Opinions on lyman turbo ts2500 sonic cleaner

Darrell-maclean

Darrell-maclean

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I'm looking into a sonic cleaner and the lyman ts2500 fits my price range. Does anyone have experience with it and/or comparisons with another? Looking for pros and cons. Any advice, opinions or suggestions. This is my first venture Into a sonic cleaner. I use a dry media tumbler now.
 
I started out with a sonic cleaner, more of a pain than dry tumbling dry.
1) you don't get shiny clean brass
2) need to dry your brass which adds an extra step to the process
3) depending on what you buy the cleaning solution can be pricy
 
Hi Darrell,

I have one and use it. It works for me to get brass clean at the batch sizes I run which is anywhere from 40 to 100 7-08 sized rifle casings. It is a couple of years old now and no sign of fatigue or failure.

There are lots of opinions on here as to which cleaning system is the best way to go. SS pins is gaining popularity especially by the experienced guys as far as I can tell but for my needs, my preference is to spend the money on other reloading equipment. If you need ultra shiny than I would consider it.

I chose this option for the following reasons
- cycle time...even after drying operations can be just over an hour for how things are set up here
- dust may be of concern (although there is tumbling media and ways of controlling)
- batch sizes...there are many here that need to clean larger bath sized of cases, of which this size of unit would not make sense.
- less noise than the vibratory tumbler although there is a hiss of the ultrasonic while it's on. The less noise makes things a little more "covert" from my wife :)
- I can live with less than mirror finish on my cases. The cases when dry are indeed clean, and shiner than factory and look pretty good when loaded which is good enough for me.

The reloading forum has lots of good recipe's for home made cleaning solutions. If/before you purchase, look that up as well.

I wouldn't hesitate to purchase one again.

Regards
Ronr
 
Thanks. Great to know! I want clean brass. It doesn't need to be sparkling! Lol. I really like the quieter function. And i tend to just clean brass when im free for a few mins. Usually goes in the tumbler for a few hours. But I like the fact other things can be cleaned in the sonic cleaner
 
i bought the lyman turbo 700 sonic cleaner and while it did clean the brass it failed within 6 or so months of light use. Also if you have a tendency to hear high pitched noises you won't like it. I'm assuming that all sonic cleaners make said noise btw. If I'm going to get my brass wet and have to dry it then it's going to be a stainless steel cleaner.
 
Use the Lyman 700. Have had it for several years. I am careful not to overfill and when I empty solution so no moisture finds its way into the inner unit. I make my own solution from citric acid bought at a health food store and water. One tablespoon to a litre of water. To this I add a capful of Simply Green soap. I like to heat up the solution first but it works cold too. Solution is reusable as the carbon etc will settle out overnight in a bottle. It cleans inside and out and does a good job on the primer pockets and holes. I have a tumbler but only use it occasionally. I bought it for HBN coating cast bullets. The whole screening media out, picking out stuck media in pockets and holes is not my thing.
 
Darrell-maclean said:
I'm looking into a sonic cleaner and the lyman ts2500 fits my price range. Does anyone have experience with it and/or comparisons with another? Looking for pros and cons. Any advice, opinions or suggestions. This is my first venture Into a sonic cleaner. I use a dry media tumbler now.
Click to expand...
For cleaning brass there is no comparisson.
SS pins and a rotary tumbler is the way to go.
I tried the sonic route and it's a waste of time.

If you want to go ultrasonic to clean gun parts by all means buy a big enough one that will fit whatever you want but get one with a heater.
 
i have the ts2500 its decent for what it does. i do like how well it cleans out the primer pockets and inside the case. i wish it had longer cycles i think its 480 seconds. cleans gun parts great and the wife cleans jewelery in it too. i still dry tumble too though
 
thump_rrr said:
For cleaning brass there is no comparisson.
SS pins and a rotary tumbler is the way to go.
I tried the sonic route and it's a waste of time.

If you want to go ultrasonic to clean gun parts by all means buy a big enough one that will fit whatever you want but get one with a heater.
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^^What he says. If you're gonna put up with the hassle of drying your brass, might as well go with an SS pins tumbler. Not more expensive than sonic, cost next to nothing after the initial investment (solution is a tablespoon of dawn and a pinch of lemishine or any citric acid from health food store or amzn), and they never break. The principle of operation is so simple, nothing in there can break. Actually, after 10-20 years you might have to change a drive belt, but those are 2-3$ on ebay.

