Drying brass with a dehydrator

Real Gun · January 24, 2015, 02:03 PM

I sonic clean my brass coming directly from the range. That is, I do not handle it. I do not decap off the press, so the interior retains some droplets for quite a while and very inconsistently in a batch. It became a concern when I was finding brass that apparently had been rushed to the tumbling before completely dry and had quite a bunch of media stuck hard in the bottom of the case.

I have heard of putting the brass in the oven. I could just be sure to wait long enough too, but I wanted control of how long the brass had to wait to be tumbled and be out and in the way while drying.

It occurred to my to look at a dehydrator. I found a unit that wasn't a lot of money and which appeared about right for the application I had in mind. It has four layers for four sorted calibers.

I chose the unit that was round and with a fan and heater in the bottom for faster and more even drying. The one concern I have to mention is that this is food grade equipment, and the trays appear delicate and fragile with the opening pattern in the tray,

Here is what I bought and which works for me:

http://tinyurl.com/mxxdyw2

p.s. I both sonic clean and tumble for an hour or two, because sonic clean alone, using only filtered water for the rinse rather than distilled, does not give the result I want. I do not simply tumble alone, because I don't want to get the media fouled and needing replacement nor do I want t have to run the tumblers for more than an hour or two. I use the tumblers as polishers, not cleaners.

Clark · January 24, 2015, 03:03 PM

I find that brass on paper towels will dry out in two days, even in the cold basement.

My problem is the stainless steel media in the thumler's tumbler drum can take one to two months to dry out. The solution was a paper towel as a wick. This cuts it down to a day or two.

Many items of laundry can individually be dried much faster and more energy efficiently with a leaf blower than with a laundry dryer. Although laundry dryers can be made much more efficient with a counter flow heat exchanger.

I have also found that an individual piece of brass can be dried in seconds with a vacuum cleaner. A hoseless shop vac with a cyclone separator added has become my new bench tool.

T. O'Heir · January 24, 2015, 03:42 PM

Fifteen minutes at "warm" or whatever the lowest setting your oven has, on a cookies sheet will dry brass, inside and out, as dry as it'll ever get. No idea how e long it'd take in a jerky machine. Don't have one and haven't wet cleaned brass for eons.

gman3 · January 24, 2015, 04:26 PM

I am asking out of curiosity, and certainly not to pass judgment on your process...but, what type of brass? Rifle, pistol ? I tumble, and that's it. I used to wash my brass in soapy water to remove the case lube when I had several hundred sized cases to clean off. When I did that, I then dried them in the oven afterwards at about 150.

Now I just tumble after sizing to remove the lube. If I have some very old or dirty brass, I tumble to clean, size, then tumble again to remove the lube.

Too much work for me to bother with wet stuff. I don't worry about the inside of the case, other than checking for head separation.

Just seems like a lot of extra stuff to do to me.

lamarw · January 24, 2015, 07:33 PM

What the heck? My wife goes through hand held hair driers like a disease. It is always off to the next best one. I currently have three of her left overs in my work room.

It only takes a few minutes on a paper plate to where the brass is dry and beautiful. Oh, I only use one at a time.

firewrench044 · January 24, 2015, 08:39 PM

I purchased a dehydrator from Harbor Freight , they only cost about $20 to $30
it only dries brass NO FOOD
it will dry about 200 pistol cases, 150 223 cases, or 100 3006 cases in about a half hour
( I decap primers before they are SS tumbled, primer pockets are cleaned
in tumbler )
with primers in cases it could take longer

I do not trust an oven (they cycle the heating elements to get a temp (on
and to hot for cases then off to cool, the average is the temp you set on the
dial and that temp on the dial is not always accurate
the dehydrator maintanes a temp of 200f well below a temp that might damage a case

Cheap, safe faster than air drying ( you can even put a timer on it )
( I have forgotten about it and it dried cases for 6hrs, no damage done )

Gregory Gauvin · January 24, 2015, 08:54 PM

FWIW, I ran a suppressor for 5-7 minutes in my sonic cleaner and it removed a good portion of the matte black finish. The idea of skipping the dentist for a 6 monther and sticking my mouth in their was quickly discarded.

