Something missed... you can put your solvents/degreasers/oils in plastic or glass jars. Believe smaller stainless bins work. The waves travel through the material and work inside the containers. You can just fill the ultrasonic with straight water that way, meaning you need much less degreaser/oil/solvent. Also keeps really nasty stuff from crudding up everything else.
Quick tip for anyone reading this, glass jars are far superior for this as the ultra sonic waves get weaker through plastic and you can notice it almost instantly when compared directly. Glass jars work best ! Zip lock bags are great and easy too!
Just FYI, the principle of an ultrasonic isn’t agitation, it’s cavitation. The sonic causes air bubbles to implode, collapse, thus pulling foreign particals away from hard surfaces. Very efficient when used correctly. They’re used all the time for surgical instruments.
I’ve been cleaning electronics for years using my ultrasonic. A fun tip to use, if you don’t have compressed air, is rinse with 99% ipa after using the ultrasonic, it’ll clear any water in hard to reach places. Place it in front of a fan or air purifier and it’ll dry super quick. Then just grease it up and you’re good to go.
Eric, I work in the industrial ultrasonic industry and sell/service this type of equipment. First, there is no motor, the ultrasonic power is from a piezo electric disc expanding and contracting x amount of times a second. Second, as mentioned dish soap works awesome, blue dawn seems to be the best. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.
I’m a qualified goldsmith & silversmith and the best thing to use is a good dishwashing detergent with a little cloudy ammonia. Don’t always recommend the ammonia for metals like brass and aluminium but it’s pretty safe.
I remember a mechanic from the 11th ACR from Germany who transitioned to 11 Bravo and went to Airborne School as a re-enlistment option show me how to clean all kinds of weapons that will pass all inspections. The secret was Brakleen brake cleaner and Simple Green. On the M16 rifles we took everything down and took all the plastic off from the stock and pistol grip and completely took apart the firing group. Warm water and Simple Green scrubbed the parts and bore with a bore brush and hung it dry. Using a small air compressor it blew all the water and crud off. Then Brakleen was sprayed on to get all the grease from the selector switch. Using clean paper towels and Q-tips re-applied clean oil on to the parts an hour before turn in. Did the same for the M-60 that I was assigned to with the only exception. I had several brand new pistons for inspections that I kept with me hidden in my personal stash in a tool box in my car. Never turn your weapons early until it is time too. Especially during IG inspections which can go on 24/7 for a week. My M-60, M1911A1, and assigned M16A1 always passed inspection. We cleaned our weapons outside the orderly room and arms room or outside the barracks away from prying eyes of NCOs and Officers to our secret. We kept our products away from other squads and platoons and threw our cans and bottles far away into the mess hall dumpsters and at the bottom of all that shit. My fire team was so squared away when it comes to cleaning weapons. Even the SAW gunner kept his shit clean and shut his mouth too.
Great tips. Ultrasonics work great for cleaning cosmoline entombed surplus firearms but it is helpful to skim the wax off the top before removal. I use compressed air to blow them dry following removal.
Had been using ultrasonic tanks to clean Aviation Instrument parts for the past 30 years. The most efficient and safe of all solvent is L & R Ultrasonics Extra Fine Watch Cleaning Solution. Also we use a tank cover plate which has holes that holds the 1000 ml beaker lips while keeping them 80% submerged in the water, giving us the flexibility of immersing the parts inside the beakers in different type of cleaning solutions.
Honestly, I've had good luck with the cheap Harbor Freight sonic cleaner. I have two, one I use simple green in, another filled with Lucas solvent. It's amazing what you can get out of a $40 cleaner. The only down side is they're small. We're handgun shooters, so it's perfect for us.
I use a couple different ultrasonic cleaning machines depending on what I'm cleaning. The only constant in them is the solvent. I have tried around 20 different products, the BEST I have used is in ALL my units....SLIP2000 Ultra-Clean. Ultra-Clean can be purchased ready to use or in concentrate. It is water based, so oils float to top of tank when turned off. Easy to skim off oils from cleaner. I get 10 to 12 cycles before noticing any difference in cleaning power. When more is needed usually a few capsules are enough. Works better and faster on brass than any tumbler I have seen. I also use SLIP 2000 Ultre-Lube for most internal parts. I have a tank that always has Ultre-Lube in it. When something other than brass to reload comes out of cleaning, I blow it off good with compressed air and into the Lube tank for a few minutes. Both products work GREAT at a variety of temperature settings. When ALL done in the tanks, I let the LUBED stuff dry in the air, then LUBE it however it needs with SLIP 2000 products. The REALLY FILTHY STUFF, like black powder barrels and breaches get a 5 minute soak in SLIP 2000 CARBON CUTTER before the ultrasonic cleaner just to city time and temp in the tank. I don't run over 115° on my tanks, but that is personal preference. For brass to reload, when it comes out of cleaning I put it in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 225° to dry.
JKay11235 I use ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning guns and brass. Also for knives and a ton of other stuff. I mentioned the brass because a lot of people have no idea you can use them for brass. They clean it like it is NEW. I drop guns in all the time and it works great. I tried a lot of cleaning products before the SLIP 2000 and never actually was satisfied with the results. You said you used Simple Green, guessing the GREEN stuff. The mix sounds pretty STRONG. I am almost POSITIVE I know what happened and where the BROWN STAIN came from. When the steel used to make your top cover was used, I will bet money, it had a layer of surface rust on it. The manufacturer probably chemical WASHED the steel, but DID NOT KILL THE RUST!!!! RUST is a living thing. When the surface was cleaned, they made the part, then degreased it , then did whatever type finish to the part. The RUST was still there just below the surface. When you put it in the ultrasonic cleaner with that much SIMPLE GREEN, you removed the rust inhibitor.... the oil, from the metal and probably removed some of the finish as well. NO OIL, REDUCED FINISH THICKNESS, WATER, and AIR DRYING EQUALS RUST BEING SLIGHTLY EXPOSED and THERE IS THE STAIN. You can fix the problem several ways yourself. The first thing you MUST do though is KILL THAT EVIL RUST!!!! If you want to know how I can explain it to you, or you can try to look it up online. I don't know if there are any RUclips videos on how to do it or not, but the process is basically simple. Just takes a bit of time to explain. If you are going to keep using SIMPLE GREEN, REDUCE the amount of solvent you use. That stuff will eat paint off anything!!!!! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SLIP 2000 Ultra-Clean and Ultre-Lube as well as their CARBON CUTTER. The Carbon Cutter is AMAZING stuff. I put 5,000 rounds through my M-60 without cleaning anything. All we did was keep pouring oil to it. When I tore it down for cleaning I sprayed it with Carbon Cutter, just a light mist, and went out for a cigarette. When I came back and picked up the bolt the carbon and brass build up came off in my hand. It was almost completely clean. For AR and AK bolts I don't even disassemble them, just drop them into a plastic bowl with Carbon Cutter, shake it up for about 30 seconds, pull out the bolt and drop it in the ultrasonic. 5 minutes later, pull it out, and wipe off with a paper towel. 95% or more of the crud is gone. The disassemble the bolt and put back in the tank for 5-10 minutes. CLEAN!!!! ALSO on your tank use lower temperature if you use heat at all. Most of the time you don't really need the heat on. It just makes stuff work faster and harder. GOOD LUCK!!!! Hope this helps.