The best investment I have made in my reloading setup has been a used tumbler on ebay. SS pins are not so expensive either (also bought on ebay). And if you like thinkering, check youtube for tutorials on how to make a homemade one, not so hard and cost next to nothing except your time.
 
VinnyQC said:
^^What he says. If you're gonna put up with the hassle of drying your brass, might as well go with an SS pins tumbler. Not more expensive than sonic, cost next to nothing after the initial investment (solution is a tablespoon of dawn and a pinch of lemishine or any citric acid from health food store or amzn), and they never break. The principle of operation is so simple, nothing in there can break. Actually, after 10-20 years you might have to change a drive belt, but those are 2-3$ on ebay.

The best investment I have made in my reloading setup has been a used tumbler on ebay. SS pins are not so expensive either (also bought on ebay). And if you like thinkering, check youtube for tutorials on how to make a homemade one, not so hard and cost next to nothing except your time.
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I'm in the same situation right now , I'm getting rid of my tumbler with media I hate the powder that's stays inside the cases after tumbling , I'm sure it can change your muzzle velocity having foreign powder mixed in with smokeless powder . So I'm still deciding on ultrasonic cleaner or SS wet tumbling . Seems like it would be a pain the pick out the SS media from the inside the cases , yes ? No ?
 
Remtac said:
I'm in the same situation right now , I'm getting rid of my tumbler with media I hate the powder that's stays inside the cases after tumbling , I'm sure it can change your muzzle velocity having foreign powder mixed in with smokeless powder . So I'm still deciding on ultrasonic cleaner or SS wet tumbling . Seems like it would be a pain the pick out the SS media from the inside the cases , yes ? No ?
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What? When wet tumbling, the SS media doesn't stick to the inside of the cases. Neither does it get stuck into primer holes. Check youtube videos on wet tumbling. If you have something to separate the dry media already (something like the frankford arsenal media separator), you can use it to separate wet media too. Principle is the same except you do it in water. Personnaly, when I'm done tumbling, I rinse the media+cases, then transfer it all into a 4$ barrel from Home Depot, fill it 2/3 with clean water, then I just use a trainer and shake the cases. All the SS pins fall at the bottom of the barrel and I just place my cases on a pizza plate and let them dry (3-4 hours if unprimed, 12-24 hours if primed). Some people use a magnet to pick up the SS pins, it probably works super well (brass casings are not attracted to the magnet but the SS pins are, so they're gonna separate), but I've never felt the need for it. Maybe I'll buy one and try that next time, just for the sake of trying.

Picking medias out of cases and primer holes would drive me nut. I would just quit reloading if I had to do that. Or maybe reload only large rifle calibers in small batch. No way I would pick corncob out of thousands of 9mm cases. Or SS pins if they stuck there. But they don't.

The largest drawback of wet tumbling is having to dry your cases (or more correctly: wait for them to get dry all by themselves), but it really isn't much of a problem to me personnaly: I just clean large batches of them in advance and sometimes only use them weeks later. Some people put them an hour or two in the oven at low heat, but I've never needed to do that. In any case, you get the drying part with ultrasonic too, so...

As thump said though, ultrasonic cleaners can be used to clean gun parts, while an SS thumbler wouldn't be used for that. So if you wanna try ultrasonic, make sure you buy a cleaner large enough to clean gun parts, that way when you decide to move on to SS tumbling, you're at least going to have some use for the ultrasonic.

That's my 2¢.
 
Yes I know that don't stick inside the primer pockets that's awsome but seen in some YouTube videos that some will stick inside cases because of some water inside the cases , so you really have to check all of them it seems ?
 
Remtac said:
Yes I know that don't stick inside the primer pockets that's awsome but seen in some YouTube videos that some will stick inside cases because of some water inside the cases , so you really have to check all of them it seems ?
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Nope. Never had a pin stick inside a case. Just shake'em well. If you feel unsure, either pick them up by the bottom of the case and the pins will fall (unlike dry media, you'll never need a pick or something like that), or set them up straight and take a look. Or use a magnet. But I personnaly never had a pin stuck inside a case, and never heard of anyone else having that problem either.

