I haven't seen anything on here about this, but I am relatively new on the site, so forgive me if this is a re-run. I had read up on various forums about the technique and though I'd give it a shot. I followed the advice on one and watched on E-bay until I found a tank cheaper than the Harbor Freight special.
I did the first test runs with a 30%/70% vinegar water solution and that is what the case photos show. It got the outside just a touch below tumbling as for finish, but the inside and primer pockets were spotless. While the finish was good, you need to neutralize the vinegar with a baking soda solution and then rinse so there were more steps involved this way.
More reading lead to the current mix of citric acid. It has no offensive odor (at least to me) and can simply be rinsed when done rather than the extra neutralizing step. The cases clean just as well if not slightly better on the finish. I mixed 1 1/2 cups of the citric acid crystals in 3/4 gallon of water. This did nearly 2000 cases with no loss of effectiveness on the last batch.
Here are my observations from the experience:
Some say that you are limited to small batches. I did the 2000 in four batches for 1/2 hour each. It ranged from 9mm to .308. I saw no batch limitation other than what fit in the tank hopper.
Rather than get beakers or run smaller batches I filled the tank to the line and used my hoppers which are simply food storage containers from the grocery store that I drilled a bunch of 3/16" holes in to allow the solution in and out. This makes it easy to fill and have the next batch ready to dip.
If you were doing smaller batches you can fill the tank partially full of water and put smaller solid bottom hoppers with the brass and solution isolated and the sound waves will still do the work for you.
I don't think that you can use this as a replacement for tumbling altogether, but when it hits the tumbler pretty much clean to begin with the time in the media is minimal at best (1/2 hour or so)
There is very little mess since the liquid contains what would otherwise be dust. You can keep the solution by letting the particulate settle out and pouring off the relatively clean remainder, but the citric acid is so cheap I don't think it is worth it.
Be sure that your hoppers hold the brass off of the bottom of the stainless tank or you can damage the cleaner itself. Just by chance the containers I got were perfect with both the depth and the lip on the top creating the perfect shelf to hang them from.
I deprimed it all before cleaning so that there were no blind spots or pockets to trap and hold moisture when done.
Some have complained about the drying time after cleaning. I simply took them out from under the sink when I did the hot water rinse and laid them out on some old bath towels to dry overnight. A small fan blowing over the batch helps out a bunch. If you need them quicker you could rinse in alcohol and/or put them in a low temp oven to speed the process. Remember that too hot and you can change the properties of the brass and create a bunch of nice clean scrap!
Here is the tank (empty) with the large hopper in it.
Here is the tank with the small hopper in it.
Here is the brass from the vinegar test.
Here is the brass again from the vinegar test in the same order top to bottom.
I realized later that I didn't take any photos of the primer pockets. I guess I was just too happy with the results and was working to clean the stuff, not thinking of writing up an article at the time. These were just to e-mail to my dad to show him.
There are several other forum discussions that show that as well. Here is a link that got me going.
UltraSonic Case Cleaning
I hope this can help out some others with a different way to do some case cleaning. I found it very easy and pretty cheap. I found the cleaner for $45 shipped to me and the citric acid works out to about $3 per pound if you get in in bulk. My $50 investment in it will do more than I will ever clean!
By the way:
Thanks INGO for all the hard work to give us a place to share ideas with others like this.
Steve (Modhydro)
I did the first test runs with a 30%/70% vinegar water solution and that is what the case photos show. It got the outside just a touch below tumbling as for finish, but the inside and primer pockets were spotless. While the finish was good, you need to neutralize the vinegar with a baking soda solution and then rinse so there were more steps involved this way.
More reading lead to the current mix of citric acid. It has no offensive odor (at least to me) and can simply be rinsed when done rather than the extra neutralizing step. The cases clean just as well if not slightly better on the finish. I mixed 1 1/2 cups of the citric acid crystals in 3/4 gallon of water. This did nearly 2000 cases with no loss of effectiveness on the last batch.
Here are my observations from the experience:
Some say that you are limited to small batches. I did the 2000 in four batches for 1/2 hour each. It ranged from 9mm to .308. I saw no batch limitation other than what fit in the tank hopper.
Rather than get beakers or run smaller batches I filled the tank to the line and used my hoppers which are simply food storage containers from the grocery store that I drilled a bunch of 3/16" holes in to allow the solution in and out. This makes it easy to fill and have the next batch ready to dip.
If you were doing smaller batches you can fill the tank partially full of water and put smaller solid bottom hoppers with the brass and solution isolated and the sound waves will still do the work for you.
I don't think that you can use this as a replacement for tumbling altogether, but when it hits the tumbler pretty much clean to begin with the time in the media is minimal at best (1/2 hour or so)
There is very little mess since the liquid contains what would otherwise be dust. You can keep the solution by letting the particulate settle out and pouring off the relatively clean remainder, but the citric acid is so cheap I don't think it is worth it.
Be sure that your hoppers hold the brass off of the bottom of the stainless tank or you can damage the cleaner itself. Just by chance the containers I got were perfect with both the depth and the lip on the top creating the perfect shelf to hang them from.
I deprimed it all before cleaning so that there were no blind spots or pockets to trap and hold moisture when done.
Some have complained about the drying time after cleaning. I simply took them out from under the sink when I did the hot water rinse and laid them out on some old bath towels to dry overnight. A small fan blowing over the batch helps out a bunch. If you need them quicker you could rinse in alcohol and/or put them in a low temp oven to speed the process. Remember that too hot and you can change the properties of the brass and create a bunch of nice clean scrap!
Here is the tank (empty) with the large hopper in it.
Here is the tank with the small hopper in it.
Here is the brass from the vinegar test.
Here is the brass again from the vinegar test in the same order top to bottom.
I realized later that I didn't take any photos of the primer pockets. I guess I was just too happy with the results and was working to clean the stuff, not thinking of writing up an article at the time. These were just to e-mail to my dad to show him.
There are several other forum discussions that show that as well. Here is a link that got me going.
UltraSonic Case Cleaning
I hope this can help out some others with a different way to do some case cleaning. I found it very easy and pretty cheap. I found the cleaner for $45 shipped to me and the citric acid works out to about $3 per pound if you get in in bulk. My $50 investment in it will do more than I will ever clean!
By the way:
Thanks INGO for all the hard work to give us a place to share ideas with others like this.
Steve (Modhydro)
