I've been experimenting with the "clean and cheap" solution mentioned in this article: http://www.6mmbr.com/ultrasonic.html
I've been using it in the vibrating tumbler (UV-18 industrial) with 1mm beads. It works well, but takes a long time. One thing that I notice is that this solution makes the carbon inside and in the primer pocket completely soft. I can wipe it out completely with just a Q-tip (soak a case and try it).
The problem was that the 1mm beads aren't agitating things enough to get the carbon off quickly (was leaving them in overnight). So, I put 200 cases in the rotary Thumler's and added 2 cups of water, 2 cups of vinegar and a drop of dawn. I let this run for and hour and a half then checked on it. The case necks were completely clean and the inside of the cases were pretty good too. However, the primer pockets were virtually untouched.
So, I added about 1.5-2 cups of angle cut ceramic media and let it go for another two hours. Just checked on it. The primer pockets and insides of the cases are about 90% clean with just a few spots of carbon. The angle cut ceramic media is doing a great job of scraping off the soft carbon but it is so sparse that it isn't getting stuck in the cases at all. I can probably do 300 cases or more, but my thought was that I wanted stuff to really mix. It worked well.
The only media that got stuck was a broken piece that jammed sideways in a primer pocket. The trick is not to add much of it.
Dumped in a basket just to show the ratio of cases-to-media.
After a quick neutralizing in water with baking soda and then separating in the Dillon squirrel cage and toweling off.
Primer pockets of 50 random cases.
Necks
Insides. The dots on the walls of some cases are reflections of the flash holes.
Close-up.
2 hours with the angle cut media should be enough. There is a light film of carbon inside of the necks. I think that is a good thing. I always leave it alone (unless there are chunks of carbon) when I use the 1mm beads.
I've been using it in the vibrating tumbler (UV-18 industrial) with 1mm beads. It works well, but takes a long time. One thing that I notice is that this solution makes the carbon inside and in the primer pocket completely soft. I can wipe it out completely with just a Q-tip (soak a case and try it).
The problem was that the 1mm beads aren't agitating things enough to get the carbon off quickly (was leaving them in overnight). So, I put 200 cases in the rotary Thumler's and added 2 cups of water, 2 cups of vinegar and a drop of dawn. I let this run for and hour and a half then checked on it. The case necks were completely clean and the inside of the cases were pretty good too. However, the primer pockets were virtually untouched.
So, I added about 1.5-2 cups of angle cut ceramic media and let it go for another two hours. Just checked on it. The primer pockets and insides of the cases are about 90% clean with just a few spots of carbon. The angle cut ceramic media is doing a great job of scraping off the soft carbon but it is so sparse that it isn't getting stuck in the cases at all. I can probably do 300 cases or more, but my thought was that I wanted stuff to really mix. It worked well.
The only media that got stuck was a broken piece that jammed sideways in a primer pocket. The trick is not to add much of it.
Dumped in a basket just to show the ratio of cases-to-media.
After a quick neutralizing in water with baking soda and then separating in the Dillon squirrel cage and toweling off.
Primer pockets of 50 random cases.
Necks
Insides. The dots on the walls of some cases are reflections of the flash holes.
Close-up.
2 hours with the angle cut media should be enough. There is a light film of carbon inside of the necks. I think that is a good thing. I always leave it alone (unless there are chunks of carbon) when I use the 1mm beads.
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