I use media, but, if I were to sonic clean my brass and didn't want to walk the extra mile to dry my brass, I would consider the idea of using a liquid other than water with a rapid evaporation...like acetone, or an alcohol. But you would best be advised to research what would or could be used, safely, without chemical alteration, like ammonia would effect brass.

oldandslow · January 24, 2015, 11:50 PM

rg,

I started wet-tumbling cases several years ago and just put the wet cases on an old cookie-sheet and pop them in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. I've done about 8000 cases of both rifle and pistol with no problems (9mm, .45acp, .44 sp, 38sp, .357mag, .223/556, 30-06 and .270 Win). The annealing temp for brass is over 600 degrees so weakening of the brass has never been a problems for me.

best wishes- oldandslow

Kframe · January 25, 2015, 12:27 AM

It would make one helluva racket, but I wonder if a pillowcase zip-tied with a couple hundred rounds inside would work in your clothes dryer?

Real Gun · January 25, 2015, 11:27 AM

The issue is whether the inside of the case is dry, unable to clump tumbling media. Again, I do not decap first. I do that on the press.

I refer at this point only to handgun brass, although I am equipped to load for my seldom used rifles. I would be interested in why cleaning of rifle brass would be significantly different, other than maybe the necked brass taking longer to dry inside, spent primer still in place.

I am not interested in defending the premise. I just throw this idea and experience out there in case others with similar practices might find it an advantage.

At the same time, better choices in dehydrators would be of interest.

January 24, 2015, 02:03 PM	#1
Real Gun Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: SC Posts: 2,743	Drying brass with a dehydrator I sonic clean my brass coming directly from the range. That is, I do not handle it. I do not decap off the press, so the interior retains some droplets for quite a while and very inconsistently in a batch. It became a concern when I was finding brass that apparently had been rushed to the tumbling before completely dry and had quite a bunch of media stuck hard in the bottom of the case. I have heard of putting the brass in the oven. I could just be sure to wait long enough too, but I wanted control of how long the brass had to wait to be tumbled and be out and in the way while drying. It occurred to my to look at a dehydrator. I found a unit that wasn't a lot of money and which appeared about right for the application I had in mind. It has four layers for four sorted calibers. I chose the unit that was round and with a fan and heater in the bottom for faster and more even drying. The one concern I have to mention is that this is food grade equipment, and the trays appear delicate and fragile with the opening pattern in the tray, Here is what I bought and which works for me: http://tinyurl.com/mxxdyw2 p.s. I both sonic clean and tumble for an hour or two, because sonic clean alone, using only filtered water for the rinse rather than distilled, does not give the result I want. I do not simply tumble alone, because I don't want to get the media fouled and needing replacement nor do I want t have to run the tumblers for more than an hour or two. I use the tumblers as polishers, not cleaners.

January 24, 2015, 03:03 PM	#2
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I find that brass on paper towels will dry out in two days, even in the cold basement. My problem is the stainless steel media in the thumler's tumbler drum can take one to two months to dry out. The solution was a paper towel as a wick. This cuts it down to a day or two. Many items of laundry can individually be dried much faster and more energy efficiently with a leaf blower than with a laundry dryer. Although laundry dryers can be made much more efficient with a counter flow heat exchanger. I have also found that an individual piece of brass can be dried in seconds with a vacuum cleaner. A hoseless shop vac with a cyclone separator added has become my new bench tool. __________________ The word 'forum" does not mean "not criticizing books." "Ad hominem fallacy" is not the same as point by point criticism of books. If you bought the book, and believe it all, it may FEEL like an ad hominem attack, but you might strive to accept other points of view may exist. Are we a nation of competing ideas, or a nation of forced conformity of thought?

January 24, 2015, 03:42 PM	#3
T. O'Heir Senior Member Join Date: February 13, 2002 Location: Canada Posts: 12,453	Fifteen minutes at "warm" or whatever the lowest setting your oven has, on a cookies sheet will dry brass, inside and out, as dry as it'll ever get. No idea how e long it'd take in a jerky machine. Don't have one and haven't wet cleaned brass for eons. __________________ Spelling and grammar count!

