Ultrasonic Gun Cleaner

[dustycorgill]

Thanks for all the info guys. Very much appreciated!

 

[Leper]

Great. Just what I needed, another reason to go to harbor freight.

 

[TXARGUY]

Just a heads up. I used my debit card to buy some nylon tipped screwdrivers from Harbor Freight in Odessa a while back.

The bank had to issue me a new card because an employee at Harbor Freight was using my number fraudulently.

I had no idea until the bank called me.

 

[Charlie]

Not good! At least the bank caught it.

 

[M. Sage]

It is a valid concern.
One thing you need to watch when using an US cleaner, do not put assembled firearms in them for very long. Those nice US vibrations that work so well to eek out every nook and crannies bit of crud are not kind to finely fitted parts. They will cause those parts to "fret" against each other and if you have a dirty solution or really dirty firearm it accelerates that fretting.
I learned this the hard way by putting a wheel bearing in one for a while. In went a greasy but good bearing, out came a clean but crunchy bearing. Upon inspection you could see areas that looked like they had been sanded with a orbital sander.
Luckily this was only a $20.00 wheel bearing and not a $1k firearm.
You are better off disassembling the firearm and hanging parts individually where they cannot contact each other..

Yep, I disassemble (well, most of the way...) and clean with parts separated.

I did have a spring come loose in my Mk II one time...

 

[1slow01Z71]

What kind of mix are yall using in them? Im picking one up tomorrow as well to clean my BCGs and my nasty ass 22/45 from shooting a couple K owrth of suppressed nasty 22lr.

 

[dustycorgill]

What kind of mix are yall using in them? Im picking one up tomorrow as well to clean my BCGs and my nasty ass 22/45 from shooting a couple K owrth of suppressed nasty 22lr.

Yea, please....I would like to know as well.

 

[Charlie]

One half water, one half white vinegar, a couple of drops of dish washing liquid and about a 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda. Those are not necessarily critical but they work pretty good. I "cook" it for 480 seconds, bring them out and drop them in cold water, then spread cases/parts out on a towel and blow dry with compressed air. Cases are not as shiny as tumbling but the insides and the primer pockets are clean of all soot, etc.

 

[M. Sage]

What kind of mix are yall using in them? Im picking one up tomorrow as well to clean my BCGs and my nasty ass 22/45 from shooting a couple K owrth of suppressed nasty 22lr.

Yea, please....I would like to know as well.

Boiling hot water and a dash of dish soap. Works as well as anything else I've tried.

I think vinegar will chemically clean brass and take corrosion/discoloring off, don't think it'll do diddly for gun parts.

 

[Sugar Land]

Boiling hot water and a dash of dish soap. Works as well as anything else I've tried.

I think that is what I am going to go with. Do you use tap water? In Houston I would think that would do more damage that dish soap.

 

[M. Sage]

I think that is what I am going to go with. Do you use tap water? In Houston I would think that would do more damage that dish soap.

Hard-ass San Antonio tap water.

 

[Sugar Land]

The one I bought at HF is exactly like this one with a different name on it.

Lyman® Turbo® Sonic™ TS-2500 Sonic Cleaner : Cabela's

 

[Greg_TX]

I have the same model from HF that Chuck has, and I've been pretty happy with it. The only gripe is that the plastic parts tray doesn't have handles you can grab without sticking your hands in the hot water. When I use it, I strip whatever I'm cleaning down as much as possible and just use a bit of dish soap in the water. I've found that it isn't much help for pistol barrels, but pretty much everything else comes clean. It's really satisfying to turn it on and see a brown cloud of crud billow out of the parts you thought weren't that dirty. If you want to use any sort of chemical solution besides soap or vinegar, get a mason jar or other glass container to hold the part(s) and put the chemicals in that, then set it in the water. If you want to test how well your machine is working, take a strip of light foil and dip it in there for a few moments - when you take it out you should see lots of little holes where the cavitation from the bubbles tore the foil. BTW - for you musical folks, these machines work great for cleaning and rejuvenating guitar strings.