My ultrasonic cleaner consists of a covered container full of safety kleen parts cleaner sitting on top of my grandmas 1970's heated electric foot massager. Its a two speed LOW and SHAKE like its 1999 industrial strength oscillatory
Booch Usually the stuff I put in there has already had any chunks or solids removed in a pre wash. But if it starts getting serious I just use a ladle to skim it off the top like you would drege/slag if you were melting aluminum. It works really good You can go to an Ace or True Value and buy a brand new gallon size empty paint can , Or if I need more room I've used one of those big yellow kitty litter containers. Neither will leak normally...
The funniest part of it is not only do I believe you... but I know damn well it works good too doesn't it?! lol Man that is funny, but its true! With a few bucks and a hour or so, you can just make one...
JKay11235 I totally agree but not everybody does enough of it or has the space to warrant another contraption. What I described is a makeshift way to get by on stuff you might already have in the garage. Empty cat litter container is a great place to soak parts in parts cleaner solvent and setting it on the old foot massager doesn't hurt...
MBmann You are absolutely right and know your safety kleen. It is harsh. Thats why I like it. xD I don't allow parts to sit in the safety kleen very long and the minute I take the parts out I spray them down with something that neutralizes the safety kleen like wd-40 . If you don't it will cause damage to the finish. I love the safety kleen. My guns look like they have never been fired when I'm done.
Not quite. No motors, only transducers bonded to the bottom of the tank. Electronic circuits generate 20-40KHz frequency, amplify it and feed it to the transducers that generate a waveform in the water, creating cavitation, which can clean most things to a molecular level. Solvents must be selected for the specific task as hand. Occasionally, you’ll run into something impervious to cavitation. There must be water contact with what you’re cleaning, no air pockets. For most jobs, most effective cleaning there is. I worked for an ultrasonic cleaner company and we made everything from cleaners for rocket engines, Diesel engine parts, injectors, etc, to watches and jewelry. Especially good for brass with proper solvent. For degreasing, I’ve always used Cascade dishwashing soap or Dawn. (But I also have HandiKleen solvent degreaser) I might have to try Simple Green.
Did you put dawn dish soap in your ultrasonic cleaner?I've used ultrasonic cleaning for years now and I've never deviated from putting special solution in there. The only time I've seen a guy do it was with fabuloso and of course, it didn't clean a thing.
I own RCBS ultrsonic cleaner which I bought specifically to clean brass for reloading. What I learned was it that doesn't clean brass as well as a dry media tumbler however, it cleans gun parts better than anything else I've tried thus far. Also, I've had really good results cleaning gun parts in the ultrasonic with liquid dish soap when I didn't have Simple Green on hand.
I wasn't pleased with how it cleaned brass either. Tried all the tricks, lemi-shine, etc. Finally just bought a steel-pin tumbler. Hands down the best way to clean brass. Dealing with the pins is a hassle, but brass comes out perfectly clean
HI Eric!!! talk about smaller ones for handguns and handgun parts/BCGs! i clean the larger bits by hand while the smaller ones get hit by the cleaner. totaly recommend a smaller one to someone for handguns especially. the smaller ones are cheap!!! like 30$ and it saves you time. you can clean most all of a handgun in one of these cleaners. good subject to cover i feel like most people don't know about this!
I just bought a small, 10L one to clean my suppressors and small parts such as bolt carriers. Have a few old rifles that need all their small parts deeply cleaned
I work in aerospace. Units that come from the field we clean in our units ultrasonic cleaners. We have a 4 step process not including rising. But then we bake our units/parts at 250 degrees for 20-30mins to make sure they are dry. Im sure gun parts would work also.
Useful for if you're cleaning a LOT of guns for a business, but for the price and upkeep I'll stick with brushes, gun scrubber, and oil. Especially since the wrong mixture can strip finishes/mess with polymers.
Been using an ultrasonic cleaner on every kind of pistol and rifle parts you can think of (including all types of plastics) for YEEEEAAAARRRSS. The ONE issue I've ever encountered was the red paint on the loaded chamber indicator of a Ruger SR9C came off. Of the dozens of guns, there has never been another issue. Even with tritium painted sights. I either use purple power, simple green, or Barbicide as a solution. Often a mixture of these. Barbicide has the benefit of removing mild corrosion and some protection against future corrosion after application. I use the cleaner on my own guns after every trip to the range or hunting. Just drop the parts in, let it run a few cycles, and everything comes out glistening clean. Wouldn't want to own guns without one!
this looks like the answer to a maidens prayer. I am a black powder (real Black Gun Powder) shooter and this looks like a perfect way to get all the nooks and crannies de-cruded. Especially the bottom sof the chambersr and all the spots in the frames. Thanks.
Hornady LNL Tub Was inexpensive and gets my guns factory new with no effort! Cost me less then 350. Cleans any rifle for the most part. Worth every penny in time saved!
A friend of mine took a gunsmithing course. He works on guns on the side but his knowledge of guns got him a job as dept manager of the gun department at Bass Pro. Turned out to be a good starting point for him.
Same. I want to know more about it, plus I can use that to teach people firearms training with different types of guns. I saw a 2 hour session with a Rugar go for $240. If I do gunsmithing/work at a gun store and do that on the side, I'm in good shape. Plus gun trading and other trades like carpentry.
