Opinions Wanted on Utrasonic Cleaners

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litledab

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I am thinking about getting an ultrasonic cleaner ,The main reason is I hate cleaning primer pockets .I would like to be able to do 100 308 cases at a time .I am leaning towards the RCBS I like the draining system on their unit ,they also seem to back their products well.

For those of you that are going to say get a SS tumbler ,I think I'm OCD and after forming brass and turning and bumping and getting it as close to perfect as possible ,I can't put it in a tumbler and have it banged around ,this may be neurotic but that's me lol

But I will listen to all opinion

Thks Little
 
I had an ultra it works I guess. Used the hornady solution and nothing ever came really clean. If the brass had been fired a few times or was range brass it would never be really clean. Primer pockets were still dirty most of the time. Got tired of the results I was getting and sprung for a ss tumbler. This is the results I had wanted. Doubt I will ever clean brass any other way now.
 
litledab said:
For those of you that are going to say get a SS tumbler ,I think I'm OCD and after forming brass and turning and bumping and getting it as close to perfect as possible ,I can't put it in a tumbler and have it banged around ,this may be neurotic but that's me lol

But I will listen to all opinion

Thks Little
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one hundred .308 cases is a fair bit. The agitation within a SS tumbler is pretty mild on the cases, but still aggressive enough to give them a good cleaning in a very short time.
I think the level of cleaning is superior for the amount of time spent compared to an ultrasonic.
If you stage your work such that you start with decapping (with a universal decapping die), then cleaning, then the rest of the sizing, trimming, uniforming, etc. it becomes a non-issue.
 
Don't bother with the "gun" brand name versions. I bought a 6.5L capacity industrial one off Amazon.ca made by GT Sonic for $270. They are available in all kinds of sizes and with either mechanical or digital controls, I chose mechanical as they are pretty hard to break. Do a search for cleaning solutions, most of them are citrus based. I use a 1/4 bottle of CLR bathroom cleaner (mostly lemon juice) per tank of water. The other thing is don't try to do too many at once, a little trial and error will find the sweet spot for the right number. With fresh solution and a reasonable load, the cases can come out looking like new. As the solution gets dirty, the brass comes out less nice but since I don't care about cosmetics, I use mine until it is filthy dirty.
 
Bought the cheap small hornady one, and it works ok. With clean solution is does as advertised, primer pockets cleaned and the inside of the cases equally so. Completely full it isnt very effective, half loads or less it is quite effective. So if your loading 25-40 at a time its ideal. If more, you'll need a bigger one.

Havent tried it yet, but ive talked and know others whove gone the SS Tumbler way, and its making the old ways obsolete the way smart phones made car phones disspear almost instantly.
 
I've own both ultra sonic and SS tumbler. USC will not get all your pockets completely clean even after several cycles. I did find that it cleaned and maybe overcleaned inside the neck affecting the grip of the neck. If you're looking for volume cleaning a smaller USC will no clean a large amount of brass equally/evenly. I have a 2l model purchased for about $110 from a local retailer a few years back. Pros of the USC you don't have to mess and separate pins from the brass.

The SS will get brass very clean however I don't like how the case mouths get peened, and it's a little annoying trying to picking-up loose pins.
 
100 at a time is a lot and would require a larger and more expensive unit. But if you get a smaller 1.3 liter size machine then you can do a batch of 25 to 35 at a time.

I do my rifle brass in a roughly 0.7 liter cleaner about 15 to 18 cases at a time and they come out looking like new inside and out and primer pockets included. So I agree that you're on the right track.

I also suggest you avoid paying the extra for a re-badged "gun brand" cleaner.

Heat helps in cleaning this way. So be sure to get a cleaner that has a heater in it as well. I run mine at 40°C with a 15 minute clean time. So having to run a few cycles to clean 100 cases or more is still only an hour or so of total time. The solution I use is a 1:3 mix of cheap white vinegar to water and to that I add a dash of liquid laundry detergent.

I just noticed 308BAR's reply about the primer pockets and insides of the cases. Mine all come out clean as a whistle. So whatever he and I are doing or using is apparently a bit different. Or perhaps it's a question of which brand primers and powder? All my steps and settings are given so if you copy them I don't see why you wouldn't come away smiling as well. And if there is some cases that don't come out sparkling then reduce the number of casings per batch.

