I just bought this unit. Found your video. The rough edges you are feeling is the soft material being bumped against each other as they are being cleaned. Thanks for posting this!
I have this but with analog dials. Works pretty well. Cleans small gun parts really quick and easy. Would recommend to anyone tired of cleaning by hand.
Good video Johnny. The best tip I can give for ultrasonic carbon removal is head on down to the local wallyworld and pick up a gallon of Superclean. I am in amazement every time I use the stuff on brass, gas-operated rifle parts, and anything else you can think of wanting carbon dissolved. Best of all, it's really cheap stuff. Like 10 bucks a gallon type of cheap! You could add ~1/2 to 1 full cup to a gallon of water and you'll be shocked at well it works! Just remember to get a thin layer of oil on ferrous parts afterward because Superclean is gonna strip lube right off of everything.
Use lemi shine and dawn just like with the pins (only for brass) after 20 min shiny, no pins to fight. I universal deprime the cases first and the drain fast, the roll the cases up in a tower and shake back and forth, no water spots
Johnny, I appreciate and trust your Judgment when it comes to product reviews, many products you have run through your reviews have turned out to be more than to be expected for the price the consumer paid. also, you give great console in their drawbacks and evaluations. when you say "Don't buy this", I trust what you are saying because you explained why. Keep up your good work, people Trust you dude. -Dave
I was hunting brass for my CZ527. I bought a box of Lapua before the craziness but wanted more. Star Line had their 7.62x39 on backorder last month. I made my order and it shipped three days later, I was lucky. The price for 250 pieces was nice.
Pretty neat video I use super clean on lots of car parts, floors etc. and it does a good job for that stuff. Super clean is about 8 bucks per gallon and it’s concentrated but they actually recommend using it with cold water. BTW I have never used it to clean gun parts in a ultrasonic machine but if I had one I would try it.
The way I used to clean the brass with these is some dishwasher liquid and a pinch of Citric acid. Just a .22 case powder do about 1ltr solution. They come shiny as. But could get some dark spot time to time. Then I dried them in a food dryer. Much easier to process in batches.
That brass came out clean enough for my loading. Can't wait for 7.62x39. I've been doing some messing around with 160ish Lee 310 cast bullets PC'd with SW Blackout. Even with light charges, my brass is MIA, that thing slings brass into the next county.
For brass, Hornady solution seems to clean best but requires rinsing like most solutions. RCBS brass solution doesn’t need rinsing and coats with a non-tarnish finish. I also use rcbs weapons cleaner solution for dies as it does not require rinsing and also coats with a preservative.
I use a mix of dawn dish soap and two cap fulls of Lyman brass cleaning concentrate and it works great. Mine is only a small one can only fit about 50 pieces of 6mm Creedmoor in it at a time but it works awesome.
I want to think this video was made based on my suggestions from awhile back ;) a little ultrasonic trick to avoid dirtying the water in the tub: put an item to be cleaned into a Ziploc bag filled with cleaning solution. ultrasonic waves will work through the bag just fine and you don't have to rinse/clean out tube as much.
ADMONITION!! For an ultrasonic solution for 9mm brass and a batch that size, I use a few drops of dish soap and a shot glass of white vinegar. 20-30 minutes and I'm happy with the results. I bought a used US made dental ultrasonic cleaner (with no heater) about the same size as they have a great record of reliability and life.
That's why I deprime the cases before ultrasonic bath, so it's easier to drain the water out plus don't muddy up the water from the spent primer. I use the RCBS ultrasonic which is over $100 but I bought used from a friend.
