Ultrasonic Cleaners

[Poconolg]

What are the pros and cons of using one of these to clean brass and gun parts?Any suggestions on a good one not too pricey? Thanks for the info

[Bmp4510]

Originally Posted by Poconolg

What are the pros and cons of using one of these to clean brass and gun parts?Any suggestions on a good one not too pricey? Thanks for the info

I have a Lyman. I also have a vibrating tumbler and one of the wet rotary tumblers that uses detergent with stainless pins to clean the brass.

The Lyman works good on stainless gun parts. You use different fluids for cleaning gun parts and brass. For brass, the process takes a short time, usually I run it for 480 seconds. (Odd way to calculate time, I know, but that’s how Lyman works). The same time for SS gun parts. You really have to rinse the parts well after the cleaning, as I’ve had some rust develop on a SA stainless frame where the S/N were etched.

Some other quirks include a warm up time for the water - cleaning solution is 15-25 minutes, if you decide to use the heater. Generally I found the heated water aids in cleaning.

They don’t recommend leaving the water - solution in the unit, so you have to unplug the unit and haul the unit to dispose of the fluid. Really a PITA.

Also the unit doesn’t have an on/off switch, so you have to plug and unplug the Lyman to the wall plug. So even if you leave the fluids in for a day or so, you will be reaching for the electric socket.

Generally I use the vibratory tumbler with walnut media to clean once fired cases. Dump them in for an hour, walk off and they are good to go. Plus the cases are dry, so no waiting around to reload them.

For really bad, dirty brass, like scrounged from the range, I use the wet rotary tumbler. Really cleans tough jobs very well. But you are still dealing with separating SS pins from the cases. And disposing of the water solution as well as waiting for the cases to dry.

Once in a while I use the Lyman sonic for brass, but mostly for cleaning stubborn and neglected guns from friends and family. If I had it to do over, I wouldn’t purchase it again. Good luck.



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[jpx2rk]

I have a RCBS sonic cleaner, it has a on/off switch, heater, and a drain tube (main reason I selected this one) so you don't have to carry the entire unit/container out to dump it. Mine will go for 15-20 minutes as well. A gallon milk jug and hose provided works well to drain the dirty solution. Mine works ok, but you can't process that many brass cases at one time and get good results. If you're trying to get one last batch of brass cleaned before changing the cleaning solution, and the unit shuts off, the suspended dirt/crud will settle back onto/in the cases, and you have to do the batch over for a few minutes.

If you use the RCBS solution, they recommend NOT rinsing the brass as the solution helps preserve the brass.