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Ultrasonic Cleaner


Chickamauga Slim

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I am considering getting an ultrasonic cleaner. Anyone have any experience with or suggestions? I am thinking it may be possible to clean brass and also to clean gun parts.

I find cleaning the carrier on my '73 is almost impossible.

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1 hour ago, Chickamauga Slim said:

I am considering getting an ultrasonic cleaner. Anyone have any experience with or suggestions? I am thinking it may be possible to clean brass and also to clean gun parts.

I find cleaning the carrier on my '73 is almost impossible.

Wait, you're supposed to clean those?

Gotta make sure you get the correct cleaning agent for the metal you're cleaning. If you'll send me a text tomorrow evening I'll bring one you can use a month or so to make sure it's what you want.

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I have 2 of them. One cheap 3L unit that I bought and then I got as a gift the Hornady 9L unit. I use the small 3L for pretty much everything. It fit's directly on my bench and is easy to move. It'll fit an entire pistol in it including most 4" and some 6" revolvers. It has worked very well and for me has been reliable. I use Simple Green Extreme Marine Cleaner in it...NOT THE STRAIGHT SIMPLE GREEN. That stuff will ruin certain colored parts. I like the big Hornady, but that thing is huge. It will do a complete AR or bolt gun, but it's very cumbersome. It is heavy, takes up a huge amount of room, uses A LOT of cleaner, and is difficult to do maintenance on. It's also hugely expensive initially, but as I said I got mine as a gift. If you're just cleaning small parts or a hundred cases the smaller is perfect. BTW I also initially bought the Harbor Freight unit. My buddy recommended it and he still uses his. My first one was DOA, the second broke in a week, and the third about a month. Maybe I just got bad ones, because like I said my buddy still uses his.

 

The 3L generic

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HGNM5WE/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B01HGNM5WE&pd_rd_w=tGcvt&content-id=amzn1.sym.3be1c5b9-5b41-4830-a902-fa8556c19eb5&pf_rd_p=3be1c5b9-5b41-4830-a902-fa8556c19eb5&pf_rd_r=6Z3TSDFKVSQCJH8SDE6V&pd_rd_wg=7fyAQ&pd_rd_r=c5996e9d-6471-4476-aa25-f1d60e07149a&s=industrial&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExUkFWOUxZTU9WSzFGJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTYxNTY1VUQyRVU4NTU2Rk5OJmVuY3J5cHRlZEFkSWQ9QTA3NzY0OTQxVkhGVTZZUzhLTFg2JndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

 

The 9L Hornady

https://www.amazon.com/Hornady-043310-Lock-N-Load-Sonic-Cleaners/dp/B00AU6CK20/ref=asc_df_B00AU6CK20/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312031441155&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3250787958198610454&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9012292&hvtargid=pla-570606499148&psc=1

 

JEL

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3 hours ago, Totes Magoats said:

The inexpensive Harbor Freight model works for all I need.

 

Totes

 

Yes.  But be careful.  The heater in mine decided to stick on last week and it evaporated all the water and started melting the little plastic basket it comes with.  Make sure you unplug it when not in use!!

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26 minutes ago, El Chapo said:

 

Yes.  But be careful.  The heater in mine decided to stick on last week and it evaporated all the water and started melting the little plastic basket it comes with.  Make sure you unplug it when not in use!!

Anything electric at Harbor Freight that is over 5 bucks sucks.

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On 6/30/2022 at 10:42 AM, Chickamauga Slim said:

I find cleaning the carrier on my '73 is almost impossible.


I throw my ‘66 carrier in the tumbler when I clean brass.

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Careful if you throw your whole gun in to clean it, the first time I did this with the SS Vaqueros I couldn’t cock the hammers, open the loading gate or even push the ejector rods, everything was so squeaky clean there was no lubrication on anything, a light coat of lube fixed everything right up but I think if I had forced anything I probably would have done some metal damage, the other thing I have found is some aluminum gun finishes get soft and kind of gummy ( Ruger single six frames ) so be careful until you know what works, does a hell of a nice job on cleaning brass and is the only thing I have found that will make a SS gun look new after 500 rounds, even the cylinder ends will look new 

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On 6/30/2022 at 10:44 AM, John E. Law said:

 

 

Been using one of these for many MANY years.  Works great on gun parts.  The one thing to note if you plan on cleaning brass is that yes, the brass will be perfectly clean but it won't be shiny.  If you want shiny brass you need to stick with either a wet or dry tumbler. 

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I don't use mine ultrasonic for brass casings. I tumble with crushed walnut and Iosso Brass Case Polish. I've tried there cleaner kit and found the deeper cleaning didn't effect my cowboy loads at all. 

 

I have a 5gal bucket full of brass that I use for practice and local matches. I will use it up, tumble the entire 5 gal bucket and reuse it again. It's the same brass that I started with 15 years ago, + or - what I've lost and gotten returned each stage, and I'll load it over and over again until the case splits or the rim gets bent up then I toss it in my smelting bucket. When I shoot larger matches I dip into my new brass stock. I will use that brass for a half dozen matches or so then it'll get tossed in with the older stuff.

 

I guess if I was loading pistol ammo for bullseye or PPC type matches I would take more time with my brass prep, similar to what I do with my rifle stuff, but I don't see the point with CAS loads. 

 

Everyone's else's MMV here but that's what has worked for me for years.

 

JEL

 

I collect a lot of old brass that shooters don't want when I'm out at the range or at matches specifically for the smelter. I'm building up enough in order to machine a brass receiver for a Gatling Gun. My buddy, Cactus Jack Slade, is a master machinist and has a 5 axis CNC machine. Our goal is to build one in 357mag. We know you can buy 9mm units, but the DIY aspect and in 357 it should be a hoot of a project. My last "project" was a golf ball mountain howitzer cannon with carriage and all of the "tools" in scale. I built it from scratch and it'll shoot a 350gn BP golf ball projectile load or a 700gr blank load if you just want to make a lot of noise and smoke.    

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Don't use Simple Green on anything anodized, like an aluminum carrier, as it will remove the anodizing. This happened on my wife's C & I carrier. But, it still works fine & now looks like a titanium carrier. The plastic top on the Harbor Freight cracked in multiple places. I super-glued it, gave it to my son, & bought one for about $200 much larger on Amazon. Also, on the Harbor Freight model the max you can set the time is 6 mins, which is not enough. On my new one, I can set it to whatever time I want.

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K38T5C1?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

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Max,  try the Simple Green Extreme Marine. It's sounds like it's stronger than plain SG but it's not. It's mild but works really well. 

 

JEL

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/30/2022 at 3:38 PM, Tennessee williams said:

Anything electric at Harbor Freight that is over 5 bucks sucks.

10 hours ago, El Chapo said:

have to disagree there, my toolbox weighs over 700 pounds and it is great. 

 

You have an electric toolbox?? :P

 

JEL

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On 7/14/2022 at 5:28 AM, John E. Law said:

 

You have an electric toolbox?? :P

 

JEL

No, I just can't read.  Basically everything from harbor freight that has moving parts is trash.  I like their grinders because they're so cheap that I didn't mind replacing the one that I burned up.

 

Strangely, I had thought their ultrasonic cleaner was actually the same as what was sold elsewhere as something else, but I don't remember where I read that.  I'm glad I bought this ultrasonic cleaner because before I did, didn't even know I needed a tool like this . But yeah, the whole boiling its entire contents dry because I left it plugged in is scary.

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