Thread: Ultrasonic cleaner tips please

First go. Some pockets clean some not. I would like the case insides shiny too. Just used a capful of Simple Green.

Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

You can see on the photo of the cases where the contact patches are - these are where you get tarnishing starting for some reason. I tend to wait until I have enough to stand them up on their necks fully submerged and they can't fall over. Makes a nice high pitched musical tinkle over the top of the US buzz - local dogs hate it! Seems to get the pockets and insides uniformly clean though, I suspect it's a cavitation issue in which some areas aren't getting the little bubbles that knock the crap off that others are. I guess thats where the 'tuning' comes in, setting the cases on the node of the machine. First goes I had the unit just didn't clean a thing it was really bad. After googling up and learning about tuning the units, you could see the carbon and crap flying off the cases.

Nice. Will give that a go and look at tuning.

I de prime and size, then into the ultrasonic bath at about 45°C. water and a small amount of bio-parts wash.
then after 20 min I turn them and give another 20min before removing and draining them. Give them a blow out with compressed air and generally put them on the hot water cylinder for a day.
I use a 30ltr bath at work so the scale of things is different. Come out nice and shiny. but don't leave them in too long or they will take on a purpleish hue and then go very dull.
Still need to clean the primer pocket on some cases so I check that when blowing them out.
Z

Not sure why it never gets mentioned, but if the cases are annealed after wet cleaning, the drying issue is solved isn't it?

Possibly, although bigger cases might not get enough heat at the head to take out a large amount of moisture?

Originally Posted by Puffin

Not sure why it never gets mentioned, but if the cases are annealed after wet cleaning, the drying issue is solved isn't it?

Yeah the AMP gets the bass very hot so I will try that.

I run mine with hot water and a splash of white vinegar, and rinse straight after. I dry cases in a warm oven for half an hour, works sweet.

Water/vinegar solution. Abt 30-40% vinegar and a squirter of dish washing soap.
About 10 minutes in a cheap Ultra Sonic cleaner.

Rinse well in water, dry in the sun.

P.S. cleaning has buggerall effect on accuracy IMHO.

hot water, a teaspoon of citric acid and a squirt of dish soap...

rinse after

Originally Posted by Tikka7mm08

Yeah the AMP gets the bass very hot so I will try that.

Some time ago I asked Alex at AMP if this would work and he told me not to do it. He recommended preheating the oven to 120° C and putting the cases in for 10 minuets and then turning the oven off and letting the oven cool. Since my wife bought an air fryer I put them in it for 15 minuets at 110° C.

Originally Posted by STC

hot water, a teaspoon of citric acid and a squirt of dish soap...

rinse after

Um, yeah - but for the hassle ShowerPower BAM is dirt cheap, does a great job cleaning the shower and is virtually the same product as the expensive Hornady and etc propriety cleaning fluids.

Just grab a bottle at the supermarket and use it. It's bloody near as cheap as buying dish soap and citric acid concentrate or powder if you don't have it at home - and it's pre-mixed in concentrate form. No need to make this harder than it needs to be.

As far as drying, I don't bother with heating now. What I do do, is a wipe on the outside and a squirt of compressed air inside the case (safety glasses and earmuffs as the odd one contains a lump of crud - earmuffs keep your ears clean!). It serves as a double check that the primer pockets are clean and the case is dry inside. After that a squirt with a silicone spray or a case lube or whatever in a plastic bag to stop them tarnishing - just need to make sure it's kosher to use with primers and powder etc. Cases now ready for resizing etc (I deprime prior to cleaning).

Straight out of ultrasonic and into the dry tumbler, bugger off for the night.

After the US, I give mine a good rinse in hot water, just hot from the tap, just to get the US cleaning stuff and other stuff off the case. I have a block of wood with 50 nails sticking up. I drop the cases on that and let an office fan blow air through them for a few hours. The office fan is angled slightly upward.

The residual heat from being in hot water is a good start, the office fan is a good finish. I tumble them after this. As @Oldbloke says, it doesn't do anything for accuracy, but they do look nice.

The main thing for me, is that when I tumble them, the tumbler media doesn't get dirty as fast as when tumbling dirty brass.