Best brand of ultrasonic solution

Salt? That's the mixture for homebrew weed killer.... :D

Seriously though, it worked in your US cleaner for cleaning brass better than just vinegar and a dash of laundry detergent?
 
Effective recipe for cleaning brass cases etc.

1 litre of HOT water
250 ml. of White Vinegar
15 ml. of table salt
15 ml. of Sunlight dish soap (or similar)

Run the ultrasonic unit at about 50 to 60 Celsius for 15 to 30 minutes - this recipe will clean even the dirtiest brass...

When you are done, pour the mixture on unwanted ground cover - it will kill all vegetation (like Roundup)
 
K-C said:
Effective recipe for cleaning brass cases etc.

1 litre of HOT water
250 ml. of White Vinegar
15 ml. of table salt
15 ml. of Sunlight dish soap (or similar)

Run the ultrasonic unit at about 50 to 60 Celsius for 15 to 30 minutes - this recipe will clean even the dirtiest brass...

When you are done, pour the mixture on unwanted ground cover - it will kill all vegetation (like Roundup)
Click to expand...

I've been using a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and hot water with a squirt of dish detergent. I'm finding that a cycle time of 10 minutes is long enough to get the cases clean, but any longer results in a patina on the brass before I can get it in the baking soda solution. I might try your 1:2 ratio with the longer cycle time and see how that works. Have you tired cleaning with and without salt to see if it makes any difference?
 
With that same mix LESS the salt I find that it's not a big deal for how long the brass stays in the soup. I suspect it's the salt that is eating the brass if a "patina" is developing.

I find that the vinegar, water and detergent does just fine anyway.
 
BCRider said:
With that same mix LESS the salt I find that it's not a big deal for how long the brass stays in the soup. I suspect it's the salt that is eating the brass if a "patina" is developing.

I find that the vinegar, water and detergent does just fine anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm getting the patina without the salt, so I was wondering if it (the salt) helped prevent it (the patina); although my vinegar solution is much stronger, and is most likely the cause of the patina.
 
Boomer said:
I've been using a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and hot water with a squirt of dish detergent. I'm finding that a cycle time of 10 minutes is long enough to get the cases clean, but any longer results in a patina on the brass before I can get it in the baking soda solution. I might try your 1:2 ratio with the longer cycle time and see how that works. Have you tired cleaning with and without salt to see if it makes any difference?
Click to expand...

I have always used this recipe with salt as it has always worked well for me. I find that if any cases are tarnished or stained, this recipe removes all tarnish and leaves the case bright with a very slight "pinkish" colour where the tarnish previously was. This does not seem to weaken the case at all. A quick buff with 0000 Steel Wool makes the cases gleam like a proof coin....
 
When I started using an ultrasonic cleaner I looked into the various solutions being used. Essentially what I found is that vinegar dissolves the oxides and zinc from the brass while citric acid (main part of lemishine) only dissolves the oxides and passivates the surface.

Is the amount of zinc that is dissolved by vinegar going to ruin brass? Most probably not.

But if you want the brass to stay shinny yellow longer then use citric acid.
 
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