That certainly depends on ypur skills, and if your idea of gun smithing is bolting different stuff together on a AR, or it is making things from scratch.... I bet Mark Novak from C&Rsenal makes by just fine on his gunsmith pay ;)
Have a Hornady cleaner and used regular simple green. Set my glock 19 lower in it for 10 minutes and did not remove dirt. Run another 5 minutes and nothing. Finally did it the old fashion way and it will pass any inspection. Not convinced this is a good effective and efficient way to clean guns MP5SD an awesome gun. Used in the Marine Corps on Security Forces.
Good timing. I was wondering about getting one because Im basically the armourer of my friends. I dont have time to clean all of their guns AND school them on stuff that they cant be assed to read them selves. Love your content man! Keep makin us a more informed community!
L&R made a cleaning concentrate and lubrication solution for use in ultrasonic cleaners on firearms. I believe they still do. I work in the jewelry industry and use one daily. Yes I clean car parts, tools, firearms and even jewelry in mine.
Simple Green is good stuff . One time I was cleaning old tile that had 20 yr old vinyl floor glue on it. The Simple Green was almost full strength and in less than 1 hr with very little rubbing it lifted it clean off the tile. Later my brother told me thats what the navy uses on its boats.
Doesn't work worth a shit in factory bathrooms. Bleach and hot water is the only way to fly. Over 2 years of cleaning with Simple Green. The first time with bleach and hot water the mop bucket was full of blackish colored water and had to be dumped and changed "remixed" twice. All that "funk" was being left behind with the Simple Green. Hey, it's great at masking smells though!
I would not recommend for aluminum baffles, but works fine for steel and Ti. Bought a cheap Chinese one for cleaning .22lr can baffles and realized one day I could also use it to clean AR BCGs. Remove the o-ring and toss the rest of the BCG in cleaner, let it do its job, rinse off in the sink, stick in the oven on lowest heat setting for 10 or so minutes, drop into Ed's Red and finally wipe off any excess.
In my own experience, when using an ultrasonic full of Hoppes #9, do not put old thin leaf springs into the ultrasonic tank no matter how grimy they are. It will weaken the old V and leaf springs so they break under use.
Yea I wonder about the wisdom of using solvents in the ultrasonic in general. I use simple green a couple of cycles and it cleans great. Spray w/ clp afterwards and I’m gtg.
A bit late, but you'll probably want to stick to a copper solvent for the bore on great occasion. That said, you could also test it with copper solvent, seeing how much green comes out of the bore after sonic cleaning.
On the Ultrasonic website they show this tank model priced at 449 and 2550. It’s not clear though, whether the one priced at 449 is just a separate insert tank. Do you know?
I caught a smaller Frankford Arsenal on Midway clearance for $40, couldn't be more glad I did. Small batches of brass, bolts, slides, and yeah like he said even car parts, it makes short easy work out of all that crap. Now I want a larger one...
Thanks for the Video !! A couple of years back I purchased from Harbor Freight a Small Ultrasonic Cleaner. Never thought of using it as a ultrasonic oil bath !?!?!! Nice Concept !!! Also, I’ve only used it with water and a light soap (Dawn) or Fantastik ! Just ordered Simple Green !!!! Only use mine for Handguns !!
Absolutely love mine. Time is money, and this saves me a LOT of time. I hate the deep cleaning process, mostly bc I have quite a few guns & rather than cleaning them one at a time I have a monthly "cleaning day." I can throw in my fouled-up BCG or AK Piston, run it, and just hand clean my lowers/whatever isn't too bad. If you can swing it, they're worth the money imo. As someone mentioned, the solvent in jars also works but be careful with bluing.
Just FYI, you can put lubricant in an ultrasonic as well after you’re done cleaning them just lightly wipe your firearms down and they’re perfect. Also, the plastic bag method works really well. Then you don’t get any dirt in your ultrasonic cleaner at all. Works really well especially if you’re going to do jewelry and car parts as well as firearms. Just remember to wear gloves if you’re cleaning firearms, you don’t want all that liquid lead soaking into your skin.
I use Balistol with water in my ultrasonic and when I am done I rinse with water and dry with compressed air. I have had excellent results. I may have try the simple green at some point.
I use a Lyman Turbo Sonic 2500 for cleaning brass. I use 'much off' bike cleaner as a pre soak. Then hot water, white vinegar & lemon juice in the sonic cycle for about 20 minutes. Then rinse / dunk in a bucket of cold water. Every piece of brass comes out very clean inside and out also inside the primer pocket. I then dry the brass in the dehydator for 2 hours.
Also a good point to bring up is proper disposal of fluids. If you have a container full of carbon and lead, especially a 22lr firearm or suppressor, don’t just pour it down the drain.
Why mention the carbon? Should have said solvents, oils/lubricants, hydrocarbons, heavy metals. All of those are more of a concern than carbon, which isn't an issue.
Excellent video. My only comment is that some of the smaller ultrasonics--I have the Lyman that flashed by in one of the photos shown--are actually quite affordable, so price may not necessarily be prohibitive, especially if you just want to do handguns and parts of your rifles, fellas.
I was looking at the hornady 2l ultra sonic cleaner for cleaning lubricant off of cases plus i can clean my pistols better. For rifle ill just keep cleaning them by hand because im not spending $700 for an ultra sonic cleaner, but the smaller version is about $160 amd can still fit a pistol or a few hundred cases, so its much more affordable. My primary concern is if the chemical would ruin plastic parts, and ive been reading that green simple green ruins aluminum but blue simple green is fine
If you clean something with a lot of oil, you can use an oil absorbant like Pigg Mat to take the oil off the top without soaking up the water & cleaner. Just put it on top of the fluid for a minute before removing the gun.
its also great for cleaning brass so you dont get grime in your tumbler and to degrease it and welded supressors that can not be opened or if one is lazy and doesnt disassamble the supressor every time but lets say ~ every 200 rounds with a bolt gun if you make around 70 every time you hit the range - you just put it in the ultrasonic so it doesnt smell like powder and metall ions - some gfs dont like it if you put them in the dishwasher or whatercooker if you use 4 gallons of brake cleaner /acetone with minimum heat you get the gun as degreased as you possibly can if you want to reblue or maybe anodize aluminium and its great for motor parts like cleaning chainsaw and moped motors and carborators
I knew you'd explain the in and outs of ultrasonic cleaners because I watched your Martini Henry video where you used this machine or one very similar a couple years ago. 👍🇺🇲
If you ok skipping heating - you can get good ones for $50. Sunlight makes a good one. Heating cuts the time down. By about half. It’s more aggressive.
