Thoughts on sonic cleaners? There are quite a few out on the market now.
I have yet to own a product for cleaning my used brass. Wondering if one of these it the way to go.
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/043310-Hot-Tub-Sonic-Cleaner-closed.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/043310-Hot-Tub-Sonic-Cleaner-c.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/043310-Hot-Tub-Sonic-Cleaner-with-barrel-open.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/043310-Hot-Tub-Sonic-Cleaner-with-barrel-hands.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/magnum-sonic-cleaner.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/sonic-cleaner-in-action.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/sonic-cleaner-in-action-2.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/store/images/T/043320-lnl_sonic_cleaner-2L.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/assets/images/products/reloading/beauty/lnl-sonic-cleaner-2L-basket.jpg)
(http://www.hornady.com/store/images/T/t-85820.jpg)
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/lyman/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/7631734_LG.jpg)
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/TS6000lg.jpg)
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/TS2500lg.jpg)
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/TS700lg.jpg)
(http://www.rcbs.com/assets/new_products/RC_87055_UltrasonicCaseCleaner_C.jpg)
I picked up the small sonic cleaner at Harbor Freight. It works okay on small parts, but not real sure how good it is on barrels as I don't have anything to compare it to. Haven't tried brass yet since it seems small for the number of cases I load at a time. I wouldn't highly recommend it, but someone else's opinion would be better to judge it on.
I would be curious to hear some opinions as well.
My harbor freight vibratory tumbler has been a great device for brass as well as other odds and ends.
you can get this same one at Harbor Freight for a lot cheaper:
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/TS2500lg.jpg)
the transducer (ultrasonic "shaker") in the thing is pretty weak, it works ok, but not great
I think the best way to clean brass is with stainless media in a rotary tumbler
They all look like deep fryers......lol 8)
Uuuughhhhhh...droooooolll
Beer battered deep-fried 10mm brass.
Quote from: Ramjet on July 08 2013 12:18:53 PM MDTThey all look like deep fryers......lol 8)
They do! :))
Quote from: gofastman on July 08 2013 09:27:46 AM MDTyou can get this same one at Harbor Freight for a lot cheaper:
(http://www.lymanproducts.com/includes/img/lyman/ultrasonics/TS2500lg.jpg)
the transducer (ultrasonic "shaker") in the thing is pretty weak, it works ok, but not great
I think the best way to clean brass is with stainless media in a rotary tumbler
Maybe that's because it is a cheaper version from harbor freight and not created equal to the one with Lyman's name on it. Who knows.
I kinda doubt it, Im guessing they are all from the same plant in China. But like you said, who knows
If you want to get that carbonized black crud out of the inside, and especially the primer pocket. Rotary wet tumbling is the way to go. I just got a Thumler's model B. Here is a comparison between the Thumlers, and my Frankford vibratory tumblers. The 6 cases on the left were with the Frankford, the 6 on the right using my new Thumler's. See the difference?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Gandog56/SANY0023_zps5b92c555.jpg)
(http://www.stainlesstumblingmedia.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/t/u/tumbleronly_3.png)
I used to use the little gemstone tumbler like yours years ago, but it wasn't big enough to suite my needs and as it got older it started jumping off the rubber or belt would come off.
The RCBS Sonic cleaner at the bottom of the cleaners above is what I use and it has heater for 4 temp ranges, the largest transducer of all of them, time and etc. It cleans the barrels of my 1911 like they were never fired. Not sure why the lead seems to longer, and brass looks like new afterward will all carbon gone inside and out. Most brass I have had in it at one time was 300+ outdoor range brass that was in bad shape. With this set up you can drain the fluid like I do thru a coffee strainer and reuse it and get a lot more use out of the cleaning solution.
Really? And ultra sonic cleaner will get the primer pockets as clean as the wet rotary tumbled brass I showed? I'm surprised.
I didn't believe it till I saw my shooting buddies results, and bought one myself. I suspect it's all in transducer.
Well, I'm not about to buy a THIRD cleaner! :))
Quote from: Retired Squid on July 12 2013 04:23:23 PM MDTI used to use the little gemstone tumbler like yours years ago, but it wasn't big enough to suite my needs and as it got older it started jumping off the rubber or belt would come off.