This is a decent ultrasonic bath and does what it is advertised to do except for the actual size. It is advertised as a 3 liter bath when in actuality it is MUCH less. If filled to the absolute top of the tub it holds less than the 3L and the effective bath size when filled to its "max" value is actually 1.6 liters. It will work well for small items, but keep in mind you are NOT working with a 3 liter bath. Actual size of the bath at max level (that indent in the bath) is 3.25"D X 5"W X 9"L. Using the included cage gives an actual working bath of 2.75"D X 4.5"W X 8.5"L. I am adding this information for anyone actually interested in the working size you will get. I was unable to find this information anywhere and their support was less than forthcoming on true facts. One other thing to consider if/when you purchase this is if you are cleaning very small objects, you will also need to get a cage to hold those very small items since the included basket is a pretty open mesh. It has great handles, but not good for containing very small items. Just a thought. One other thing I hear many complaining about the noise level: you are working with an ultrasonic cleaner which by its very nature is noisy. If you are looking for a quiet, unobtrusive cleaner, look elsewhere. Every ultrasonic cleaner I've seen is noisy like this one.
I use an ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor freight once in a while. They have their own cleaning powder for it, seems to work ok for my needs. I don't use it on brass though, usually just AR BCG and stuff like that.
My wife made me a "tumbler" bag for the Frankfort wet tumbler. I tie the bag over the mouth of the tumbler and dump all the brass into the bag. She placed draw strings on the top of the bag so I could tumble the brass around w/o losing a single case. I shake and move the brass around and most of the water is removed. Let the cases air dry for a day or two and it's ready to reload. Hang the bag up to dry.
My dad got a harbor freight ultrasonic for cleaning brass and small parts. We keep the tank full of just water then put the parts or brass in a ziplock with the cleaning solution. Been working well and you can use fun solvents like wd40👍
I bought the same cleaner a year ago. Does a great job on gun parts and small carburetors. Does take forever to get up to temp. Get a tea infuser for really small parts.
When I used to use an ultrasonic cleaner for brass I would reuse old solution many times over to save money and my unit did not have a heater built in. I had an old cookpot that lost all of its non stick coating so I dedicated it for use to heat up the solution prior to use. A few minutes on the stove and it was plenty warm.
Try a trick I saw a mechanic uses. Just tap water in the reservoir but place the parts to clean in a zip lock bag with the cleaning solution. The ultrasonic won’t care but it keeps small parts separated and the machine clean. He uses it to keep bolts separated for cleaning. For brass I use a 9 mm case of lemishine with a small squirt of dawn and run it for 24 min. Never any longer, and be sure to rinse well. The acidic lemishine will leach zinc out of the brass if left in to long.
Use lemi shine and 7 drops or so of dawn ultra and after that run a new bath with teaspoon of baking soda and you will be amazed on how much more you will get out. Also I've found mixing the brass while in the bath will help with them all get clean. Generally depending on size of case I only put 40 to pieces in at a time. In regards to 243 cases. Less time and come out cleaner.
Hi Johnny! I have the 3lt and have found it does the job pretty well! Was using a dry tumble before and got fed up with having to de-gunk the primer holes! Funny but I put the brass back in the dry media to clean off the resizing lube😂 Here in the U.K. I just use regular washing up liquid (Fairy) and hot water from the tap and always put it on for the full 30 min, as for the sound it get under your skin doesn’t it?! I also use it to clean my wildcat moderators, but need to do a bit more research as there is always carbon left after x2 runs. Many thanks for all your hard work bring us these videos, much appreciated 👍 regards from deepest Dorset England.
Sometimes it helps to run distilled water vs tap water, I can't remember exactly why. It also helps to run an ultrasonic unit for 10-15 minutes before you start cleaning anything to degas the solution. It helps remove gases dissolved in the water that can buffer the sound waves and limit the cleaning action.
I use the Hornady One Shot Sonic stuff, terribly expensive but a little goes a long way and it does a really good job. Cases are of course deprimed to begin with, and I usually cook them at 60C for half an hour, and reuse the solution maybe 3 times, it’s usually grey and opaque at that point.
I have a different ultrasonic cleaner. Mine is basically the same as the RCBS just not green and doesn’t say RCBS on it. I learned that if you want the best cleaning action only stack the cases one layer deep. No piling on top of each other.