Great video. If I could offer one bit of advice when sonicating in solvent. Make sure you take safety precautions, especially when using heat. You need to be aware of flash points/boiling point of solvent that you are using.
That looks really interesting, but it seems like you really have to know what you're doing to avoid wrecking your gun. I like Hoppes #9 to clean and regular gun oil to lubricate. Can't go wrong with that method. This looks like it would get in all the nooks and crannies better though.
i have two 1 liter cleaners, one i use for jewellery, the other for smaller gun parts like bolts, slides and the likes.... love them, they were cheap as dirt on ebay
I was always curious about these things, I saw them in every company in 1BCT 101st but 2/3rds of them weren't in working condition and the rest we just never used.
So far just pistol parts and brass in mine. I use the Hornady unit, and Hornady solution in it. Seems to work ok, but I do use Simple Green when I want to soak parts outside the sonic.
Ok so 2 things not mentioned in vid was it can be used to clean reloading brass and equipment like dies and I read on internet but have not experienced this but simple green not sure what type can react negatively with aluminum if I remember correctly. I recently used my points at BPS and got the Hornady Sonic cleaner free but have not used it yet. It will be my first Sonic and I only plan on cleaning brass after universal decappi g with it
any thoughts about filling your cleaner basin with water and then putting whatever you want to clean into a bottle filled with the cleaning detergent and then putting that into the water? i guess the point is to make the cleanup easier cuz you have only water in your cleaning basin
Yeah, probably. But with so much water, the chemicals would be diluted enough they shouldn't cause damage even if you didn't clean it out immediately thereafter.
If you shoot corrosive ammo, just rinse the gun out first. Whatever salts are left, which shouldn't be much, will be diluted. Also tanks are stainless, so much harder to corrode.
Watching many "Ultrasonic Gun Cleaning" on RUclips, haven't seen many mention about after the Ultrasonic Gun Cleaning bath(simple green method), should I rinse with water or just blow dry with air gun ?
I put solvents in my ultrasonic cleaner. I use gasoline for small carbs on lawnmowers, generators and chainsaws. It’s the easiest way to clean a carb. I do it outside to be safe.
X-tronic 3000-Xts platinum ultrasonic cleaner with degas and sweep function. Awesome when used with shooter's choice solvent for carbon fouling..Simple green pro hd heavy duty cleaner (purple) excellent cleaner/de-greaser.
Something missed... you can put your solvents/degreasers/oils in plastic or glass jars. Believe smaller stainless bins work. The waves travel through the material and work inside the containers. You can just fill the ultrasonic with straight water that way, meaning you need much less degreaser/oil/solvent. Also keeps really nasty stuff from crudding up everything else.
wonder if that would work for hoppes #9 in a small jar for baffles
@@loneczgunner6562 Yes it will. Been doing this for many years.
@@porksboy even plastic bags are nice, although a strong bag like mylar would be prefered. i do it all the time!
Quick tip for anyone reading this, glass jars are far superior for this as the ultra sonic waves get weaker through plastic and you can notice it almost instantly when compared directly.
Glass jars work best ! Zip lock bags are great and easy too!
I just learned this a day ago. Someone was using a powder solvent in a jar in the water.
Just FYI, the principle of an ultrasonic isn’t agitation, it’s cavitation. The sonic causes air bubbles to implode, collapse, thus pulling foreign particals away from hard surfaces. Very efficient when used correctly. They’re used all the time for surgical instruments.
Also, the "motors" he mentioned aren't motors, they're a piezoelectric transducer. They work similarly to a speaker.
I’ve been cleaning electronics for years using my ultrasonic. A fun tip to use, if you don’t have compressed air, is rinse with 99% ipa after using the ultrasonic, it’ll clear any water in hard to reach places. Place it in front of a fan or air purifier and it’ll dry super quick. Then just grease it up and you’re good to go.
Eric, I work in the industrial ultrasonic industry and sell/service this type of equipment. First, there is no motor, the ultrasonic power is from a piezo electric disc expanding and contracting x amount of times a second. Second, as mentioned dish soap works awesome, blue dawn seems to be the best. If you have any questions I will be happy to answer them.
Can you put CLP in an ultrasonic cleaner?
Eric you make the most boring topics informative and exciting, you're such a brilliant advocate for gun ownership 👍🏻
I’m a qualified goldsmith & silversmith and the best thing to use is a good dishwashing detergent with a little cloudy ammonia. Don’t always recommend the ammonia for metals like brass and aluminium but it’s pretty safe.
What about aluminum then? I got a ruger 22/45.
@@timothyavendt677 simple green.
@@reroan2670
Thanks 🙏
All I heard was dishwasher approved
gold & silver are practically non reactive noble metals & such. Iron & Aluminum can do stuff like galvanic reactions
Puts M4 in an ultrasonic cleaner for five hours........still fails the NCO's inspection.
Then it's definitely not 1630 yet. Lol
*inserts $20 in the chamber*
-if only i had a dollar for every time the Co. Armorer said 'not clean enough' SHEESH
I remember a mechanic from the 11th ACR from Germany who transitioned to 11 Bravo and went to Airborne School as a re-enlistment option show me how to clean all kinds of weapons that will pass all inspections. The secret was Brakleen brake cleaner and Simple Green. On the M16 rifles we took everything down and took all the plastic off from the stock and pistol grip and completely took apart the firing group. Warm water and Simple Green scrubbed the parts and bore with a bore brush and hung it dry. Using a small air compressor it blew all the water and crud off. Then Brakleen was sprayed on to get all the grease from the selector switch. Using clean paper towels and Q-tips re-applied clean oil on to the parts an hour before turn in. Did the same for the M-60 that I was assigned to with the only exception. I had several brand new pistons for inspections that I kept with me hidden in my personal stash in a tool box in my car. Never turn your weapons early until it is time too. Especially during IG inspections which can go on 24/7 for a week. My M-60, M1911A1, and assigned M16A1 always passed inspection. We cleaned our weapons outside the orderly room and arms room or outside the barracks away from prying eyes of NCOs and Officers to our secret. We kept our products away from other squads and platoons and threw our cans and bottles far away into the mess hall dumpsters and at the bottom of all that shit. My fire team was so squared away when it comes to cleaning weapons. Even the SAW gunner kept his shit clean and shut his mouth too.
