Can someone reccomend me a hydrosonic cleaner?

Lavid2002 · August 17, 2010, 07:07 PM

Hey guys, I am getting tired of replacing tumbling media... it sucks. I also hate sifting, the waiting, and the noise. Can someone recommend me a semi-cheap hydrosonic cleaner?

Any personal experiences are welcome!

Thanks : )

-Dave

fpchief · August 17, 2010, 07:18 PM

No personal experience but was "told" that the hornady cleaner is pretty good to go. I did see some at harbor freight tools the other day but could not make myself pick it up. It costs about $60.00 Any idea if the sonic cleaner makes the brass shiny? or just real clean?

sserdlihc · August 17, 2010, 07:19 PM

Take a look here

http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...d-Accessories/

I have seen hydrosonic jewelry cleaners at places like Ross and TJMaxx. Anywhere from 10 to 15 dollars. Capacity doesn't seem to be all that great though.

Sport45 · August 17, 2010, 08:39 PM

Harbor freight has ultrasonic cleaners if you want to try one without spending a lot of money. Every now and then you'll see them on sale in their flier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lavid2002

Hey guys, I am getting tired of replacing tumbling media... it sucks. I also hate sifting, the waiting, and the noise.

Try the ultrasonic for a while and I predict you will be tired of replacing cleaning solutions, rinsing, and waiting for brass to dry.

I don't replace media very often. A bag of pet store walnut probably lasts me about 5 years. For sifting, I use a dollar store colander laid in the top of a 5-gallon bucket. I usually sort my brass when I get home from the range and then dump some in the tumbler before I go inside. It can make all the noise it wants in the garage and I'm in no hurry to go back out there to put the next batch in. Each batch gets from 3 to 12 hours of cleaning, depending on when I remember to go check on things.

I do have an ultrasonic cleaner. It's as noisy as the tumbler. I use it for small parts cleaning. Tried it once for brass and wasn't impressed.

noylj · August 17, 2010, 11:10 PM

You listen to songs under water?
Oh, you mean an ultrasonic cleaner.
I, personally, do not believe my brass needs to be any cleaner than it is after about 30 minutes of tumbling.
I use a jewelry ultrasonic cleaner for gun barrels and parts. The ultrasonic unit needs an aqueous cleaner (water-based) and, in general, the best cleaning solution is a little Dawn in distilled water.
I put my gun parts in a glass jar filled with Hoppe's #9 and place the jar in the basket (never place anything on the base of the tub). Let it go for several 30 minute cycles (I'm in no rush and I don't want the Hoppe's to get too hot).
A unit I would like to see is the 170 watt, 2 liter capacity (0.53 Gallon) ultrasonic cleaner by Shining Image for about $100.
One thing I would look for if I was looking is a unit that has a removable tub (not sure it is possible) or is sealed such that one can conveniently clean the tub after a while.

Lavid2002 · August 18, 2010, 12:07 PM

Recently I have been rinsing my brass with water then tumbling them to get the sand and dirt out before I put them in. I am trying to keep my media clean so I dont have to replace it all the time. Clean media cleans faster and gives a better end result IMO

I will check harbor freight. I have 20% off tickets to that place :P

rattletrap1970 · August 18, 2010, 12:28 PM

I picked up a 3 Liter one on ebay. I love it. It comes in hand to clean lots of things. I de-cap and resize, then unltrasonically clean in a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar with a couple drops of Dawn Dish Detergent. Then I rinse them and pour them into a cut-off leg from a pair of jeans and toss that into the drier with a bunch of old towels (keeps it from beating the drier up). Then I tumble ovenight.

Comes out like mirrors inside and out.

demigod · August 18, 2010, 12:36 PM

If you run lemmeshine in your ultrasonic cleaner, the results are amazing.

Really tarnished brass turns pinkish, dirty brass looks new. It's really not worth the hastle. You do get brass cleaner in less time, but there's much more manual labor to get the brass done.

