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Old April 17, 2013, 08:15 AM   #1
blackhawk8
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Ultra sonic case cleaner

Im interested in getting a ultra sonic case cleaner. Anyone use these and have suggestions on which one would be the best ? Thanks for the help
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Old April 17, 2013, 08:24 AM   #2
A pause for the COZ
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I have this one.

http://www.harborfreight.com/25-lite...ner-95563.html

I suspect its made on the same line as the Lyman one.

Works great although I am not a fan of the basket.

I use it with Hornady gun parts solution for cleaning gun parts.

And for case cleaning I use tap water, A shot of dish soap and some Lemi shine.

I get my 223 brass in a big dirty boxes like this.



10 min in the lemi shine mix. Then 1 hour in the tumbler.
I end up with some really shinny brass.

Keep an eye out for coupons. I got my sonic cleaner for $49 I should have gotten two.
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Old April 17, 2013, 08:28 AM   #3
Brian Pfleuger
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If I were going "wet", I'd go to stainless pins and a rotary tumbler rather than ultrasonic.
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Old April 17, 2013, 08:35 AM   #4
A pause for the COZ
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Quote:
If I were going "wet", I'd go to stainless pins and a rotary tumbler rather than ultrasonic.

I have been eye balling that idea. My Volume is not enough to warrant the work involved.
Besides I got the Sonic for cleaning my gun parts. The case work is a plus.

Now I had been reading about guys using the Home store cement mixers to do 50 pounds of brass at a shot with SS pins.
Wonder if I need a Cement mixer......
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Old April 17, 2013, 08:54 AM   #5
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I use the same method as "A pause for the COZ" when I really want my brass good and clean. I stack my brass primer pocket down in old case trays with a hole drilled in each case pocket for drainage. Seems to do a better job cleaning the primer pocket. Not always perfect but it helps.

I may try SS pins some day, But I went with ultrasonic because it is so versitile for so many other things. Gun parts and small engine carburators are just the tip of the iceberg. The Lyman comes with a very nice lift out tray. I have the Harbor frieght one for $70 but it doesn't come with a good lift out tray so I made several versions of my own. (4) cycles of 480 seconds usally get everything clean enough for me.

Good luck
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Old April 17, 2013, 09:02 AM   #6
A pause for the COZ
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he hey hey!!! Give up the details for the tray.
That flimsy HF tray is worth less.

Oh the best part of the tumble after method. You dont need to dry the brass 1st. Shake em off and start tumbling. They dry just fine in the corn cob media.
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Old April 17, 2013, 10:36 AM   #7
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Home made case trays

I'll try to post photo's tomorrow.
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Old April 17, 2013, 03:35 PM   #8
LE-28
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Quote:
Works great although I am not a fan of the basket.
I can see why, I bought the same ultrasonic cleaner from Cabela's with Lyman's script on it and it came with a nice steel wire basket with handles.

It cleans all my brass just fine. The primer pockets are usually completely clean in two 4 minute cycles, if I clean them every time.

I will dump about 100 9mm cases in the basket then shake it up and down in the solution and they all stand up, mouth up, so they can draft up through the primer hole and they are as clean as new brass when they come out.

It looks like a hundred little chimneys when the black crap starts coming up out of the mouths.

I have cleaned some pretty gruesome looking rifle brass in this thing and was really please with the results. I use Hornady's one shot cleaner or Lemi-shine from Wall-mart and dawn detergent with the same results.

Whether you use a sonic cleaner or stainless pins, you will have to leave the brass dry for a couple days unless you help it along.

If I'm in a hurry for my cleaned cases I have inferred space heaters in my garage hanging from the ceiling that I will use to dry them. It doesn't over heat them but about 15 minutes under one of these heaters with the shells in a brownie pan and you will not want to touch them, they are toasty warm and almost completely dry. They do smell poorly though so don't do it in your wife's oven in her kitchen. You won't win any points with her.

You will have to clean off water spots no matter which method you use, unless they don't bother you. I want my cleaned brass to look like new store bought brass and they do. I throw my dried brass in my rotary tumbler for about 15 minutes and they look like gems.

Hope some of this helps
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Old April 18, 2013, 08:32 AM   #9
mjes92
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Ultrasonic Tray modification

I modify Blazer 9mm packaging trays to stand my .223 brass on end to get a little better primer pocket cleaning.

Tools needed:
1/4" drill bit & drill
3/8" O.D. x 1/4" I.D. pneumatic tubing (serves as a drill bushing)
Block of wood to drill into.

Drill holes in tray for drainage.
Two trays fit pefectly into cleaner (a good way to count your brass)

Hope this help.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg tray2.jpg (246.1 KB, 28 views)
File Type: jpg tray1.jpg (244.1 KB, 36 views)
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Old April 18, 2013, 10:08 AM   #10
A pause for the COZ
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As I stated earlier, I no longer wait for my Brass to dry before dumping them into the tumbler.
But if you dont want to do it that way. A real easy and fast way to dry the brass. Just put them in a old sock and hang them just inside the door over the air vent. Use the door to hold the sock in place.
Run it for about 20 or 30 minutes and its all done. nice and dry.

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Old April 18, 2013, 10:32 AM   #11
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"A pause for the COZ" How does the Wife like your idea???

Mine would point out the complete lack of patience.
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Old April 18, 2013, 10:50 AM   #12
A pause for the COZ
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I was going to add the notation. Only do this when wife is not home.
All though you dont know they are there. They dont contact the dryer drum at all.
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Old April 18, 2013, 03:20 PM   #13
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pause for the coz, that is funny as heck. My wife would kill me if she caught me doing that.

(you say it works really well?)

hmmmm
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Old April 18, 2013, 07:36 PM   #14
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thanks everyone for the interesting info
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Old April 18, 2013, 07:42 PM   #15
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I use ultrasonic cleaning exclusively, mainly because I had a small but industrial-strength cleaner in stock when I took up reloading.

If you have the $$ I would highly recommend either a Branson or Crest brand (I have the latter). I can run mine all day if I want and it will not overheat unlike the cheaper ones that time out after several minutes. Mine actually has a continuous 'ON' position on the timer switch.

And they are useful for much more than case cleaning, e.g., small parts, watches, jewelry are but a few.*

*NOT to be used with jewelry that contains highly-fractured stones such as opal, emerald, malachite, etc. lest the expensive little rock become a pile of fine colored dust.

Just my two cents' worth.
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Old April 20, 2013, 08:00 AM   #16
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I have a ultrasonic and couldn't be happier. I use it for more than brass otherwise I probably would have gone for the SS pins route. It does quite well on brass, AR bolts, mag bodies, various reloading tools. When I got mine all that were available (at Cabelas) were the smaller sized ones and the Hornady Magnum which happened to be on sale for an amazing good price. I really wasn't there to get that and had really only been kicking around the ultrasonic idea, but the price made me pull the trigger and have not looked back. There are a lot of different brands out there at different price points, some you find at gun places are just relabeled ones that you can find at Harbor Freight for less.

Some folks will dry their brass on a cookie sheet in the oven or in socks in the dryer. I put my brass in a metal strainer and use a heat gun and shake the brass around occasionally, takes me less than 5 minutes.

To get the full benefits on going ultrasonic for brass be aware you will need to decap the brass before they going into the water.
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