[Dredsen]

I use the Hornady and have forgotten about a load before for a few days...

With a vinegar and acid solution would the cases have been damaged?

 

[skyfly757]

Ole Silver - How much mineral spirits to be added to your homemade batch of UltraSonic cleaner solution.

 

[tjh121]

BROWNELLS has a couple of decent articles about ultrasonic cleaning...

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=10925/GunTechdetail/Ultrasonic-Case-Cleaning

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=...aning-Clinic-Ultrasonics-The-King-Of-Cleaning

 

[majsteve]

Brass cleaning (in general)

I use Historic Timekeepers cleaner in my 2.5 gallon ultrasonic. I repair clocks so that's why I've tried this.

One quart will make 7 quarts of cleaner and you can use it hot or cold. It cleans without harming the brass at all - it was designed for this. Give it an hour and its clean. Rinse in hot water and air dry. Doesn't add shine, but the solution softens the crap in the primer pocket and the carbon in the case and the ultrasonic cleans them away.

 

[BennyS]

I clean my brass with a LnL sonic cleaner. I use hornady solution with a squirt of dawn. Brass comes out decently clean. I do all my brass prep than they go in the corn cob to tumble for 90 minutes. Can't tell between new and fired brass!

 

[loveymac]

1. use the manufactures recommended cleaning solution and amount, I don't know if your solution is water based but believe me a little goes a long way.
2. crank up the heat, let your ultrasonic run for about a half hour to warm up the solution and then place your parts in the ultrasonic, turn your unit on while it is warming up, that will accelerate the heating process, dont forget to turn the heater off when you call it a day.
3. forget about the lube solution.
4. dont put your slides,frames, or any other external parts in a basket.
5. wash your pcs thoroughly when you remove them from your unit, remember it's a cleaning process not a coating process, you'll want to remove all that cleaning solution from your parts and you will also want to thoroughly dry them, I'm thinking a hair dryer might be ideal for you.
6. keep your ultrasonic clean, all that residue will lay in the bottom of your unit and needs to be hosed out occasionally.

 

[David Finell]

I have Hornady's Magnum ultrasonic cleaner and I've tried several home brews and Hornady's cleaner; Hornady's stuff worked better. It reminds me of Palmolive dish cleaner but it's a bit thinner and I think that they add something else to make it work well with cartridge brass. I do add a quarter cup of ammonia, not because it helps cleaning (it doesn't) but because it helps make the brass a bit shinier. I've noticed that the cleaner starts to loose it's effectiveness after about 200 .308 cases but I increase the cleaning time to make up for it. I normally change out my cleaner after about 300 - 400 cases.

I would be cautious about using ammonia with brass. In the clock community it is known to make brass brittle and cause cracks.

 

[sbird]

Interesting old thread. I'll second what David says about ammonia and add that dawn dish soap and chlorine all reek havoc on gold that is alloyed with copper and zinc. I see a lot of small cracks in the microscope from folks washing dishes or using hot tubs and pools while wearing there jewelry.

 

[Capona]

The Hornady cleaner works best and it’s very economical. I use the same cleaner over and over many times.
I just bottle it back up in a large pinesole bottle to use the next time around. A bottle of that stuff goes a long way. Even though it might be black from a dozen uses , it still cleans well.

 

[firegrunt03]

White vinegar and Dishwasher soap.