Can't spell incompetent with out nco
Great tips. Ultrasonics work great for cleaning cosmoline entombed surplus firearms but it is helpful to skim the wax off the top before removal. I use compressed air to blow them dry following removal.
Good to know!
Had been using ultrasonic tanks to clean Aviation Instrument parts for the past 30 years. The most efficient and safe of all solvent is L & R Ultrasonics Extra Fine Watch Cleaning Solution. Also we use a tank cover plate which has holes that holds the 1000 ml beaker lips while keeping them 80% submerged in the water, giving us the flexibility of immersing the parts inside the beakers in different type of cleaning solutions.
I absolutely love tearing apart my firearms and cleaning them. It's a zen like state for me.
I buy the Simple Green HD (safe for all metals) it works great in the ultrasonic for handguns, AR bolt carrier groups and reloading dies.
Honestly, I've had good luck with the cheap Harbor Freight sonic cleaner. I have two, one I use simple green in, another filled with Lucas solvent. It's amazing what you can get out of a $40 cleaner. The only down side is they're small. We're handgun shooters, so it's perfect for us.
I've got one of theirs too. My only complaint is the 8 minute max timer. I know there's a mod to bypass it.
The Harbor Freight model and the Lyman are made by the same people.
Put the BCG in there. That's pretty much all you need
I have the little Lyman cleaner. Does a great job on brass and small parts!
eta: when I turn the thing on at work, the "shop dog" goes nuts.
I use a couple different ultrasonic cleaning machines depending on what I'm cleaning. The only constant in them is the solvent. I have tried around 20 different products, the BEST I have used is in ALL my units....SLIP2000 Ultra-Clean. Ultra-Clean can be purchased ready to use or in concentrate. It is water based, so oils float to top of tank when turned off. Easy to skim off oils from cleaner. I get 10 to 12 cycles before noticing any difference in cleaning power. When more is needed usually a few capsules are enough. Works better and faster on brass than any tumbler I have seen.
I also use SLIP 2000 Ultre-Lube for most internal parts. I have a tank that always has Ultre-Lube in it. When something other than brass to reload comes out of cleaning, I blow it off good with compressed air and into the Lube tank for a few minutes.
Both products work GREAT at a variety of temperature settings.
When ALL done in the tanks, I let the LUBED stuff dry in the air, then LUBE it however it needs with SLIP 2000 products.
The REALLY FILTHY STUFF, like black powder barrels and breaches get a 5 minute soak in SLIP 2000 CARBON CUTTER before the ultrasonic cleaner just to city time and temp in the tank. I don't run over 115° on my tanks, but that is personal preference.
For brass to reload, when it comes out of cleaning I put it in the oven for 10 minutes or so at 225° to dry.
JKay11235
I use ultrasonic cleaners for cleaning guns and brass. Also for knives and a ton of other stuff. I mentioned the brass because a lot of people have no idea you can use them for brass. They clean it like it is NEW. I drop guns in all the time and it works great. I tried a lot of cleaning products before the SLIP 2000 and never actually was satisfied with the results.
You said you used Simple Green, guessing the GREEN stuff. The mix sounds pretty STRONG. I am almost POSITIVE I know what happened and where the BROWN STAIN came from.
When the steel used to make your top cover was used, I will bet money, it had a layer of surface rust on it. The manufacturer probably chemical WASHED the steel, but DID NOT KILL THE RUST!!!! RUST is a living thing. When the surface was cleaned, they made the part, then degreased it , then did whatever type finish to the part. The RUST was still there just below the surface.
When you put it in the ultrasonic cleaner with that much SIMPLE GREEN, you removed the rust inhibitor.... the oil, from the metal and probably removed some of the finish as well. NO OIL, REDUCED FINISH THICKNESS, WATER, and AIR DRYING EQUALS RUST BEING SLIGHTLY EXPOSED and THERE IS THE STAIN.
You can fix the problem several ways yourself. The first thing you MUST do though is KILL THAT EVIL RUST!!!!
If you want to know how I can explain it to you, or you can try to look it up online. I don't know if there are any RUclips videos on how to do it or not, but the process is basically simple. Just takes a bit of time to explain.
If you are going to keep using SIMPLE GREEN, REDUCE the amount of solvent you use. That stuff will eat paint off anything!!!!!
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND SLIP 2000 Ultra-Clean and Ultre-Lube as well as their CARBON CUTTER.
The Carbon Cutter is AMAZING stuff. I put 5,000 rounds through my M-60 without cleaning anything. All we did was keep pouring oil to it. When I tore it down for cleaning I sprayed it with
Carbon Cutter, just a light mist, and went out for a cigarette. When I came back and picked up the bolt the carbon and brass build up came off in my hand. It was almost completely clean.
For AR and AK bolts I don't even disassemble them, just drop them into a plastic bowl with Carbon Cutter, shake it up for about 30 seconds, pull out the bolt and drop it in the ultrasonic. 5 minutes later, pull it out, and wipe off with a paper towel. 95% or more of the crud is gone. The disassemble the bolt and put back in the tank for 5-10 minutes. CLEAN!!!!
ALSO on your tank use lower temperature if you use heat at all. Most of the time you don't really need the heat on. It just makes stuff work faster and harder.
GOOD LUCK!!!! Hope this helps.
My ultrasonic cleaner consists of a covered container full of safety kleen parts cleaner sitting on top of my grandmas 1970's heated electric foot massager. Its a two speed LOW and SHAKE like its 1999 industrial strength oscillatory
Booch Usually the stuff I put in there has already had any chunks or solids removed in a pre wash. But if it starts getting serious I just use a ladle to skim it off the top like you would drege/slag if you were melting aluminum. It works really good You can go to an Ace or True Value and buy a brand new gallon size empty paint can , Or if I need more room I've used one of those big yellow kitty litter containers. Neither will leak normally...
