a match all the way down to the wattage of the ceramic plate.

Mine was a different style. Probly about 3 or 4 years ago now. Hope you have better luck.

How much abuse does the brass receive from this type of tumbling? Do they exhibit dings and dents after a few times through that kind of media?

So far After 200k cases not one dent. Actually it looks factory fresh. And I mean even nasty been left in the dirt for 2 years stuff can come out like new.

Are there ANY drawbacks to using steel media versus walnut or corn?

Ya. Its a bit more in setup cost. But your never buying media again. Rotory tumblers are more exspensive. Its a 4 hr cleaning time. But its perfectly clean. Perfecting a good recipie can take a bit of time. I probly had to make about 20 batches to get the right amount of Lemi-Shine. Too much or to little can cause the case to tarnish and look terrible. So its a bit more of a learning curve. But Its the only way to process in bulk and not have to clean primer pockets. Reloading with OCD means every primer pocket on all 30k rounds this year will need to be cleaned. No I'm not doing them by hand. And you have to dry the cases. Again I just hang mine in mesh bags.

I can say that I have never heard of someone doing this. That is frickin' awesome! Leave it to good 'old American ingenuity, ROFL!

Nah. That was a simple choice after I seen what heavy duty rotary tumblers cost. You want real ingenuity go to the sniperhide forum as see those guys. They got ice cream makers and laundry dryers all converted to tumblers. That's also where I learned of stainless media and the technique.

Can I ask what primer pocket cleaner/flash hole deburring tool do you use? I was looking at the Possum Hollow Product tools. Have you any thoughts on these (please see link)?

Don't look bad at all.

Since I went to wet stainless media I rarely ever need to clean a primer pocket. Maybe 1 casing in a 5k batch might need touched up and that I still use a standard pocket brush. As for a flash hole deburring tool mine is an old RCBS which they don't make any more. It was more of a universal tool instead of the caliber specific stuff they make today. But the Possim Hollow stuff looks the closest to what I have and I like it a lot. Only benefit is mine will deburr 50 cal casings and that helps with the 500 S&W and the 50 Beowulf.