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School me on sonic cleaners...specifically frankford arsenal
- Thread starter The Bandit
- Start date
I like ultrasonics-- I started with the little Hornady "1 liter" or whatever- the little one. It worked well, but couldn't do enough cases at once. So I shopped around, and ended up with a 3-liter one that does a whole lot of rifle brass at once. Built in heater, all that jazz. Expensive, but saves a lot of time. Even so, I still use the little one for smaller jobs.
However, for gun cleaning, think about what you're doing. You're submerging your gun in water. That means you'll have to rinse off the soap, dry it, and fully lube it in all the nooks and crannies afterwards. That pretty much means a dunk in oil. Messy, and kind of expensive, if you aren't using motor oil. ATF also works great, but stains everything red...
Also-- and this is very important. Ultrasonics will blow paint off of metal, and any other kind of coating. Nickel plating? It might survive; I'm not going to try it. Tritium sights? Your guess is as good as mine.
If you get one, fire it up with some hot water (about 150 degrees is best-- not hotter), and run it for five minutes as an earlier poster pointed out. This is to "degas" the water, not "degauss" it (it's not a tape head). Ain't auto-correct fun? : )
Anyway, you run it for a few minutes to get the dissolved air out. Then take a piece of aluminum foil (flat) and hold it in the water. In very short order, you'll start seeing holes develop in the foil. Yeah-- the microbubbles are destroying the aluminum. Might be fine for certain jewelry, but might also destroy watches and some gems. I'd keep my hands out of there too. Note that I mean running straight water-- it's not acid or detergent eating the aluminum. It's the collapsing cavitation bubbles literally blasting holes in the foil. Show that demonstration to anyone skeptical about US cleaners...
AR BCG's clean up pretty well. I haven't tried anything with paint or other coatings, but I suspect the result will be disastrous. You'll still have to do a bit of brushing to get the toughest carbon off, unless you really run it a long time. But this is much, much simpler than scraping it off by hand. And all the innards are clean.
I use Dawn. Citric acid ("LemiShine" with the dishwashing supplies) will make brass shinier. So will other acids like vinegar. But the other acids will eat the metal. Stick with citric acid; allegedly, the reaction it has won't hurt the brass.
Cleaners for other metals-- you're on your own. I do not know. Dawn works very, very well in my experience.
Oh-- a tip. I use disposable chopsticks for moving stuff around in the water. I guess a plastic spoon would work too. But the chopsticks work well for me.
Now let's consider how you clean with the thing.
1.) Pour in Dawn.
2.) Pour in hot water.
3.) Run it for a few minutes to get the air out.
4.) Put your parts in.
5.) Run it for however long. The cheaper units will only do eight minutes at a time-- they have overheating issues, per the manual. You many need to run quite a few cycles. I will periodically stir around the parts/brass to make sure I get it all clean (change the standing wave pattern).
6.) Remove parts, wash and drain.
7.) Empty the cleaner. Rinse it out.
8.) Now-- do you need a rinse cycle? If so, repeat steps 2 through 4, then run it a cycle or two. You might could skip step three. And you might can skip the rinse, if you wash the parts off well in your sink.
9.) Drain again.
10.) Dry and/or lube your parts.
This works great, but it's not as hands-off as running a washing machine or something.
This is not for everyone, and not suited for every purpose. Too big of a unit, and it's a pain to fill and drain. Too small, and you can't do enough stuff at once. Etc. And I still use an ordinary vibratory tumbler for pistol brass, and plinking brass. But the match stuff gets deprimed and run through the US to get the primer pockets and interior clean. A vibratory won't do that, but I hear that the stainless steel method does.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but it taken me a while to learn the ins and out of ultrasonics. They certainly do have their place.
However, for gun cleaning, think about what you're doing. You're submerging your gun in water. That means you'll have to rinse off the soap, dry it, and fully lube it in all the nooks and crannies afterwards. That pretty much means a dunk in oil. Messy, and kind of expensive, if you aren't using motor oil. ATF also works great, but stains everything red...
Also-- and this is very important. Ultrasonics will blow paint off of metal, and any other kind of coating. Nickel plating? It might survive; I'm not going to try it. Tritium sights? Your guess is as good as mine.
