Sonic Cleaners

[StatesRightist]

Gentlemen,

I would like some opinions/thoughts from those of you who own/use sonic cleaners on how effective they are, costs to run them etc. Also besides reload brass, does anyone use them to clean your gun parts?

Thank you for your time.

 

[JM4151]

Lyman Ultrasonic Cleaners model 6,000

I have he above untrasonic cleaner. I don't reload but I have 3 kids and I use it to clean their watch's and jewelery. Works great!
I also used it to clean my Ruger 22 pistol, which can be difficult to put back together. It comes back out of the cleaner clean as a whistle, with out taking the gun apart. I use a longer cleaning time than the book recommends.
John Murphy

 

[parabarbarian]

I use an ultrasonic cleaner for the annual cleaning of my "working" guns (other guns get detail cleaned as needed). It does a good job of removing the gunk from the crane and the cylinder assembly. I also like to clean my cases before tumbling which, while not necessary, does, I think, extends the life of of the media and polish. It may also reduce the airborne lead in the dust from the tumbler.

 

[Argonnakid]

I have he above untrasonic cleaner. I don't reload but I have 3 kids and I use it to clean their watch's and jewelery. Works great!
I also used it to clean my Ruger 22 pistol, which can be difficult to put back together. It comes back out of the cleaner clean as a whistle, with out taking the gun apart. I use a longer cleaning time than the book recommends.
John Murphy

How good of a job does it do with the lubes and oils as far as breaking them down? Do the oils trash the cleaning solution?

 

[Neumann]

Change the cleaning solution regularly. You can get 3 or 4 batches of cases clean, but oil and grease messes the solution up and makes a stringly mess of the cleaner bowl.

I use commercial case cleaner for brass, and Simple Green for everything else. It makes short work of cleaning an AR bolt assembly, including the bolt and gas key. I blow the pieces dry, lube them before assembly and then lube the whole bolt assembly with CLP.

I wouldn't immerse an entire pistol or slide without disassembly. The ultrasonic cleaner will strip grease completely, and you can't properly lubricate the parts if you can't reach them.

You get brass clean inside and out, but not shiny. A little powder residue helps lubricate the powder funnel and bullet insertion. I seldom use the ultrasonic bath to clean brass. Tumbling is good enough and you don't have to dry the brass afterwards (which can take a couple of days). Media sticks to wet brass like glue.

 

[Mikey217]

Hornady Lock-n-Load Sonic Cleaner

I use the small Hornady Lock-n-Load sonic cleaner on my brass. It does a great job of cleaning the brass inside and out, including the primer pockets. As others have said, it takes at least a day for them to dry out (if you don't want to put them in an oven to dry), so you can't be in a hurry. I generally run the cleaner while I'm watching TV or something, that way it has plenty of time to rest between cleaning cycles, and I can run as many cycles as I need to. Each cleaning cycle is 8 minutes (that's the max time on this little cleaner), and you're supposed to let it rest 2 minutes between every 3 consecutive cycles (it gets a little hot). But if I'm doing something else, and not sitting there watching it, then it most times sits more than 2 minutes between each cycle anyway. I usually run about 6 - 8 cycles to get them really clean. Afterwards, I dump them in a one-gallon milk jug with some clean distilled water and swish them around real good. I do that a couple of times until it looks like all or most of the cleaner has been removed. (I use the one-shot brass cleaner) After that, I blow them off with some compress air to get most of the water off, then let them sit out on the workbench in the garage for a day or two until they are completely dry.

It's not real fast, but my process produces nice clean, dry brass for me to reload.

 

[StatesRightist]

Thanks for the input guys!!

 

[PPCSHOOTER]

I HAVE BEEN USING AN ULTRASONIC CLEANER FOR YEARS. USE ONLY RECOMMENDED CLEANERS. I ONCE USED A DIFFERENT CLEANER AND IT REMOVED THE CLEAR COAT AND PITTED THE FRAME OF AN ALLOY PISTOL AND REMOVED THE ANODIZED COLOR FROM A BERETTA. IT TURNED OUT A CLEAN SILVER. SPEND THE MONEY AND GET THE ONE WITH THE HEATED TANK. AS FAR AS THE DIRT IN THE SOLUTION.

I HAVE LEARNED TO DRAIN THE SOLUTION INTO OLD GALLON MILK JUGS. THE DIRT SETTLES TO THE BOTTOM . THAN I POUR IT BACK INTO THE TANK LEAVING THE DEBRIS IN THE JUG. I DO THE SAME WITH THE LUBE. THE WATER SETTLES TO THE BOTTOM. USING THIS TECHNIQUE YOU GREATLY INCREASES THE LIFE OF YOUR SOLUTIONS.