I end up tumbling the brass anyway to dry it and give it a final polish. I almost never use the ultrasonic anymore for brass.

rattletrap1970 · August 19, 2010, 07:44 AM

I use it a lot for degreasing before slow rust bluing. I have glass beakers that I put acetone in (and other degreasing agents) to remove oil and residue. Glass is mostly transparent to ultrasonics, so you can keep different kinds of cleaners in different beakers for different jobs. Just leave properly prepared solution in the cleaner itself and set the beakers in your basket or use a beaker rack. Very handy.

dlb435 · August 19, 2010, 03:48 PM

I've got a Brason 1500. Nice unit and they only cost about $400.00. I don't use it to clean my brass. I use a vibritory cleaner.

amamnn · August 21, 2010, 06:43 PM

I'll sell you mine cheap--they don't do anything a tumbler can't do and better. If you are using up media too fast it's probably because you've gunked it up with a lot of crap you don't need--polishes and such. Get some walnut media and scouring powder and save yourself a lot of time money and grief.

Ultra sonic cleaning does not clean primer pockets unless you decap first-- part of the idea of cleaning cases is to avoid grit in the dies. So you need a universal decapper??!! Ultrasonic is sloppy and messy-- your wife will hate it. So far the only thing I have found it good for--and I am using one a lot more powerful that the jewelry cleaner type like the Hornady---is to clean and oil bolts without disassembling them. Not worth the money for just that. I'm not so lazy I cannot disassemble a bolt now and then.

Read up on the subject on the Brownell's tech help site and also on 6mmbr.com. You may decide to save your money.

PS if you are a precision shooter you will want to avoid home made solvents in the machine as they (all the ones I have seen so far) rely on some sort of acid to clean. This definitely affects the action of the bearing surface of the bullet with regard to the case neck and also the ductility of the brass itself. Vinegar is acid---remember all the science projects in Jr. High that made volcanoes out of vinegar and baking soda? Acid and base ring a bell? Yes? No?

No manufacturer of ultrasonic cleaner solvents has been able to guarantee me that their solvent will clean revolver cylinder faces or that particularly nasty area around the forcing cone. Shooter's Choice claims that their cleaner will clean bores, if not TOO fouled, but when I TT them on the phone, they would not make any claim concerning the other two areas I mentioned.

wncchester · August 21, 2010, 07:55 PM

"Any idea if the sonic cleaner makes the brass shiny? or just real clean? "

Just clean but that's all brass need be anyway.

And a conventional tumber works better, faster so far as handling time goes and much easier to deal with.

I've used industrial ultrasonics and "homeowner" types, Those cheap enough to be affordable are poor choices for dealing with cartridge cases in lots of maybe a dozen or so at a time.. Attractive to those who are into gimmicks but that's about it, IMHO.

zxcvbob · August 21, 2010, 08:01 PM

I think they might be good for cleaning black powder cartridges; you have to wash those anyway.

bbqncigars · August 22, 2010, 11:14 AM

You might want to consider stainless steel media in a real tumbler (like Thumler). The before/after pictures on another forum convinced me to switch. I already had the big Thumler for cleaning .50BMG cases with ceramic media, but the stainless media is kinder on the brass and gets the whole case shiny (including primer pockets). A lot of ultrasonic users have made the switch. The Thumler's are easier to use and have a longer life span than ultrasonics as well.

Lavid2002 · August 22, 2010, 11:18 AM

WOW! Stainless media is so expensive

Clark · August 22, 2010, 11:26 AM

I have two vibrators.
With corn cob or Walnut, with or without cleaner added, they still can't get the inside of the necks clean after 2 days of vibrating.

I have an ultrasonic cleaner.
I got snookered by this article:
http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html
I have the vinegar, Leminshine, baking soda, ect.
There is a single transducer mounted in the bottom of the tank.
If the beam of sound goes up the neck the side of the neck hit with the beam can get clean. But it is less work just to buy new brass.

I got a Thumbler Tumbler with stainless steel media for cleaning brass in a water based environment.
It makes the brass look like new.
It is obvious that some brass manufacturers are using a similar process, because if I leave it in there too long, the inside and outside of the necks need chamfering again.

What do I do with all this hardware now?
I put dirty brass in the Walnut media with a couple paper towels ripped into 1"x8" strips.
Then I put the brass in the Tumbler.

I still use the ultrasonic to clean bronze brushes to get the Copper solvent out of them, before the brush dissolves.