Maybe, and that's really a maybe, there could be some stuck inside fat cases with smaller opening (think 300 WSM), but I've never reloaded those, so I can't tell. I can tell you that with pistol rounds or 223, it's not a problem, and I've never heard of anyone crying about stuck SS pins like I hear about corncob or walnut. If you do try it and the SS pins get stuck in your cases, you'd be the first I hear about. But in any case, you could sell the thumbler for near-new value on the EE.

As I said, I'd quit reloading (or move to ultrasonic) if I had to pick SS pins from cases.

Check this video of the Frankford media separator. The guy doesn't seem to bother much, all the pins come out when he uses the separator :

In the end it really is up to you what method you choose.
 
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i may go pick up the Frankford SS tumbler at cabelas then. it drives me insane the left over red powder from the walnut media inside thre cases after tumbling , it cant be good when it mixes in with smokeless powder .
 
Ok. Ill have to check into the ss tumblers as well.

What is the time line for getting clean brass and how quiet is the machine? That's one of the reasons I was lookin toward sonic cleaner. Short cleaning times and quiet operation. Mostly so the wife doesn't complain. Plus I like that I can clean gun parts and other metal items and wife's jewelry.

What is the cost of a ss tumbler vs a sonic cleaner?
 
Darrell-maclean said:
Ok. Ill have to check into the ss tumblers as well.

What is the time line for getting clean brass and how quiet is the machine? That's one of the reasons I was lookin toward sonic cleaner. Short cleaning times and quiet operation. Mostly so the wife doesn't complain. Plus I like that I can clean gun parts and other metal items and wife's jewelry.

What is the cost of a ss tumbler vs a sonic cleaner?
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Tumbler is more expensive, around 300$, including the pins. 285$ for the lyman Cyclone on amazon.ca. Frankford will be in the same price range (maybe a bit more expensive), roughly the same quality and capacity. I think I would choose the lyman if both are exactly the same price. What I bought was a used Thumler Tumbler Model A-R12, which can tumble up to 12 pounds of rocks (I have no idea who tumbles rock, or why, but the people who do probably have no idea why I tumble brass, so I'll call it even...). I got it used on ebay for next to nothing, and I bought 5lbs of SS pins for 30$ (also on ebay). Best deal I ever made on ebay, but don't expect to get one for cheap, I was lucky. If you can get your hands on a Thumler Model B, which is 15 pounds, that's even better (that's the one the guy uses in the video I posted above). Cabelas sells both.

The above mentioned lyman ts2500 is 180$ on amazon, so it's definitely cheaper (on a side note, you can get a non-branded sonic cleaner that is exactly the same as the ts2500 for much less, search amazon.ca for "Ultrasonic Cleaner with Stainless Steel Basket 2.5 Liter Tank with 160W Heated" by angel canada, it's the same thing as the ts2500 but 30% cheaper). You can get a small sonic cleaner for 50$, and larger ones can cost more than my car. The Hornady Lock-N-Load sonic cleaner is 7L and sells for 410$ locally.

Capacity: the ts2500 is 2.5L, while the Frankford or the lyman are 15L monsters. You'll clean about 100 pieces of 223 in a ts2500 at a time, but 1000 in a frankford/lyman. Advantage rotary.

Speed:Sonic cleaners are faster. A sonic cleaner cycle is 8-10 minutes long. I'm not sure how many people think their brass is clean after only 1 cycle. 30 minutes to 3 hours for the rotary tumbler, depending on how shiny you like your brass. I can tell you that after 2 hours in my tumbler, the brass looks like it's been polished for a year by a Disney princess on red bull. I'd say advantage sonic cleaner for this one.

Noise: Most people will say sonic cleaners are quieter, but they do make that high pitched noise that some people can't stand. A rotary tumbler sounds kinda like a very slow an quiet washing machine. Personnaly I don't care, I just run it while the washing machine also runs, so it's like it makes absolutely no sound at all. I'd call this one a tie.

Other uses: Don't try cleaning something that's not really hard in a rotary tumbler. You can safely clean gun parts or gold jewelry in a sonic cleaner. Advantage sonic.

There's one LARGE advantage of both sonic ant rotary tumblers over dry tumbler: Expelled aerosol particles during cleaning. When you clean with water, any particle of sulfur, lead, dust, anything disgusting, stays in the water. When you're done cleaning, you're basically pouring toxic mud out of there. With a dry tumbler, a LOT of that stuff gets expelled in the air. For you and your family to breath. So unless you exclusively tumble outside (which s*cks during our canadian winters), you're basically poisoning your home.

