Ultrasonic Brass Cleaning

The N.U.B. · Post by **The N.U.B.** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 9:47 am

WrzWaldo:

Do you just soak the cases in the hot water and Kool-Aid solution or do you place them back into the Ultrasonic Cleaner for the hot water and Kool-Aid steps?

WrzWaldo · Post by **WrzWaldo** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:48 am

I run those steps in the ultrasonic as well. I run multiple beakers so it's fairly quick as I usually have two beakers in the cleaner at once. However, the first test I did with the koolaid was just a 5 minute soak. I think the hot tap water rinses could replace the ultrasonic rinses as well and I'll look at that the next batch I do. I'm really diggin' not having to touch the primer pockets!

The N.U.B. · Post by **The N.U.B.** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:57 am

Thanks for the heads up. I have a 21,000 watt ultrasonic cleaner at the shop, but it's 2'x 2'x 4' and holds around 100 gallons. It does have 10 transducers, but I think it'd take a bit too much work to change out the fluids. That is unless all you guys want to send me your brass and I could do 10,000 rounds at a time. I'm trying to figure out a method to drop a smaller container into the solution already in the tank and still get the ultrasonic energy to the brass. I should be able to use old kitchen pans and the energy will transmit through to the cases.

I suppose it would be much cheaper and easier to just buy one of the cleaners you guys are using, but bigger is often better!!!

janneuf · Post by **janneuf** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:23 am

Got my ultrasonic unit today. I'll give a full report and take some before and after pics.

WrzWaldo · Post by **WrzWaldo** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 8:42 am

The N.U.B. wrote:Thanks for the heads up. I have a 21,000 watt ultrasonic cleaner at the shop, but it's 2'x 2'x 4' and holds around 100 gallons. It does have 10 transducers, but I think it'd take a bit too much work to change out the fluids. That is unless all you guys want to send me your brass and I could do 10,000 rounds at a time. I'm trying to figure out a method to drop a smaller container into the solution already in the tank and still get the ultrasonic energy to the brass. I should be able to use old kitchen pans and the energy will transmit through to the cases.

I suppose it would be much cheaper and easier to just buy one of the cleaners you guys are using, but bigger is often better!!!

After giving this some thought...

You could use 1 gallon plastic/glass jars with lids and suspend them in the big unit that way you don't have to fiddle with the main bath. I bet with the correct fill level in the jars you could just let them float in the main bath. Just a couple random thoughts.

Hawkeye Joe · Post by **Hawkeye Joe** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 4:04 pm

THE N.U.B.
Try using a quality ziplock bag for your brass and solution. A friend uses this method for very small parts. I suggest you do some testing before you go all out.

janneuf · Post by **janneuf** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 6:45 am

Do you stand the brass on end as in the pics from the 6mm BR site? I tried that last night and it's a bear with 204 brass. Do you do anything special to enhance the vibration and hasten the cleaning? The guy at 6mmbr uses plexiglass with a hole in it to keep the beaker from touching the bottom of the unit. Are you doing that?

I had decent results last night and will post some pics later. I found I could only do a beaker at a time in my unit.

WrzWaldo · Post by **WrzWaldo** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:33 am

My unit has a plastic basket that hangs in the tub without touching the bottom of the tub. I tried it with the beakers sitting right on the tub and it was loud and didn't seem to clean as quickly.

janneuf · Post by **janneuf** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:50 am

BINGO

Just what I wanted to hear!

Thanks

The N.U.B. · Post by **The N.U.B.** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:28 am

I made a small portable tank out of some scrap stainless we had lying around. We have an ultrasonic probe that is connected to the power source by a seperate cable. The tank is 10" x 30" x 7" deep and the probe just sits in the center. I'll take some pictures an post in a bit. The cool thing is that the ultrasonic source is suspended in the middle, so I don't think I'll have to suspend the containers above the bottom. I'm planning on using empy pickle jars for the solutions.

Scott

WrzWaldo · Post by **WrzWaldo** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:34 am

The N.U.B.

Those probe type units are quite versatile! I still have a couple pickle jars in my beaker rotation.

janneuf · Post by **janneuf** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:28 am

Help

WrzWaldo I am just not getting the cases very clean. I am using the basket in a single layer I'm doing maybe 30-40 cases at a time; I'm not stacking them. The primer pockets get pretty clean but the necks still have powder residue.

I've even tried a 4th and 5th cycle of 480 seconds and still no luck.

The N.U.B. · Post by **The N.U.B.** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:28 am

I finished my test and have to echo the comments. Any ideas. I know I have tons of power and left them in a 50% solution for 35 minutes.

WrzWaldo · Post by **WrzWaldo** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:27 am

I do mine 20 per beaker and they are all standing on the base. I also use a bit more soap in my solution (2 teaspoons per gallon of solution).

Here are the necks from the neglected range brass from my previous post.

janneuf · Post by **janneuf** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:36 am

OK just to clarify

You DO use the beakers and you stand the brass upright in the BEAKERS and then set them in the plastic basket?