The funniest part of it is not only do I believe you... but I know damn well it works good too doesn't it?! lol Man that is funny, but its true! With a few bucks and a hour or so, you can just make one...
JKay11235 I totally agree but not everybody does enough of it or has the space to warrant another contraption. What I described is a makeshift way to get by on stuff you might already have in the garage. Empty cat litter container is a great place to soak parts in parts cleaner solvent and setting it on the old foot massager doesn't hurt...
Not sure safty kleen seems to harsh for a gun
MBmann You are absolutely right and know your safety kleen. It is harsh. Thats why I like it. xD I don't allow parts to sit in the safety kleen very long and the minute I take the parts out I spray them down with something that neutralizes the safety kleen like wd-40 . If you don't it will cause damage to the finish. I love the safety kleen. My guns look like they have never been fired when I'm done.
Not quite. No motors, only transducers bonded to the bottom of the tank.
Electronic circuits generate 20-40KHz frequency, amplify it and feed it to the transducers that generate a waveform in the water, creating cavitation, which can clean most things to a molecular level.
Solvents must be selected for the specific task as hand.
Occasionally, you’ll run into something impervious to cavitation.
There must be water contact with what you’re cleaning, no air pockets.
For most jobs, most effective cleaning there is.
I worked for an ultrasonic cleaner company and we made everything from cleaners for rocket engines, Diesel engine parts, injectors, etc, to watches and jewelry.
Especially good for brass with proper solvent.
For degreasing, I’ve always used Cascade dishwashing soap or Dawn. (But I also have HandiKleen solvent degreaser)
I might have to try Simple Green.
How did you like the Simple Green?
Did you put dawn dish soap in your ultrasonic cleaner?I've used ultrasonic cleaning for years now and I've never deviated from putting special solution in there. The only time I've seen a guy do it was with fabuloso and of course, it didn't clean a thing.
I own RCBS ultrsonic cleaner which I bought specifically to clean brass for reloading. What I learned was it that doesn't clean brass as well as a dry media tumbler however, it cleans gun parts better than anything else I've tried thus far. Also, I've had really good results cleaning gun parts in the ultrasonic with liquid dish soap when I didn't have Simple Green on hand.
The RCBS gun cleaning solution works well too.
I wasn't pleased with how it cleaned brass either. Tried all the tricks, lemi-shine, etc. Finally just bought a steel-pin tumbler. Hands down the best way to clean brass. Dealing with the pins is a hassle, but brass comes out perfectly clean
HI Eric!!!
talk about smaller ones for handguns and handgun parts/BCGs! i clean the larger bits by hand while the smaller ones get hit by the cleaner. totaly recommend a smaller one to someone for handguns especially. the smaller ones are cheap!!! like 30$ and it saves you time. you can clean most all of a handgun in one of these cleaners.
good subject to cover i feel like most people don't know about this!
I've got a small one to clean my brass. Half a dishwasher tablet thrown in works a treat.
@jon gibson I forgot to pull down the bathroom blind just once and I'm still paying for it.
varney2010 can you clean the inside of a casing with your “small one?”
@@couerleroi1 No, the cleaning solution makes the end sting.
varney2010 Good sport. LOL!
I just bought a small, 10L one to clean my suppressors and small parts such as bolt carriers. Have a few old rifles that need all their small parts deeply cleaned
I work in aerospace. Units that come from the field we clean in our units ultrasonic cleaners. We have a 4 step process not including rising. But then we bake our units/parts at 250 degrees for 20-30mins to make sure they are dry. Im sure gun parts would work also.
Useful for if you're cleaning a LOT of guns for a business, but for the price and upkeep I'll stick with brushes, gun scrubber, and oil. Especially since the wrong mixture can strip finishes/mess with polymers.
I got a little one from Harbor freight for under $50 and it works great for BCG and parts that get really dirty. 5 minutes does wonders.
Thank you for teaching us how to clean with an ultrasonic cleaner iraq, i love you
LMAO
What do think of the ziplock bag method and keeping your water clean ?
Been using an ultrasonic cleaner on every kind of pistol and rifle parts you can think of (including all types of plastics) for YEEEEAAAARRRSS. The ONE issue I've ever encountered was the red paint on the loaded chamber indicator of a Ruger SR9C came off. Of the dozens of guns, there has never been another issue. Even with tritium painted sights. I either use purple power, simple green, or Barbicide as a solution. Often a mixture of these. Barbicide has the benefit of removing mild corrosion and some protection against future corrosion after application.
I use the cleaner on my own guns after every trip to the range or hunting. Just drop the parts in, let it run a few cycles, and everything comes out glistening clean. Wouldn't want to own guns without one!
Been saving for one for a bit. Don't shoot often but when I do I go through a few thousand rounds over a few days.
this looks like the answer to a maidens prayer. I am a black powder (real Black Gun Powder) shooter and this looks like a perfect way to get all the nooks and crannies de-cruded. Especially the bottom sof the chambersr and all the spots in the frames. Thanks.
Hornady LNL Tub Was inexpensive and gets my guns factory new with no effort! Cost me less then 350. Cleans any rifle for the most part.
Worth every penny in time saved!
Id love to gunsmith. But it doesnt pay enough
A friend of mine took a gunsmithing course. He works on guns on the side but his knowledge of guns got him a job as dept manager of the gun department at Bass Pro. Turned out to be a good starting point for him.
Same. I want to know more about it, plus I can use that to teach people firearms training with different types of guns. I saw a 2 hour session with a Rugar go for $240.
If I do gunsmithing/work at a gun store and do that on the side, I'm in good shape. Plus gun trading and other trades like carpentry.
Bullshit
That certainly depends on ypur skills, and if your idea of gun smithing is bolting different stuff together on a AR, or it is making things from scratch.... I bet Mark Novak from C&Rsenal makes by just fine on his gunsmith pay ;)
T
Have a Hornady cleaner and used regular simple green. Set my glock 19 lower in it for 10 minutes and did not remove dirt. Run another 5 minutes and nothing. Finally did it the old fashion way and it will pass any inspection. Not convinced this is a good effective and efficient way to clean guns MP5SD an awesome gun. Used in the Marine Corps on Security Forces.
