Ultrasonic Cleaner

I have the Harbor Freight one linked above and it is definitely an asset...Bolts, slides, etc. drop them in and zap them for a bit, take them out and the rest of the cleanup is a breeze.
 
I bought one of the Harbor Freight ones for cleaning fishing reels. The heating feature is great. I use about 75% water and 25% Simple Green for a cleaning solution. It removes all the oil and grease in a few minutes.
 
Hello Jasper,
Can I fit a complete pistol like a 1911 in the basket of the Harbor Freight unit ?

Thanks
Dan
 
Using two L&R units that I bought (used dental equipment), they did the job. ONLY regret is that I bought the L&R cleaner (water based). Did this in cellar . . . by the time I brought the parts up to rinse off prior to putting in lube, parts started to show surface rust. If you are next to a sink, fine . . . otherwise I recommend staying away from water based cleaners for that reason.


Sweet! A Harbor Freight just opened in Natick and Braintree!

Addresses please?


Hello Jasper,
Can I fit a complete pistol like a 1911 in the basket of the Harbor Freight unit ?

Thanks
Dan

Taken down, I used two L&R (dental surplus) ultrasonic units to completely clean an absolutely filthy 1911 that I bought used a few years ago. I did the frame separately from all the other parts . . . it might have fit all at once, but I didn't want the frame banging on the slide all that time.

I don't recall if I ever physically saw the HF unit in the store, so don't know the dimensions of the inner tub.
 
I hate cleaning guns, and I've been thinking of getting an ultrasonic cleaner to make it less painful.

I have a bunch of questions for those of you that use these things to clean your guns...

  1. Is it worth it?
  2. Does it make it faster/easier, or just do a better job?
  3. Does it get rid of burn rings on revolver cylinders?
  4. What's the process? I've seen that Brownells sells a separate cleaner and lubricant. Do you have to put them in the cleaner, then drain the tank and put them in with lubricant?
  5. What do you use as a cleaner?
  6. Do you leave the cleaner on the gun afterwards? If not, how do you get it off?
 
I have the hornady cleaner. It is small and I only use it for 308 and 300 win mag brass that I want really really clean all over and it does a decent job but I was not super thrilled. I have to run several cycles to get them shiny. It could be my solution ratio was a bit weak! I find the tumbler with media adequate for most of my application. Sometimes I will do tumble and ultra sonic.

I have borrowed and used a larger Ultra Sonic Cleaner for cleaning dies, guns and old handcuffs. IMO

1.It is worth it if you have a large number of items to clean. While you wipe down and assemble the one that came out you can run one gun in the basket. It is also worth it if the guns are disgustingly caked with carbon. I cleaned 2 1911 (fully disassembled) that were NEVER cleaned in 5 years and shot a lot. They came out looking like new. As for dies they were all dusty, rusty and caked with a dried lubricant. The cleaner helped loosen it up.

2. It does mak cleaning faster but you still have to but in some elbow grease. It is better if you fully disassemble the gun like a glock or 1911. I was able to fit all the parts of a 1911 but only a fram or a slide at one time. I guess it depends on the size.

3. Have not tried a revolver in the cleaner.

4. The cleaner is concentrated and has to be diluted. the unit I used had the many tank with a basket for cleaning and another tank for the lubricant. the other tank sits on top of the main unit if you want to US the lube into the parts. You can also dump the cleaner and add the lube to the many tank. After the cleaning. I scrub and dry and then dunk in the lubricant. wipe down and assemble.

5. I have used the brownell cleaner and also some purple cleaning solution from VIP auto. Again diluted down. That worked just as well. If you have dirty guns the solution will get dirty fast.

6. After the cleaning, I do the rag, pipe cleaner, qtip and compressed air to get the cleaner out. Same after the lube. Some left over cleaner won't be a problem.
It is usually a quick wipe down.

Keep in mind the cleaner and solution will start to heat up. Careful of certain metal touching each other during cleaning. I have not seen any issues but that was the warning on the instructions. Keep the parts in the basket and not directly in the cleaner. As an alternative you can use chemistry beakers for smaller parts with the solution and use water in the main tank. That will impart the ultrasonic action into the beaker of parts/solution. I saw that on youtube and it is a great idea if you want to clean two sets of 1911 parts at the same time with out mixing them up.
 
I hate cleaning guns, and I've been thinking of getting an ultrasonic cleaner to make it less painful.

I have a bunch of questions for those of you that use these things to clean your guns...
  1. Is it worth it?
  2. Does it make it faster/easier, or just do a better job?
  3. Does it get rid of burn rings on revolver cylinders?
  4. What's the process? I've seen that Brownells sells a separate cleaner and lubricant. Do you have to put them in the cleaner, then drain the tank and put them in with lubricant?
  5. What do you use as a cleaner?
  6. Do you leave the cleaner on the gun afterwards? If not, how do you get it off?

Jim,

I bought two used dental units (equivalent of the Quantrex 140 shown at Brownells.com) on fleabay. One for cleaner and one for lube.

Process (using L&R chemicals) is clean, then rinse in cool water, blow/towel/wipe dryish, then dunk in lube. If you go from cleaner into lube, you contaminate the lube and will have to throw it out in short order.