Lavid2002 · August 23, 2010, 02:29 AM

So do you ever use the stainless media anymore?

demigod · August 23, 2010, 09:21 AM

Ultrasonic cleaning with Lemmeshine can not be beat. You could tumble brass for a week and not get it 100% carbon free. But you can't just dump a few hundred pieces of brass in a desktop cleaner and expect it to work though. I clean it in smaller lots and use a freezer bag to hold solution and the brass... and fill the unit with plain water.

That said, there's no real need to get the brass that clean. There's no gain in accuracy or performance... it just looks amazing.

Clark · August 23, 2010, 12:11 PM

I got the stainless steel media and Thumbler Tumbler from this thread.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...ue#Post2000980

There is a guy, who really knows what he is doing with all kinds of reloading processes, who uses ceramic media in the wet tumber.
I have not tried it.
I still use the stainless, and it is so close to perfect, that I do not have much incentive to get better.

miamibb · September 6, 2010, 11:49 PM

I bought the Harbor Freight ultrasonic model on sale and brought in a 20% off coupon.

I use a bit of dish detergent in the water with about 25% vinegar. I neutralize the vinegar with a baking soda and water solution for about 3 minutes. Then I just rinse them and let them dry on ammo trays. Whole process takes about 20 - 25 minutes a batch.

You can hit them with a hair dryer if you're in a hurry to reload.

I don't know about these other guys, but mine works great!

Yes, I bought a decapping die (it was about $10) and no, it isn't a hassle at all. I have no dust, no crap building up in my cases, my primer pockets come out spotless, no sifting, and my wife doesn't hate it at all.

No, the cases don't come out real shiny, but they are real clean and the dirt goes down the drain - not all over the room.

I guess everybody has what works for them, but I love ultrasonic cleaner.

August 17, 2010, 07:07 PM	#1
Lavid2002 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2007 Posts: 2,568	Can someone reccomend me a hydrosonic cleaner? Hey guys, I am getting tired of replacing tumbling media... it sucks. I also hate sifting, the waiting, and the noise. Can someone recommend me a semi-cheap hydrosonic cleaner? Any personal experiences are welcome! Thanks : ) -Dave __________________ Math>Grammar

August 17, 2010, 07:19 PM	#3
sserdlihc Senior Member Join Date: December 10, 2008 Location: S.C. Posts: 1,454	Take a look here http://www.hornady.com/store/Lock-N-...d-Accessories/ I have seen hydrosonic jewelry cleaners at places like Ross and TJMaxx. Anywhere from 10 to 15 dollars. Capacity doesn't seem to be all that great though. __________________ Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity wins admiration. Aupleius If someone doesn't like you, that's their problem! Milton Childress

August 17, 2010, 11:10 PM	#5
noylj Senior Member Join Date: October 21, 2007 Location: Between CA and NM Posts: 858	hydrosonic cleaner You listen to songs under water? Oh, you mean an ultrasonic cleaner. I, personally, do not believe my brass needs to be any cleaner than it is after about 30 minutes of tumbling. I use a jewelry ultrasonic cleaner for gun barrels and parts. The ultrasonic unit needs an aqueous cleaner (water-based) and, in general, the best cleaning solution is a little Dawn in distilled water. I put my gun parts in a glass jar filled with Hoppe's #9 and place the jar in the basket (never place anything on the base of the tub). Let it go for several 30 minute cycles (I'm in no rush and I don't want the Hoppe's to get too hot). A unit I would like to see is the 170 watt, 2 liter capacity (0.53 Gallon) ultrasonic cleaner by Shining Image for about $100. One thing I would look for if I was looking is a unit that has a removable tub (not sure it is possible) or is sealed such that one can conveniently clean the tub after a while.