The other thing you need to look out for with these is if they make a smaller one, the bigger one may use the same power unit so it won't have enough power to clean the whole tank
You might want to try Krud Kutter inside your ultrasonic cleaner. This has been a wonder cleaner, although I do not have an ultrasonic cleaner for myself.
I’ve used the RCBS solution and it worked well. Paid too much for the RCBS branded cleaner and the heating element quit just after they warranty expired.
Ultrasonic cleaning of brass: dishwashing liquid and 1 teaspoon of citric acid (lemishine). You can also use dishwasher detergent, but it seems to leach zinc from the brass. I usually go about 45 minutes, but I have a smaller unit. The heater isn’t really necessary, water will heat up due to the action of the transducer. The change in feeling of the brass is probably the lubricant/coating being stripped or the lack of lubricant from dry tumbling.
I believe there is a bit of acid in the commercially available brass cleaning solutions. He put wayyyyy too much in there so it was probably etching the brass.
@@silentbob267 There is, but it is a low concentration weak acid (usually citric). You would need a highly concentrated solution and far longer soak time (although heating helps accelerate the process) to etch the brass. Also, the acid leaches the zinc from the brass and makes it change color first. More likely it is either removal of a coating or simple mechanical scratching.
@@detritus23 You do realize that Brass Juice he poured in is a concentrated acid solution and the reason it says to mix 1ounce to 60ish ounces of water is to dilute the acid to a level that is relatively safe for the brass right?
@@silentbob267 I do. However, the acids is most brass washes are dilute, weak acids, so unless he soaked them for a long time, I don’t think it would etch the brass noticeably. Also, the brass was not discolored, which would definitely indicate acid etching. Could it be etching the metal? Sure. Under the right conditions, it might even leach and plate the copper onto the ultrasonic cleaners tub. But my experience working with acids, suggests otherwise under the conditions and time used. (Also, he was barehanded and acid strong enough to etch brass in 5 minutes would minimally stained his hands or given mild burns.) Unfortunately, I cannot find a MSDS for the cleaner to comment further. If I can find the specific acids used and their concentrations, then I may have to revise my opinion.
I have a VEVOR 6L and it takes forever to heat the solution without running the ultrasonic. It does heat eventually, but my results are the same as yours. I'm looking for a better heating element. I made a basket to go in the basket out of 1/8 hardware cloth, works well. I use a metal tea steeper ball thing for tiny parts.. works wonders on carburators!
I wonder if you could stick a Soud Vide wand into the bath to bring up the temp faster. My wife has one of them for cooking meat. I have been thinking of buying this Ultrasonic cleaner but the bad reviews.
@@texpatriot8462 Running the ultrasonic unit and the heater at the same time would warm up the solution faster. It would also help degas the solution before you drop any parts in.
Cosmoline melts between 113-125 degrees. When I got my Garands , I took them apart and dumped everything into a big pot of boiling water. Came right off. And Simple Green is fine, but don’t use the standard green stuff. Use either the Purple or even better the Aircraft version of it. They’re safe on all metals. The green attacks aluminum
I have several ultrasonic cleaners and use them regularly for cleaning brass. They are the quickest and most efficient way to clean brass. I good ultrasonic will clean brass inside and out including the primer pockets in under 10 mins. My advice when looking to buy an ultrasonic is to look at the power of the transducers (usually either 50W or 60W) and the number of transducers. Then calculate the power and number of transducers per litre of water. Some sizes will have a better ratio than others. The 3L and 6L models with 60W/1.5L or 60W/2L could work better than the larger 10L models which might only have 60W/2.5L for example.