The RCBS Sonic cleaner at the bottom of the cleaners above is what I use and it has heater for 4 temp ranges, the largest transducer of all of them, time and etc. It cleans the barrels of my 1911 like they were never fired. Not sure why the lead seems to longer, and brass looks like new afterward will all carbon gone inside and out. Most brass I have had in it at one time was 300+ outdoor range brass that was in bad shape. With this set up you can drain the fluid like I do thru a coffee strainer and reuse it and get a lot more use out of the cleaning solution.
Thanks! That's enough said that I'm going to get one as my very first brass cleaning setup. Not sure which one yet, but I like what you said about the RCBS unit and will compare all others just by their specs and general advertising and make a choice at some point.
Thanks again! 8)
Any further comments are certainly still welcome.
I'm currently in a brass swap with a guy who offered to run them through his sonic cleaner first. We'll see how it compares against the brass cleaning of my rotary.
I'm interested in hearing about it. But I would also like to know the specific sonic cleaner he's going to use.
Depending on cleaner used, if any, you might want to run them in tumbler for a few minutes to polish them up. The cleaning solution I use really leaves nickel looking bad, but a few minutes in tumbler and they look new. Scared the crap out of me first time, thought it ruined them, but few minutes in tumbler and they looked like new. One reason I was never keen about using a sonic cleaner and waited so long to get one was what if effect, if any, the residue would have on the powder. That worry went away with a couple of semi-pro shooters I know using the sonic tanks w/o any problems, one rinses his finished cases in tap water and other guy using same cleaner I use just air dry's the cases on big towel on work bench. So being old and looking for less work it is what I doing and so far no problems of any kind.
The only thing I didn't like about the gem tumbler you have is when I was using it I was not reloading handgun brass, only rifle brass and that meant IIRC only about 10 or 15 being cleaned at a time. The cleaning ability was not any better then my big tumbler I use now, but the ability of doing couple hundred 38 Supers or 10mm at a time is very nice. I also use the Flitz case polish that really slicks them up, without the ammonia like in car polish that causes them to tarnish bad.
One must remember that this cleaning of cases is pretty much an individual taste as to how you clean them and how much cleaning is done to the cases. Over the last 50 years of reloading I gone from only removing excess carbon from primer hole with hand tool and no internal cleaning of cases to where I am now and only thing it seems to have effected is I no longer have to use a ton of case lube on pad for the cases and the crap getting on everything and requiring me to wipe all the finished cases off with towel. Also back no nitrile gloves to keep all the lead, powder and grease off my hands until recent years. And none of this extra cleaning seems to have improved accuracy to any measurable degree for general hunting or target shooting shooters, maybe to competition shooters where they shoot 600 to 1000 yards or measuring bullet groups to a hundredth of an inch.
Sometimes I think it's just about having a lot of nice toys to play with. ;D
I forgot to say that the most important thing in any sonic cleaner is the transducer or sonic generator as some call it. At time I bought mine it had most power of any of the small units sold, but 6 months later someone may make one with more power.
Quote from: REDLINE on July 21 2013 12:57:10 AM MDT
I'm interested in hearing about it. But I would also like to know the specific sonic cleaner he's going to use.
Well, I'll ask him when I get them. If they are nowhere near cleaned like the rotary I do have, I'm not going to bother.
Quote from: gandog56 on July 21 2013 06:37:31 AM MDT
Quote from: REDLINE on July 21 2013 12:57:10 AM MDT
I'm interested in hearing about it. But I would also like to know the specific sonic cleaner he's going to use.
Well, I'll ask him when I get them. If they are nowhere near cleaned like the rotary I do have, I'm not going to bother.
Sounds good.
Though it would still be nice to know which one to stay away from if the cases didn't come out looking as good, in case I still decided to go forward with a different brand/model.
These are from batch #2 of my wet rotary. As you can see, the brass was in pretty bad shape before cleaning.
Before:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Gandog56/SANY0024_zps05215ebe.jpg)
After:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Gandog56/SANY0027_zps579a4718.jpg)
Better view of the primer pocket on one:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/Gandog56/SANY0029_zps2e0a8811.jpg)