August 18, 2010, 12:07 PM	#6
Lavid2002 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2007 Posts: 2,568	Recently I have been rinsing my brass with water then tumbling them to get the sand and dirt out before I put them in. I am trying to keep my media clean so I dont have to replace it all the time. Clean media cleans faster and gives a better end result IMO I will check harbor freight. I have 20% off tickets to that place :P __________________ Math>Grammar

August 21, 2010, 06:43 PM	#11
amamnn Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2006 Location: WA, the left armpit of the USA Posts: 1,323	I'll sell you mine cheap--they don't do anything a tumbler can't do and better. If you are using up media too fast it's probably because you've gunked it up with a lot of crap you don't need--polishes and such. Get some walnut media and scouring powder and save yourself a lot of time money and grief. Ultra sonic cleaning does not clean primer pockets unless you decap first-- part of the idea of cleaning cases is to avoid grit in the dies. So you need a universal decapper??!! Ultrasonic is sloppy and messy-- your wife will hate it. So far the only thing I have found it good for--and I am using one a lot more powerful that the jewelry cleaner type like the Hornady---is to clean and oil bolts without disassembling them. Not worth the money for just that. I'm not so lazy I cannot disassemble a bolt now and then. Read up on the subject on the Brownell's tech help site and also on 6mmbr.com. You may decide to save your money. PS if you are a precision shooter you will want to avoid home made solvents in the machine as they (all the ones I have seen so far) rely on some sort of acid to clean. This definitely affects the action of the bearing surface of the bullet with regard to the case neck and also the ductility of the brass itself. Vinegar is acid---remember all the science projects in Jr. High that made volcanoes out of vinegar and baking soda? Acid and base ring a bell? Yes? No? No manufacturer of ultrasonic cleaner solvents has been able to guarantee me that their solvent will clean revolver cylinder faces or that particularly nasty area around the forcing cone. Shooter's Choice claims that their cleaner will clean bores, if not TOO fouled, but when I TT them on the phone, they would not make any claim concerning the other two areas I mentioned. __________________ "If the enemy is in range, so are you." - Infantry Journal Last edited by amamnn; August 21, 2010 at 06:50 PM.

August 17, 2010, 07:18 PM	#2
fpchief Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2010 Posts: 122	No personal experience but was "told" that the hornady cleaner is pretty good to go. I did see some at harbor freight tools the other day but could not make myself pick it up. It costs about $60.00 Any idea if the sonic cleaner makes the brass shiny? or just real clean?

August 18, 2010, 12:28 PM	#7
rattletrap1970 Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2009 Location: Torrington, CT. USA Posts: 299	I picked up a 3 Liter one on ebay. I love it. It comes in hand to clean lots of things. I de-cap and resize, then unltrasonically clean in a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar with a couple drops of Dawn Dish Detergent. Then I rinse them and pour them into a cut-off leg from a pair of jeans and toss that into the drier with a bunch of old towels (keeps it from beating the drier up). Then I tumble ovenight. Comes out like mirrors inside and out.

August 18, 2010, 12:36 PM	#8
demigod Junior member Join Date: March 13, 2008 Location: AZ Posts: 1,129	If you run lemmeshine in your ultrasonic cleaner, the results are amazing. Really tarnished brass turns pinkish, dirty brass looks new. It's really not worth the hastle. You do get brass cleaner in less time, but there's much more manual labor to get the brass done. I end up tumbling the brass anyway to dry it and give it a final polish. I almost never use the ultrasonic anymore for brass.

August 19, 2010, 07:44 AM	#9
rattletrap1970 Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2009 Location: Torrington, CT. USA Posts: 299	I use it a lot for degreasing before slow rust bluing. I have glass beakers that I put acetone in (and other degreasing agents) to remove oil and residue. Glass is mostly transparent to ultrasonics, so you can keep different kinds of cleaners in different beakers for different jobs. Just leave properly prepared solution in the cleaner itself and set the beakers in your basket or use a beaker rack. Very handy.

August 19, 2010, 03:48 PM	#10
dlb435 Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2009 Posts: 654	I've got a Brason 1500. Nice unit and they only cost about $400.00. I don't use it to clean my brass. I use a vibritory cleaner.

August 21, 2010, 07:55 PM	#12
wncchester Senior Member Join Date: December 1, 2002 Posts: 2,832	"Any idea if the sonic cleaner makes the brass shiny? or just real clean? " Just clean but that's all brass need be anyway. And a conventional tumber works better, faster so far as handling time goes and much easier to deal with. I've used industrial ultrasonics and "homeowner" types, Those cheap enough to be affordable are poor choices for dealing with cartridge cases in lots of maybe a dozen or so at a time.. Attractive to those who are into gimmicks but that's about it, IMHO.