 

[M. Sage]

I have the same model from HF that Chuck has, and I've been pretty happy with it. The only gripe is that the plastic parts tray doesn't have handles you can grab without sticking your hands in the hot water. When I use it, I strip whatever I'm cleaning down as much as possible and just use a bit of dish soap in the water. I've found that it isn't much help for pistol barrels, but pretty much everything else comes clean. It's really satisfying to turn it on and see a brown cloud of crud billow out of the parts you thought weren't that dirty. If you want to use any sort of chemical solution besides soap or vinegar, get a mason jar or other glass container to hold the part(s) and put the chemicals in that, then set it in the water. If you want to test how well your machine is working, take a strip of light foil and dip it in there for a few moments - when you take it out you should see lots of little holes where the cavitation from the bubbles tore the foil. BTW - for you musical folks, these machines work great for cleaning and rejuvenating guitar strings.

I use barbecue tongs on mine. Or I just open the drain and wait a minute...

 

[Greg_TX]

Unfortunately, this particular one doesn't have a drain. Rubber gloves usually buy me enough time - I'm impressed with how well the heater works, considering the price.

 

[1slow01Z71]

Good to hear, I plan to only use it for cleaning gun parts. Ive got a stainless tumbler for cleaning brass. Its mazing how dirty shooting suppressed is and Im lazy. Tossing stuff in some water and then drying it off sounds easy enough lol.

 

[Greg_TX]

One other tip - before putting the parts in, run the cleaner empty for about 15 minutes to de-gas the water, especially if you're filling from a faucet. When the tank is first filled there will be some amount of air trapped in the solution, which will initially reduce the effectiveness of the sonic cavitation. This will obviously work itself out during cleaning, but you'll get better results if you break up and evacuate the suspended air before starting a cleaning cycle. Lastly, never let parts sit directly on the bottom of the tank; you want to vibrate the solution, not the parts, and if you put something heavy like a slide or barrel on top of the transducer you could damage the cleaner.

 

[1slow01Z71]

Well I finally got around to getting one tonight. I immediately threw the dirtiest thing I could think of in it. This BCG is out of my 300blk that has seen about 600 rounds of suppressed fire. The pistol powder that the 300blk uses is very dirty and was having failure to eject problems. THe case would get caught on the extractor and get slammed back into the barrel extension. Its safe to say Ive found the limit of cleaning this rifle and will tear the BCG down every 400 rounds to keep this from happening in the future.

Basically I just filled up the cleaner about 2/3s of the way full with hot tap water, a little dish soap and let it run for the maximum 8 minute cycle with heat then threw the complete BCG in. As you can see it was nasty

Quick video of it initially starting so you can see the grime coming out already. Sorry the camera didn't focus right away.

After the initial 8 minute cycle I tore the BCG down and ran it for another 8 minutes and was left with some pretty nasty water

The finished product

This is a NiB coated BCG thus the discoloration but it is clean. Lubed it all up and put it back together and now it ejects fine and even with the upper still dirty the bolt cycles so much smoother. Ill give the gun a deep clean after deer season.

At 75 bucks out the door Id say its a good deal. I plan to try loaded rounds in it to clean the case lube off. Hopefully it doesn't allow water past the bullet. Ive been searching for a way to get rid of case lube easily and completely.

 

[TX69]

At 75 bucks out the door Id say its a good deal. I plan to try loaded rounds in it to clean the case lube off. Hopefully it doesn't allow water past the bullet. Ive been searching for a way to get rid of case lube easily and completely.

I use a Lyman Vibratory to clean loaded rounds with great success. Use coated corn cob media, 1/2 cap full Nu Finish, two used fabric sheets cut in half. Takes all of the lube off and puts a beautiful clean and smooth finish on the brass. I wouldn't soak live rounds in water to clean them.

 

[Dawico]

It is recommended that you do not tumble or vibrate loaded rounds. The action breaks down the powder kernels and can change the burn rate.

I tumble my cases after sizing but before loading to remove the case lube and it works great. I size in a single stage press, tumble, then load them. Sometimes I use a progressive to load them depending on what I am loading for.