Good timing. I was wondering about getting one because Im basically the armourer of my friends. I dont have time to clean all of their guns AND school them on stuff that they cant be assed to read them selves. Love your content man! Keep makin us a more informed community!
L&R made a cleaning concentrate and lubrication solution for use in ultrasonic cleaners on firearms. I believe they still do. I work in the jewelry industry and use one daily. Yes I clean car parts, tools, firearms and even jewelry in mine.
Thank you and best review of ultrasonic cleaning.
Simple Green is good stuff . One time I was cleaning old tile that had 20 yr old vinyl floor glue on it. The Simple Green was almost full strength and in less than 1 hr with very little rubbing it lifted it clean off the tile. Later my brother told me thats what the navy uses on its boats.
Doesn't work worth a shit in factory bathrooms. Bleach and hot water is the only way to fly. Over 2 years of cleaning with Simple Green. The first time with bleach and hot water the mop bucket was full of blackish colored water and had to be dumped and changed "remixed" twice.
All that "funk" was being left behind with the Simple Green. Hey, it's great at masking smells though!
I would not recommend for aluminum baffles, but works fine for steel and Ti. Bought a cheap Chinese one for cleaning .22lr can baffles and realized one day I could also use it to clean AR BCGs. Remove the o-ring and toss the rest of the BCG in cleaner, let it do its job, rinse off in the sink, stick in the oven on lowest heat setting for 10 or so minutes, drop into Ed's Red and finally wipe off any excess.
In my own experience, when using an ultrasonic full of Hoppes #9, do not put old thin leaf springs into the ultrasonic tank no matter how grimy they are. It will weaken the old V and leaf springs so they break under use.
Yea I wonder about the wisdom of using solvents in the ultrasonic in general. I use simple green a couple of cycles and it cleans great. Spray w/ clp afterwards and I’m gtg.
@@jojodesal I agree. I find Simple Green and warm or hot water works well on most things.
Your opinion on how an ultra sonic cleaner breaks down copper and or lead build up in a barrel bore?
A bit late, but you'll probably want to stick to a copper solvent for the bore on great occasion. That said, you could also test it with copper solvent, seeing how much green comes out of the bore after sonic cleaning.
@@Willam_J
It does help. Thank you.
On the Ultrasonic website they show this tank model priced at 449 and 2550. It’s not clear though, whether the one priced at 449 is just a separate insert tank. Do you know?
Thats good info to know!! Really good to know it will clean Cosmoline!
little tip, use a big magnet to hold small parts that would otherwise slip through the basket
I caught a smaller Frankford Arsenal on Midway clearance for $40, couldn't be more glad I did. Small batches of brass, bolts, slides, and yeah like he said even car parts, it makes short easy work out of all that crap. Now I want a larger one...
Thanks for the Video !!
A couple of years back I purchased from Harbor Freight a Small Ultrasonic Cleaner.
Never thought of using it as a ultrasonic oil bath !?!?!! Nice Concept !!!
Also, I’ve only used it with water and a light soap (Dawn) or Fantastik !
Just ordered Simple Green !!!!
Only use mine for Handguns !!
Jerry Miculek is as he says, “I am spoiled with my ultrasonic cleaner.”
He is absolutely the G.O.A.T
You could use a cleaning or lube solution in a freezer zip lock from what I seen on other channels.
Absolutely love mine. Time is money, and this saves me a LOT of time. I hate the deep cleaning process, mostly bc I have quite a few guns & rather than cleaning them one at a time I have a monthly "cleaning day." I can throw in my fouled-up BCG or AK Piston, run it, and just hand clean my lowers/whatever isn't too bad. If you can swing it, they're worth the money imo. As someone mentioned, the solvent in jars also works but be careful with bluing.
Just FYI, you can put lubricant in an ultrasonic as well after you’re done cleaning them just lightly wipe your firearms down and they’re perfect. Also, the plastic bag method works really well. Then you don’t get any dirt in your ultrasonic cleaner at all. Works really well especially if you’re going to do jewelry and car parts as well as firearms. Just remember to wear gloves if you’re cleaning firearms, you don’t want all that liquid lead soaking into your skin.
I use Balistol with water in my ultrasonic and when I am done I rinse with water and dry with compressed air. I have had excellent results. I may have try the simple green at some point.
I use a Lyman Turbo Sonic 2500 for cleaning brass.
I use 'much off' bike cleaner as a pre soak. Then hot water, white vinegar & lemon juice in the sonic cycle for about 20 minutes. Then rinse / dunk in a bucket of cold water.
Every piece of brass comes out very clean inside and out also inside the primer pocket.
I then dry the brass in the dehydator for 2 hours.
Oh, I just realized my air fryer has a dehydrator option.
Also a good point to bring up is proper disposal of fluids. If you have a container full of carbon and lead, especially a 22lr firearm or suppressor, don’t just pour it down the drain.
Why mention the carbon? Should have said solvents, oils/lubricants, hydrocarbons, heavy metals. All of those are more of a concern than carbon, which isn't an issue.
Andrew Delashaw I personally use simple green which is no toxic. Didn’t occur to me the other things other people use but you got the idea.
Does that machine clean mags or you have to just buy new ones mine have built up some rust
I have the harbor freight one, its been great for me.
Same here. 3 minutes, some heat = clean as a whistle.
Yep, me too. Small one for handguns. Not sure if they make one that could take a rifle barrel or any other larger parts. May have to look into that.
I’ll take simple green over soylent green any day.
Bernie Sanders food wafers!
Geoffrey Epstein didn't kill himself.
Soylent green tastes better
SOYLENT GREEN IS COVID!!!
This is true ;)
We used simple green to clean everything when I was in the Army. Honestly I used to wish for a better cleaner back then but now, there isn’t one.
Great video.
Well said…
Having a second Ultrasonic is great for a lubricating bath.
Thanks for the info. Lots of great info.
I have a Hornady that fits a stripped XDs without issue. I wished now I bought the larger one that can fit an entirely stripped 1911 or FN Hi Power.
Excellent video. My only comment is that some of the smaller ultrasonics--I have the Lyman that flashed by in one of the photos shown--are actually quite affordable, so price may not necessarily be prohibitive, especially if you just want to do handguns and parts of your rifles, fellas.