If you get one, fire it up with some hot water (about 150 degrees is best-- not hotter), and run it for five minutes as an earlier poster pointed out. This is to "degas" the water, not "degauss" it (it's not a tape head). Ain't auto-correct fun? : )
Anyway, you run it for a few minutes to get the dissolved air out. Then take a piece of aluminum foil (flat) and hold it in the water. In very short order, you'll start seeing holes develop in the foil. Yeah-- the microbubbles are destroying the aluminum. Might be fine for certain jewelry, but might also destroy watches and some gems. I'd keep my hands out of there too. Note that I mean running straight water-- it's not acid or detergent eating the aluminum. It's the collapsing cavitation bubbles literally blasting holes in the foil. Show that demonstration to anyone skeptical about US cleaners...
AR BCG's clean up pretty well. I haven't tried anything with paint or other coatings, but I suspect the result will be disastrous. You'll still have to do a bit of brushing to get the toughest carbon off, unless you really run it a long time. But this is much, much simpler than scraping it off by hand. And all the innards are clean.
I use Dawn. Citric acid ("LemiShine" with the dishwashing supplies) will make brass shinier. So will other acids like vinegar. But the other acids will eat the metal. Stick with citric acid; allegedly, the reaction it has won't hurt the brass.
Cleaners for other metals-- you're on your own. I do not know. Dawn works very, very well in my experience.
Oh-- a tip. I use disposable chopsticks for moving stuff around in the water. I guess a plastic spoon would work too. But the chopsticks work well for me.
Now let's consider how you clean with the thing.
1.) Pour in Dawn.
2.) Pour in hot water.
3.) Run it for a few minutes to get the air out.
4.) Put your parts in.
5.) Run it for however long. The cheaper units will only do eight minutes at a time-- they have overheating issues, per the manual. You many need to run quite a few cycles. I will periodically stir around the parts/brass to make sure I get it all clean (change the standing wave pattern).
6.) Remove parts, wash and drain.
7.) Empty the cleaner. Rinse it out.
8.) Now-- do you need a rinse cycle? If so, repeat steps 2 through 4, then run it a cycle or two. You might could skip step three. And you might can skip the rinse, if you wash the parts off well in your sink.
9.) Drain again.
10.) Dry and/or lube your parts.
This works great, but it's not as hands-off as running a washing machine or something.
This is not for everyone, and not suited for every purpose. Too big of a unit, and it's a pain to fill and drain. Too small, and you can't do enough stuff at once. Etc. And I still use an ordinary vibratory tumbler for pistol brass, and plinking brass. But the match stuff gets deprimed and run through the US to get the primer pockets and interior clean. A vibratory won't do that, but I hear that the stainless steel method does.
Probably more than you wanted to know, but it taken me a while to learn the ins and out of ultrasonics. They certainly do have their place.
Above all.... do not drop blued parts into the cleaning solution with Lemme Shine, Citric acid.... Heed the voice of experience. Unless you want the bluing gone.
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That's because Citric Acid attacks steel ... will eat right into it AND (traditional) Blue process is actually part (the traditional Bluing) of the steel treated!
Never leave even a drop of Citric Acid solution on steel (all citrus fruit / juices contain Citric Acid)
I don't bother with the LemiShine any more. Dawn works well enough by itself. And I rinse in a colander, lastly with a bit of distilled water; this Texas tap water is horribly hard and leaves spots on everything (car washing is a nightmare).
So just one cycle with Dawn, then rinse off in tap water/distilled water, and toss on a towel to dry. Or cookie sheet in oven if pressed for time.
So just one cycle with Dawn, then rinse off in tap water/distilled water, and toss on a towel to dry. Or cookie sheet in oven if pressed for time.
If anyone uses ballistol you can use it in your US cleaner at 10% ballistol and 90% water.
If you have never tried ballistol to clean and lube your firearms do yourself a favor and spend a couple bucks and try it.
If you have never tried ballistol to clean and lube your firearms do yourself a favor and spend a couple bucks and try it.
What you need is one of these fellers.....
https://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/threads/fs-frankford-arsenal-wet-tumbler-new.2468726/
https://www.theoutdoorstrader.com/threads/fs-frankford-arsenal-wet-tumbler-new.2468726/
I love mine mainly for cleaning brass. I use a gallon jug and blend distilled water, about a tablespoon of Lemishine and a few drops of Dawn, don't need much. If you get a unit with the heating option that helps. I rinse in the basket and set the basket full of brass on a box fan I have screwed short legs to so I can lay it down on its back. I havent used my ultrasonic to clean any of my pistols yet but I've been told ot works very well.