Another possible issue with US cleaning is using a basket for the parts. I read in a few places when I got mine that it's not ideal to just drop the stuff into the tub. A wire basket that holds the items a distance away from the tub lets the tub vibrate correctly and transfer full power to the solution. So be sure you use some sort of wire basket that is suspended from above so it doesn't touch the sides or bottom of the tub.

I
 
I used to tumble everything in tumbling medium. Then got the hornady small US. I haven't used a ss tumbler so I guess I can't comment on that. The US is the way to go. Super clean cases very fast. If you stack them carefully you can fit 50 .308 in the small hornady US. I can't see a reason to use anything other than a US now.
 
I'm in the same boat looking for an ultrasonic cleaner, amazon has one under angelpos that looks like the Lyman or Hornady for $120, comes with the drain, basket and is heated.
 
I've been looking on amazon the one you mentioned the timer is only goes up to 8 min it looks like. I will also look on kijiji thks for the tip ,any suggestions on size for at least 50 308 cases .I was thinking a 3L would be good for that many
 
I'm sure a 3 litre size would be good for at least 50 308 casings, I personally would go a little larger unit for myself, possibly up to 10 litres. I'd use it for more than just cleaning brass, small carbs, and other parts from motors etc.
 
hometownhero said:
I had an ultra it works I guess. Used the hornady solution and nothing ever came really clean. If the brass had been fired a few times or was range brass it would never be really clean. Primer pockets were still dirty most of the time. Got tired of the results I was getting and sprung for a ss tumbler. This is the results I had wanted. Doubt I will ever clean brass any other way now.
Click to expand...

I looked into it and found that unless using it to clean machine parts it was not good enough for me, I went with SS pins and have never looked back
 
308BAR said:
I've own both ultra sonic and SS tumbler. USC will not get all your pockets completely clean even after several cycles. I did find that it cleaned and maybe overcleaned inside the neck affecting the grip of the neck. If you're looking for volume cleaning a smaller USC will no clean a large amount of brass equally/evenly. I have a 2l model purchased for about $110 from a local retailer a few years back. Pros of the USC you don't have to mess and separate pins from the brass.

The SS will get brass very clean however I don't like how the case mouths get peened, and it's a little annoying trying to picking-up loose pins.
Click to expand...


I would adjust the amount of cases / water you have in your unit and it should take care of the peening unless you have the wrong size pins I'm told, picking up pins is simple with a large magnet available from Princess Auto for around $9.00
 
a 3 liter model would be loafing at 50 per run. But keep in mind that the sonic pixies have to work harder when there's more material in the soup. So a 3 liter model, which aren't all that expensive these days, might well do 50 to 70 at a time and still give you a really good deep clean. It should certainly manage 50 though.

And keep looking at models. 8 minutes is likely not going to be long enough.

If you're on Ebay there's a number of them available from China with free shipping for roughly what the in country Amazon options are. And if you look you'll likely find that's where they all come from anyway if they aren't way up in price.
 
Does the US do as good a job at cleaning as SS? If so that would be the way to go as you could also use to clean gun parts.
 
twig_40 said:
Does the US do as good a job at cleaning as SS? If so that would be the way to go as you could also use to clean gun parts.
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US not even close to SS pins but if you need a unit for a lot of parts cleaning it would work but I'd get a US with a heater if I needed one.. for brass only it's stainless tumbler for the win
 
I use two of the Lyman ones for cleaning black powder cases. Black powder brass gets super dirty. When I first started using The ultrasonic cleaner I was not very impressed as the inside of the cases were not completely cleaned.

I found that the only way I can guarantee That they are 100% clean inside and out is to clean in two stages. The first stage is three cleanings at 480 seconds ( the max time my cleaner goes ) in hot cleaning solution. The cases soak in there for around an hour. Then I grab the cases one at a time and swish them around over the active area above the transducer in my second ultrasonic cleaner. That cleaner is just filled with cold water. A few seconds per case and all of the rest of the crud is gone. They look like new inside and out, primer pockets and all.

This is for black powder brass, I imagine that smokeless will not require so much maddness.

Chris.
 
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