Best brass solution is 2 teaspoons of dawn dish soap and 2 tablespoons of Lemishine in your water Let run for 20 minutes and your brass will look like new
Might want to keep an eye what you clean with what solution. I like the Sonic Cleaner a lot, but it will rust the bolt carrier key screws. It also does something to the nitrided bolt carrier finish.
mine died after 4 uses and that is because it was leaking water into the electronics. it worked well when it did though. I use the hornady brass cleaner and gun parts cleaner. I will say this though, DONT MIX THE PARTS AND BRASS CLEANER SOLUTIONS! I did try and cut corners by cleaning a few gun parts with my brass and it destroyed the nickel boron finish on them. That said, i really like the hornady brand brass cleaner. Just for giggles, you should try the PINOL mountain scented one on there too. the two smell oddly alike. The one thing i dont like is that primer pockets are always a pain to clean with the ultrasonic cleaners. Hopefully you test a good brand i can have better luck with. Thanks for a good video man! love it! Oh and now i use the lyman one. MUCH MUCH quieter and the performance is about the same as the model you are testing right now. worth the extra 20 dollars if you ask me
@@silentbob267 i do. doesnt seem to matter though. still hard to get in there. usually i need to go in with a cotton swab to clean them out but that is annoying when you have already taken the brass for a good 10 minutes in the ultrasonic
@@orozcocris93 Haha I used to keep running mine until it was as clean as I wanted it to be. Sometimes I would have batches of brass running 30-45 minutes total time to reach the desired level of clean. Obviously this varies from one unit to the next and the amount of brass but. Try running yours a few more cycles and see if that doesn't help.
Johnny, I get a lot of once fired brass and some times new from Diamond K Brass in Scottsdale Arizona. Check them out and see if Jeremiah has what your looking for. Love your videos and hope to see more soon.
They seem like a good company, gotten a few bags from them and they were in good shape with extras. Including a random 8x22 Nambu in one bag of .32. That was a wierd one, but it added to my case collection, so I was pretty pleased.
@@gresvig2507 I’ve had great luck buying brass from them and like you said I’ve always received more than what I paid for. They are very careful not to short you and I’ve bought a lot of rifle and pistol brass. What’s good for me is I live in Cochise county AZ so my orders get here fast but they do ship orders quickly anyway. Good Shooting
Very hot shower while the wife is away will get rid of 95% of the Cosmoline , did this to most of my SKS , the stock need to baked at the sun for few days after .
Would I be right in saying that those components are from an SKS rifle? PS: I wrote this before seeing the shot of the whole rifle. Seems obvious later in the video.
Pinch of citric acid, dawn and water. To keep the mess out of the tank and from having to clean it alot I put the brass/cleaning mixture in Mason jars and put water in the tank around em. Gun parts I do in stainless "food" pans with hoppes no9 poured in from a quart bottle. Using a separate container let's me pour back into the bottle. I will look into the simple green though.
Be careful with Simplegreen and aluminum it discolored it and I’ve heard it weakens the aluminum. You still need to rinse whatever you clean. Dental solution sold as a concentrate is inexpensive.
I never used one Johnny, but if I had the machine, I would used baking soda, vinegar, some distilled water (mix the baking soda in first with a cup or cup and 1/2) dawn dish soap to soak the brass for 20 mins. then I would give them a good ultra sonic boiling? Just my opinion ?????? Hey water is the main ingredient to fill the machine
Using baking soda and vinegar at the same time would be ineffective as the baking soda would neutralize the acidity of the vinegar. I have heard of using a baking soda wash afterwards to ensure the vinegar is neutralized and doesn't continue eating on the brass after it is removed from solution though.
@@silentbob267 true it would neutralize the acidity of the acid. But, a little baking soda goes a long way to reduce the acidity to make it mild to your brass. I didnt say go wild with baking soda. In making the suggestion I had confidence that we all understood that.
@@jerrymont2595 You weren't very clear on your mix ratios but if your only reason for adding the baking soda is to weaken the acid of the vinegar would it not make more practical sense to skip the baking soda and just use less vinegar and allow the water you are mixing it to to dilute the acid?