August 21, 2010, 08:01 PM	#13
zxcvbob Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2007 Location: S.E. Minnesota Posts: 4,720	I think they might be good for cleaning black powder cartridges; you have to wash those anyway. __________________ "Everything they do is so dramatic and flamboyant. It just makes me want to set myself on fire!" —Lucille Bluth

August 22, 2010, 11:14 AM	#14
bbqncigars Senior Member Join Date: February 1, 2009 Location: Iowa Posts: 525	You might want to consider stainless steel media in a real tumbler (like Thumler). The before/after pictures on another forum convinced me to switch. I already had the big Thumler for cleaning .50BMG cases with ceramic media, but the stainless media is kinder on the brass and gets the whole case shiny (including primer pockets). A lot of ultrasonic users have made the switch. The Thumler's are easier to use and have a longer life span than ultrasonics as well. __________________ "Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most." A. Brilliant

August 22, 2010, 11:18 AM	#15
Lavid2002 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2007 Posts: 2,568	WOW! Stainless media is so expensive __________________ Math>Grammar

August 22, 2010, 11:26 AM	#16
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I have two vibrators. With corn cob or Walnut, with or without cleaner added, they still can't get the inside of the necks clean after 2 days of vibrating. I have an ultrasonic cleaner. I got snookered by this article: http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html I have the vinegar, Leminshine, baking soda, ect. There is a single transducer mounted in the bottom of the tank. If the beam of sound goes up the neck the side of the neck hit with the beam can get clean. But it is less work just to buy new brass. I got a Thumbler Tumbler with stainless steel media for cleaning brass in a water based environment. It makes the brass look like new. It is obvious that some brass manufacturers are using a similar process, because if I leave it in there too long, the inside and outside of the necks need chamfering again. What do I do with all this hardware now? I put dirty brass in the Walnut media with a couple paper towels ripped into 1"x8" strips. Then I put the brass in the Tumbler. I still use the ultrasonic to clean bronze brushes to get the Copper solvent out of them, before the brush dissolves.

August 23, 2010, 02:29 AM	#17
Lavid2002 Senior Member Join Date: April 6, 2007 Posts: 2,568	So do you ever use the stainless media anymore? __________________ Math>Grammar

August 23, 2010, 09:21 AM	#18
demigod Junior member Join Date: March 13, 2008 Location: AZ Posts: 1,129	Ultrasonic cleaning with Lemmeshine can not be beat. You could tumble brass for a week and not get it 100% carbon free. But you can't just dump a few hundred pieces of brass in a desktop cleaner and expect it to work though. I clean it in smaller lots and use a freezer bag to hold solution and the brass... and fill the unit with plain water. That said, there's no real need to get the brass that clean. There's no gain in accuracy or performance... it just looks amazing.

August 23, 2010, 12:11 PM	#19
Clark Senior Member Join Date: December 4, 1999 Location: WA, the ever blue state Posts: 4,678	I got the stainless steel media and Thumbler Tumbler from this thread. http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubb...ue#Post2000980 There is a guy, who really knows what he is doing with all kinds of reloading processes, who uses ceramic media in the wet tumber. I have not tried it. I still use the stainless, and it is so close to perfect, that I do not have much incentive to get better.

September 6, 2010, 11:49 PM	#20
miamibb Junior Member Join Date: May 31, 2010 Posts: 3	I bought the Harbor Freight ultrasonic model on sale and brought in a 20% off coupon. I use a bit of dish detergent in the water with about 25% vinegar. I neutralize the vinegar with a baking soda and water solution for about 3 minutes. Then I just rinse them and let them dry on ammo trays. Whole process takes about 20 - 25 minutes a batch. You can hit them with a hair dryer if you're in a hurry to reload. I don't know about these other guys, but mine works great! Yes, I bought a decapping die (it was about $10) and no, it isn't a hassle at all. I have no dust, no crap building up in my cases, my primer pockets come out spotless, no sifting, and my wife doesn't hate it at all. No, the cases don't come out real shiny, but they are real clean and the dirt goes down the drain - not all over the room. I guess everybody has what works for them, but I love ultrasonic cleaner.