Very smart guy. Thanks for your help
i want to see a twist rate comparison video by iraqveteran8888
Was the Strike Hold working well in the UltraSonic? Looking for a good oil bath after I use the cleaning solution
I was looking at the hornady 2l ultra sonic cleaner for cleaning lubricant off of cases plus i can clean my pistols better. For rifle ill just keep cleaning them by hand because im not spending $700 for an ultra sonic cleaner, but the smaller version is about $160 amd can still fit a pistol or a few hundred cases, so its much more affordable. My primary concern is if the chemical would ruin plastic parts, and ive been reading that green simple green ruins aluminum but blue simple green is fine
If you clean something with a lot of oil, you can use an oil absorbant like Pigg Mat to take the oil off the top without soaking up the water & cleaner. Just put it on top of the fluid for a minute before removing the gun.
its also great for cleaning brass so you dont get grime in your tumbler and to degrease it
and welded supressors that can not be opened or if one is lazy and doesnt disassamble the supressor every time but lets say ~ every 200 rounds with a bolt gun if you make around 70 every time you hit the range - you just put it in the ultrasonic so it doesnt smell like powder and metall ions - some gfs dont like it if you put them in the dishwasher or whatercooker
if you use 4 gallons of brake cleaner /acetone with minimum heat you get the gun as degreased as you possibly can if you want to reblue or maybe anodize aluminium
and its great for motor parts like cleaning chainsaw and moped motors and carborators
I sure as fuck wouldn't be heating acetone or brake cleaner. BOTH are extremely caustic and flammable. You might as well smoke while pumping gas......
-Strange gun cleaning methods
-AK owners :
XDDDDD
What about pistols with fiber optic sights fitted ?
I knew you'd explain the in and outs of ultrasonic cleaners because I watched your Martini Henry video where you used this machine or one very similar a couple years ago. 👍🇺🇲
If you ok skipping heating - you can get good ones for $50. Sunlight makes a good one. Heating cuts the time down. By about half. It’s more aggressive.
Great video. If I could offer one bit of advice when sonicating in solvent. Make sure you take safety precautions, especially when using heat. You need to be aware of flash points/boiling point of solvent that you are using.
Is an ultrasonic cleaner a no go if you are looking to preserve antique firearms, or can it work without removing the original finishes?
Conserve it by boiling and carding instead. Mark Novak (Anvil Gunsmithing) has RUclips videos on it. Look up his video "Conservation 101."
Eric please do a setup tour with videos like this for stands ect.
Good video, I need to get an ultrasonic cleaner with all the gunky old milsurps I’ve been buying. Would make cleaning so much easier
Simple Green HD Pro (purple) is the same as Simple Green Extreme except it's 1/3 the cost. This is straight from the manufacturer help line.
That looks really interesting, but it seems like you really have to know what you're doing to avoid wrecking your gun. I like Hoppes #9 to clean and regular gun oil to lubricate. Can't go wrong with that method. This looks like it would get in all the nooks and crannies better though.
i have two 1 liter cleaners, one i use for jewellery, the other for smaller gun parts like bolts, slides and the likes.... love them, they were cheap as dirt on ebay
I would love to see the before after video of an ar 15 melt down!!!!!!GREAT VIDEO
I got a little ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning my black powder revolvers. Works wonderfully!
I was always curious about these things, I saw them in every company in 1BCT 101st but 2/3rds of them weren't in working condition and the rest we just never used.
Max nunya My armory was lucky enough to get a small one & it made life so much easier.
Simple Green 👍
I thought about getting just to use for my bolt assemblys i can clean the rest of my guns easy
Will an ultrasonic cleaner remove surface rust, and not mess up the blueing or the finish on the parts?? Thanks a lot!!
So far just pistol parts and brass in mine. I use the Hornady unit, and Hornady solution in it. Seems to work ok, but I do use Simple Green when I want to soak parts outside the sonic.
Ok so 2 things not mentioned in vid was it can be used to clean reloading brass and equipment like dies and I read on internet but have not experienced this but simple green not sure what type can react negatively with aluminum if I remember correctly. I recently used my points at BPS and got the Hornady Sonic cleaner free but have not used it yet. It will be my first Sonic and I only plan on cleaning brass after universal decappi g with it
Brilliant video!
What substant did u use to clean , water ?
Good info Eric, thanks!
@Iraqveteran8888 what about cleaning brass before reloading.
What solution for taking off rust?
any thoughts about filling your cleaner basin with water and then putting whatever you want to clean into a bottle filled with the cleaning detergent and then putting that into the water? i guess the point is to make the cleanup easier cuz you have only water in your cleaning basin
Yes, that works well. Be aware that the parts will vibrate on the bottom of the glass and scratch both/ wear bluing off steel.
Couldn't tell did Eric recommend diluting the extreme cleaner 50% with water or using at full strength for Glock style pistols & AR rifle parts?
Good info. Bought one mainly for my suppressor. I was told you should not put aluminum parts or anodized funnies in the unit, you thoughts!
What about useing an "industrial" or "jewlers" sonic cleaner for brass instead of the ones that say hornady has?
If I shot some corrosive ammo through my gun and put it in there, would I have to worry about cleaning the ultrasonic itself?
Yeah, probably. But with so much water, the chemicals would be diluted enough they shouldn't cause damage even if you didn't clean it out immediately thereafter.
If you shoot corrosive ammo, just rinse the gun out first. Whatever salts are left, which shouldn't be much, will be diluted. Also tanks are stainless, so much harder to corrode.
Well done.
Watching many "Ultrasonic Gun Cleaning" on RUclips, haven't seen many mention about after the Ultrasonic Gun Cleaning bath(simple green method), should I rinse with water or just blow dry with air gun ?
Awesome video, thanks
Good info Eric, how often do you change out the solution?
I put solvents in my ultrasonic cleaner. I use gasoline for small carbs on lawnmowers, generators and chainsaws. It’s the easiest way to clean a carb. I do it outside to be safe.
Great informative presentation.
I was very interested in this topic. Great video
X-tronic 3000-Xts platinum ultrasonic cleaner with degas and sweep function. Awesome when used with shooter's choice solvent for carbon fouling..Simple green pro hd heavy duty cleaner (purple) excellent cleaner/de-greaser.