So go sonic, go rotary, it's really your call. But when you do, try cleaning a batch of casings that you've already cleaned in the dry tumbler, and see how much crap was left. You'll be surprised.
 
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VinnyQC said:
Tumbler is more expensive, around 300$, including the pins. 285$ for the lyman Cyclone on amazon.ca. Frankford will be in the same price range (maybe a bit more expensive), roughly the same quality and capacity. I think I would choose the lyman if both are exactly the same price. What I bought was a used Thumler Tumbler Model A-R12, which can tumble up to 12 pounds of rocks (I have no idea who tumbles rock, or why, but the people who do probably have no idea why I tumble brass, so I'll call it even...). I got it used on ebay for next to nothing, and I bought 5lbs of SS pins for 30$ (also on ebay). Best deal I ever made on ebay, but don't expect to get one for cheap, I was lucky. If you can get your hands on a Thumler Model B, which is 15 pounds, that's even better (that's the one the guy uses in the video I posted above). Cabelas sells both.

The above mentioned lyman ts2500 is 180$ on amazon, so it's definitely cheaper (on a side note, you can get a non-branded sonic cleaner that is exactly the same as the ts2500 for much less, search amazon.ca for "Ultrasonic Cleaner with Stainless Steel Basket 2.5 Liter Tank with 160W Heated" by angel canada, it's the same thing as the ts2500 but 30% cheaper). You can get a small sonic cleaner for 50$, and larger ones can cost more than my car. The Hornady Lock-N-Load sonic cleaner is 7L and sells for 410$ locally.

Capacity: the ts2500 is 2.5L, while the Frankford or the lyman are 15L monsters. You'll clean about 100 pieces of 223 in a ts2500 at a time, but 1000 in a frankford/lyman. Advantage rotary.

Speed:Sonic cleaners are faster. A sonic cleaner cycle is 8-10 minutes long. I'm not sure how many people think their brass is clean after only 1 cycle. 30 minutes to 3 hours for the rotary tumbler, depending on how shiny you like your brass. I can tell you that after 2 hours in my tumbler, the brass looks like it's been polished for a year by a Disney princess on red bull. I'd say advantage sonic cleaner for this one.

Noise: Most people will say sonic cleaners are quieter, but they do make that high pitched noise that some people can't stand. A rotary tumbler sounds kinda like a very slow an quiet washing machine. Personnaly I don't care, I just run it while the washing machine also runs, so it's like it makes absolutely no sound at all. I'd call this one a tie.

Other uses: Don't try cleaning something that's not really hard in a rotary tumbler. You can safely clean gun parts or gold jewelry in a sonic cleaner. Advantage sonic.

There's one LARGE advantage of both sonic ant rotary tumblers over dry tumbler: Expelled aerosol particles during cleaning. When you clean with water, any particle of sulfur, lead, dust, anything disgusting, stays in the water. When you're done cleaning, you're basically pouring toxic mud out of there. With a dry tumbler, a LOT of that stuff gets expelled in the air. For you and your family to breath. So unless you exclusively tumble outside (which s*cks during our canadian winters), you're basically poisoning your home.

So go sonic, go rotary, it's really your call. But when you do, try cleaning a batch of casings that you've already cleaned in the dry tumbler, and see how much crap was left. You'll be surprised.
Click to expand...

I don't think a dry tumbler does any cleaning all it's good for is polishing .
 
Good to know. I'm really not overly concerned if my brass looks brand new. I like the idea of the sonic cleaner having multiple uses. Ss tumbler sounds great for cleaning and polishing. But costly and may be outta my price range now. I just want to make sure my brass is clean. I'm not overly picky since I only reload so I can shoot more and im not good enough to get any accuracy benefits out of precisely cleaned, weighed and trimmed brass.

But still nice to have options and things to look into!
 
I don't think sonic cleaners work all that good , I just did a test with one . I sonic cleaned brass with one , then I took some other dirty brass and soaked it in the sonic cleaning solution for the same amount of time without turning on the sonic cleaner and it did the exact cleaning job . So you don't need the sonic cleaner justvabwaist of money all you need is the sonic cleaning solution or even make your own with 50/50 white vinegar and water and table spoon of dish soap and soak in a pale from Home Depot . Did this process twice and it even cleaned my primer pockets .
 
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