IS IT WORTH IT? A STRONG YES. I'M A COMPETITIVE SHOOTER. IT SAVES ME TIME. TIME I COULD BE USING TO PRACTICE OR LOAD AMMO.

DOES IT REMOVE THE JACKETED BULLET FOULING? NO BUT IT REMOVES THE POWDER FOULING WHICH MAKES THE JACKET FOULING MUCH EASIER TO CLEAN. SAME WITH LEAD FOULING. JP

 

[john16443]

I use the Hornady Magnum sonic cleaner and will never use anything else. Holds over 300 9mm or 200 45ACP cases in a single cleaning session. Twin heated transducers, timer for up to a 60 minute cycle, costs slightly less than the stainless steel pin set up.

Absolutely love it. place 200+ cases in the baseket, run it for 40 minutes, stir once or twice, and brass is clean as a whistle inside and out. As noted, it may not be super shiney, so I roll them in a towel when I rinse them, and toss them in corn cob tumbler for an hour. Clean like brand new brass is the result in under 2 hours. Way less time than the stainless steel pin method.

The Hornady brass cleaning solution supplemented with Lemishine is excellent. Dawn and Lemishine is just about as good. Don't have experience with the other types of cleaners, Hornady makes one for gun parts as well.

 

[gstanley62]

Have you taken the UC plunge and are you happy with it?

 

[StatesRightist]

Not yet, but I plan to soon, it's on the wife's get me for Christmas list.

 

[Engineer1911]

I bought the Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaner on sale 5 months ago, still haven't taken it out of the package.

 

[MP22]

I have been reloading ammo most of my life. Never used a tumbler or any other type cleaner. Has not one thing to do with accuracy. Just a waste of time and money.

 

[SMSgt]

For cases, I tend to agree with MP22. Case cleanliness has nothing to do with case life or round accuracy. I lightly tumble my cases because I pick up a lot of range brass and they collect a lot of grit here in Florida. I don't want the grit to get embedded in the cases during sizing. A wipedown with a soft rag would probably work as well.

As for cleaning guns, I haven't used a sonic tub. When I was in the SCUBA equipment overhaul business, I used one to clean parts but found I had to use caution as it would cause the chrome plating to separate. Maybe it was just how SCUBA gear was plated, but it could happen to any finish. It's probably okay for an annual detailed cleaning, but I wouldn't reccommend it for after every outing.

 

[dlancello]

I use a Lyman Ultrasonic for beass and gun cleaning. I do a pre cleaning with simple green to remove range dirt ( lead powder) and use the Lyman. I agree that it does not do anything for accuracy in the short term but long term the dirt will ware out even carbide dies and any dirt left in the casing will go down the barrel and THAT will cause accuracy issues.
I use my lyman to clean my guns as well. the key is to use the recommended cleaners and get the water as hot as it will get. when you take the gun out fo the tank it will start to dry then I use compressed air to finish the job. I havent tried to clean a gun without at least field stripping it because as stated in a previous post all the grease and oil will be removed, so lube it well.

 

[PattonTime]

Sonic Cleaner

I reload a lot. So I have switched to a Lyman Sonic cleaner for all my brass.
I really like the way it gets the pockets clean.
I buy citric acid at a store that sells canning supplies and use that.
Simple green also seems to work well , sometimes I use both.
I used to just load after cleaning, I now do about an hour in the tumbler too.
The tumbler does not bother me any more because media stays clean for a very long time.It dries well for me overnight , if in a hurry , oven works very well too.
I agree that it does not help accuracy but it makes my loads look great !
Chris

 

[backer67]

I bought the Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaner on sale 5 months ago, still haven't taken it out of the package.

Same here,purchased in june 2012. searching for a ultrasonic cleaning solution that wont harm the finish ( blue) or the polymer?????????

 

[iouri]

Pardon my ignorance, so can one put a cylinder to clear those burn rings ? Will sonic cleaner take them out ?

 

[358156hp]

Pardon my ignorance, so can one put a cylinder to clear those burn rings ? Will sonic cleaner take them out ?

Oooh! Good question.

 

[dswancutt]

I have the Harbor Freight model, which is the same as the Lyman except for one thing, the basket. The basket on the HF unit has no sides, so I ended up ordering a basket from Lyman. Even having to buy the basket, it is still the better bargin.
I use the Hornady solution to clean brass. On other forums, I read that it works better if you double the amount in the mixture and it is true
In the summertime, after cleaning and rinsing, I just put the basket with brass out in the sun for an hour and it is dry. For winter, just lay the brass out on a cookie sheet on some aluminum foil and dry in the oven for about a 1/2 hour.