January 25, 2015, 12:27 AM	#9
Kframe Senior Member Join Date: July 18, 1999 Location: MN Posts: 640	It would make one helluva racket, but I wonder if a pillowcase zip-tied with a couple hundred rounds inside would work in your clothes dryer? __________________ RN - ICU NRA - PATRON LIFE

January 24, 2015, 04:26 PM	#4
gman3 Senior Member Join Date: December 19, 2008 Posts: 408	I am asking out of curiosity, and certainly not to pass judgment on your process...but, what type of brass? Rifle, pistol ? I tumble, and that's it. I used to wash my brass in soapy water to remove the case lube when I had several hundred sized cases to clean off. When I did that, I then dried them in the oven afterwards at about 150. Now I just tumble after sizing to remove the lube. If I have some very old or dirty brass, I tumble to clean, size, then tumble again to remove the lube. Too much work for me to bother with wet stuff. I don't worry about the inside of the case, other than checking for head separation. Just seems like a lot of extra stuff to do to me.

January 24, 2015, 07:33 PM	#5
lamarw Senior Member Join Date: April 12, 2010 Location: Lake Martin, AL Posts: 3,311	What the heck? My wife goes through hand held hair driers like a disease. It is always off to the next best one. I currently have three of her left overs in my work room. It only takes a few minutes on a paper plate to where the brass is dry and beautiful. Oh, I only use one at a time.

January 24, 2015, 08:39 PM	#6
firewrench044 Senior Member Join Date: July 9, 2007 Location: Fort Pierce, Florida Posts: 381	I purchased a dehydrator from Harbor Freight , they only cost about $20 to $30 it only dries brass NO FOOD it will dry about 200 pistol cases, 150 223 cases, or 100 3006 cases in about a half hour ( I decap primers before they are SS tumbled, primer pockets are cleaned in tumbler ) with primers in cases it could take longer I do not trust an oven (they cycle the heating elements to get a temp (on and to hot for cases then off to cool, the average is the temp you set on the dial and that temp on the dial is not always accurate the dehydrator maintanes a temp of 200f well below a temp that might damage a case Cheap, safe faster than air drying ( you can even put a timer on it ) ( I have forgotten about it and it dried cases for 6hrs, no damage done )

January 24, 2015, 08:54 PM	#7
Gregory Gauvin Senior Member Join Date: March 6, 2009 Posts: 368	FWIW, I ran a suppressor for 5-7 minutes in my sonic cleaner and it removed a good portion of the matte black finish. The idea of skipping the dentist for a 6 monther and sticking my mouth in their was quickly discarded. I use media, but, if I were to sonic clean my brass and didn't want to walk the extra mile to dry my brass, I would consider the idea of using a liquid other than water with a rapid evaporation...like acetone, or an alcohol. But you would best be advised to research what would or could be used, safely, without chemical alteration, like ammonia would effect brass.

January 24, 2015, 11:50 PM	#8
oldandslow Senior Member Join Date: October 2, 2007 Posts: 641	rg, I started wet-tumbling cases several years ago and just put the wet cases on an old cookie-sheet and pop them in the oven at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. I've done about 8000 cases of both rifle and pistol with no problems (9mm, .45acp, .44 sp, 38sp, .357mag, .223/556, 30-06 and .270 Win). The annealing temp for brass is over 600 degrees so weakening of the brass has never been a problems for me. best wishes- oldandslow

January 25, 2015, 11:27 AM	#10
Real Gun Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: SC Posts: 2,743	The issue is whether the inside of the case is dry, unable to clump tumbling media. Again, I do not decap first. I do that on the press. I refer at this point only to handgun brass, although I am equipped to load for my seldom used rifles. I would be interested in why cleaning of rifle brass would be significantly different, other than maybe the necked brass taking longer to dry inside, spent primer still in place. I am not interested in defending the premise. I just throw this idea and experience out there in case others with similar practices might find it an advantage. At the same time, better choices in dehydrators would be of interest.