Ultrasonic Cleaners

[Dave Suponski]

For those of you with these machines what do you use for cleaning solutions?

[Dean Romig]

Any non-water based solvent should work adequately.

[Richard Flanders]

I do two things. For some things I just use warm water and Dawn dish soap. For gunked up shotgun parts and receivers I put a peanut butter jar of lacquer thinner in the cleaner. It doesn't leave much room around the jar but allows a much greater volume of cleaner. I pour water around the jar of thinner up to the top of the cleaner tank and leave the jar lid just barely cracked while running the sonic cleaner. This works great for cleaning entire receivers. You don't have to take the hammers or other major internal parts out; just leave them in to soak for a while and keep running/soaking until the receiver is squeaky clean. Once clean I hose the receiver internals with Ballistol and let it drip dry. Haven't found a better way yet. The Ballistol sets up enough to where it doesn't seem to ever run off, at least not up here. Maybe in a desert area it would get warm enough. I've never had it seep out of seams or around the wood junction.

[Chuck Heald]

One place I worked we had a Ultrasonic cleaner that 4 foot on a side and held many gallons of methylene chloride for stripping epoxy resin off of tools.

I have one that I've used with acetone, mineral spirits, water/soap.

[LarryAngus]

I have never used an ultra sonic cleaner but am interested. If you clean and entire receiver what happens to the patina?

Larry

[Dean Romig]

Remaining case colors will stay but accumulated crud (patina) will go.

[David Lien]

Dave
We just use dish soap or laundry soap and warm water.. Blow dry. and oil the parts. when done...
David

[Chuck Heald]

An ultrasonic cleaner won't do any more harm to the surface than the cleaning fluid itself would do.

[David Hamilton]

Ultra sonic cleaning will remove rust. It is a remarkable sight to see the rust being blown off. David

[CraigThompson]

I see
Hornady is making two moderately priced ultra sonic cleaners now . Neither is big enough for much more then the action and small parts .

I've been thinking I need one of these to clean cartridge cases instead of my old dusty Lyman tumbler .

[Harry Sanders]

Guys, be careful some ultrasonic cleaners CAN spark. Not good for a solvent like Lacquer thinner or Acetone. May want to check with the manufacturer.

[Gary Carmichael Sr]

Thanks Harry, How have you and the family been doing? It is great to hear from you!

[Harry Sanders]

Doing well Gary. Hope you all are too. Don't want to hijack the post will PM you.

[Richard Flanders]

Take a look on ebay for large cheap used sonic cleaners. There's some nice ones for very cheap. One holds 30 liters! There's several large enough for cleaining cases or putting entire s/s receivers in for <$100.

To use a solvent like lacquer thinner in a sonic cleaner I put it in a jar that is put into the cleaner tub and surrounded with water. I put my parts in the jar of lacquer thinner and set the lid on loosely to help control the fumes, which works well as I never smell any even when it heats up a bit. I would never just fill a cleaner tub with solvent; it would be too messy if nothing else. When I'm done I just cap the jar and keep it on the shelf and have no mess to clean up.

[Wayne Colburn]

I use Simple Green in mine, it does an amazing job a real time saver. Give it a good rinse then drop it in some water soluble oil solution dry and lube.

[Eric Baker]

I've been using ultrasonic cleaners for 35 years for work(dental laboratory) and probably started using one for gun cleaning long before they became popular. I also use Simple Green for cleaning everything from cartridge cases to shotgun actions. Don't leave brass cases in too long as the solution will heat up and they'll tarnish. Simple Green will remove all old oil, grease and crud and reveal case colors that you didn't know were there. If you're shopping for a used ultrasonic one simple test to see if its still working is to put a piece of aluminum foil in the solution and run it. If it punches little hole in the foil its working.

[Tom Carter]

Check Harbor Freight for an ultra-cleaner cleaner. New ones are just over $100 but made in China. Cheers, Tom

[mike covington]

What tank size would you guys recommend?

Mike

[Tom Carter]

Mine is about 3 quarts or so and work great. Cheers, Tom

[mike covington]

Thanks Tom. See that Harbor Freight has a unit for $75. Never used one of these. Should the cleaner be used with the heat on? If using Simple Green should it be used full strength or diluted?