I've only cleaned the 1911 (filthy as bought used) with this system. I'd use it more often if I had a sink in the cellar so I didn't have to bring dripping parts upstairs, rinse/dry and then go back down to lube before they rust.

Haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking of using Ed's Red instead of the LR&R solution, since not water based, just drip/wipe dryish before lube and no worries about rust forming.

HTH
 
i can't recall but some company make a cleaner and lube in one and

sold in a 5 gallon bucket,,, someone in this forum knows who it is...

wonder if this would work, i do NOT like a water based cleaner for

firearms.


JimB
 
I've been using my Lyman Ultrasonic Cleaner for just a little while now for brass and I love it. I'm looking into cleaning gun parts but not quite sure what cleaners and oil to use.
 
I hate cleaning guns, and I've been thinking of getting an ultrasonic cleaner to make it less painful.

I have a bunch of questions for those of you that use these things to clean your guns...

  1. Is it worth it?
  2. Does it make it faster/easier, or just do a better job?
  3. Does it get rid of burn rings on revolver cylinders?
  4. What's the process? I've seen that Brownells sells a separate cleaner and lubricant. Do you have to put them in the cleaner, then drain the tank and put them in with lubricant?
  5. What do you use as a cleaner?
  6. Do you leave the cleaner on the gun afterwards? If not, how do you get it off?

I bought a heated one with two ultrasonic vibrators from Uniquetek.com and use Kano Kroil (cleaner and lubricant) only in it. Mine is a pistol sized one and it saves so much time here. I will definately be getting a rifle sized one.

1. Yes it is worth it! Field strip a handgun and remove grips, then place in unit for 10-20 minutes. Wipe down or let drip dry and your done.
2. Yes, yes & YES!
3. Haven't had burn rings yet, but it did clean up my Double Eagle real nice.
4. Use a non-harsh cleaner & lubricant in one and you shouldn't have to. I'm working on a filter set-up for mine that will use a motorcycle oil filter to seperate the crap from the Kroil.
5. Kroil.
6. Kroil does both and therefore cuts down on labor.
 
One thing I would wonder about with an ultrasonic cleaner is if one should only insert gun parts (and not a fully assembled gun) into the cleaner unless you're not worried about fine tolerances in the gun.

As an example, one might not want to let a sear and hammer sit against each other in an ultrasonic cleaner, nor would one want any other rotating bearings (pins) installed in their mating surfaces.

It's said that the ultrasonic waves cause a lot of vibration and can cause unexpected wearing of parts as they vibrate against one another at a high frequency for long periods of time.

I heard that ultrasonic cleaners can cause issues with ball bearings, so this could also cause issues with fine gun parts.

Now on the other hand, it may take many hours for such damage to occur, or it may be cumulative (I'm not an expert on the subject). If you have an older gun, or something without tight tolerances (such as a Glock?), it may not matter so much.

And this could be yet another myth, perhaps we need to ask the myth-busters to look into it?

I can't document any guns that were damaged by over zealous use of an ultrasonic cleaner, and I know that many ranges use ultrasonic cleaners to clean their range guns, but it's something you should consider if you care about fine quality gun parts.

With this said, I am still shopping for a higher powered ultrasonic unit myself. I have a small one (home jewelry size) that I use from time to time, but not on gun parts as it's too small.
 
I bought mine from a company called Supertec. They have one that is specifically for cleaning guns. The solution that you mix with water. And the oil you use after it is cleaned. Here's the thing. You need to incorporate a compressor to blow out the cleaning fluid of your gun. Again, its a mixing ratio of water. You could use iodized water but that would be expensive. If not you could have a rusting issue. The oil they supply is great. My guns come out squeky clean and lubed. Another thing to consider. Tighten down all screws. Ultrasonic Cleaners would have tendency to loosen fasteners. But when you take them back to the range. Thery shoot so much better. I use it on my 1911's, 9mm's, revolvers, And hey wifie loves it for her dentures, and jewerly, HA,HA [smile]
 
I bought mine from a company called Supertec. They have one that is specifically for cleaning guns. The solution that you mix with water. And the oil you use after it is cleaned. Here's the thing. You need to incorporate a compressor to blow out the cleaning fluid of your gun. Again, its a mixing ratio of water. You could use iodized water but that would be expensive. If not you could have a rusting issue. The oil they supply is great. My guns come out squeky clean and lubed. Another thing to consider. Tighten down all screws. Ultrasonic Cleaners would have tendency to loosen fasteners. But when you take them back to the range. Thery shoot so much better. I use it on my 1911's, 9mm's, revolvers, And hey wifie loves it for her dentures, and jewerly, HA,HA [smile]

Pardon my mistake. Its Sharpertek. I should have posted the web site. Here it is. http://www.sterlingtime.com/shulhaclpa.html
 
i was thumbing thru one of Patrick Sweeneys book

and he recommended using mineral spirits (paint thinner) as a cleaner. Basically filling up a container and
dunking it in the pan.

Has anyone tried this using mineral spirits in an
ultrasonic cleaner...????
 
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