Mike

[Eric Baker]

Mine is 3 3/8 quart tank capacity which is the most common size in dental lab applications. I can clean complete bolt carrier assemblies from an AR-15, whole auto pistols, revolvers with 4" barrels or any shotgun receiver in it. Its best to suspend the parts in the solution with a wire basket. It gives better cleaning results and keeps the parts from rubbing against the stainless tank. Small parts I put in a small plastic jar with solution in it and just float it in the main tank. I use the Simple Green full strength and just add water as it evaporates. Heat will accelerate the cleaning action but again will tend to tarnish brass if left too long. The ultrasonic action will generate quite a bit of heat if left running for a while. When buying ultrasonics the rule is pretty much the same for optics. You get what you pay for, with the exception that if its dental related you over pay for what you get. Brownells lists a Hornady 3 qt unit for $239.99, $228.61 with the discount. A Lyman 1.6 gal unit is $269.99, $255.77 if you get the discount. Comparable units are $400 and up in the dental lab catalog. If mine ever gives up I'll probably get the Lyman for its value and bigger tank.

[Tom Carter]

I use water with a few drops of Dawn dish washing liquid. I've never used anything else. I may try what listed in this thread that others use. Cheers, Tom

[Bob Brown]

I bought a Lyman Turbosonic 2500 a while back. It holds 2.5 liters, or 5.3 pints. It has room for a Parker receiver without a problem. Bought some of the concentrated Lyman cleaner solution with it. They have two types of cleaner, brass and steel. I put a Trojan receiver that didn't look too bad and ran it through several cycles with heat. I was surprised how much loose rust and debris was on the bottom of the tank after. The Lyman was priced at $170, which I thought was fairly low for the unit. It probably would have cost at least that with shipping to buy a new similar sized unit off the internet and I have the comfort of the Lyman name and a fairly large outdoor retail chain behind it. The Simple Green idea sounds interesting. May have to try a tank and compare it to the Lyman commercial product.

[Ray Masciarella]

Two questions:

If I don't want to invest in one, is there a Parker gunsmith you all recommend to take it apart and Clem it correctly?

I have a gun with a lot of CCH that is hard to see because of the patina, ie crud. Is the value of the gun reduced if I remove the patina?

Thx, Ray

[Craig Parker]

Guy's I have a couple of guns that show either what I'll call a oxidized or frosted finish. I just ordered and received a ultrasonic cleaning and looking for suggestions for cleaning up these guns. Whether the ultrasonic is the way to go and/or what would be the best route to take. I have attached pic’s for reference hoping that it will show up.

Thanks, Craig

[Mike Franzen]

I bought an ultrasonic cleaner from harbor freight for $75.00. It is the exact same model as the Lyman Turbosonic 2500 that costs $100.00 more. All accessories are interchangeable. I have cleaned several hand guns in a solution of water and dish detergent. I have cleaned a disassembled Parker lifter using the lacquer thinner in a jar method mentioned earlier.

[Tom Carter]

I used water and dish washing liquid for a while and it did OK. The minerals in the water were questionable. Then I used the Lyman metal cleaning liquid. WOW! What a difference. The Lyman product is the way to go. It does a much beter job. Use 1 ounce of Lyman product to 20 ounces of distilled water and you will never go back. Cheers, Tom

[Dave Purnell]

Where do you get the Lyman cleaning liquid?

[Tom Carter]

Lymanproducts.com. Cheers, Tom

[Tom Carter]

Lyman has a brass cleaning solution and a steel cleaning solution. Be sure to get thecorrect one. Tom

[will evans]

I have a question about the appropriateness of using an ultrasonic cleaner for certain applications. For instance, I have a gun (hopefully pictured below) that has a patina on the receiver. I can see a little case color on the tang but have no idea what's below the patina - clean metal, or case colors??? Should I try submerging the receiver in an ultrasonic cleaner? This is a Hunter Arms manufactured 410 of which there were less than 250 produced, so I don't want to do the "wrong" thing.

http://jawjadawg.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/imag0374.jpg?w=253

[Tom Carter]

Mr. Dave Sir, I canot speak for others but I have had no bad experiences using the Lyman cleaner and distilled water. It does not remove patina or colors. The colors are very vibrant after cleaning. I did have one bad experience using tap water and Dawn dish washng liquid. That episode left splotches of clear places on the receiver. I tent to think it was caused by the minerals in the water but it could have been the chemicals in the Dawn, or a combination of both. I don't know. I'm glad the owner is a friend. I do know I will use the Lyman product till the cows get mad and leave for a better place. In fact, I just ordered a gallon of the Lyman metal cleaning product. I am very impressed with it. Cheers, Tom