How are the ultrasonic cleaners working out for you?

[El Chivo]

My jury-rigged Lyman vibrating cleaner finally died. I would like to reclaim the space and I truly hate that noisy thing. Plus I found I had to treat the necks with steel wool beforehand. So I was thinking of replacing it with a small ultrasonic cleaner, the only question is, does it clean brass well?

[perry owens]

I have a 4 litre capacity tank with a 150 watt transducer and 100 watt heater that I use to clean brass fired with black powder. The brass has to be decapped for complete cleaning and I soon found that a conventional decap/sizing die swages the fouling on to the case, making it much harder to remove, so I now use a Lee universal decapping die. I find running the tank hot (60C) helps it clean faster and for black powder fouling I use 3 grammes per litre citric acid in the water. The brass comes out very clean but not shiny of course, so I still use a vibratory tumbler as a finishing stage.
Good ultrasonic cleaners aren't cheap and you need a big one to process significant quantities of brass. On reflection I wish I had invested the cash in a ceramic tumbler setup.
Perry Owens

[Don McDowell]

I have one of the hornady ultrasonic cleaners, it does a great job of cleaning the cases but does not polish them,so it's still necessary to take them thru some sort of tumbler to put the polish on them.
So far I believe the best bet is the Thumblers modle B and ceramic media, cleans and polishes.

[Shasta]

The subject of cleaning brass fired with black powder loads was being discussed at a shoot i attended last weekend. One of the guys had recently switched to using a Thumbler's Tumbler loaded with a media of tiny stainless steel rods and soapy water. He stated that in just two hours all the brass was clean as new inside and out, including the primer pockets.

Here is a link to the stainless steel rods sold by Buffalo Arms Co.:

http://www.buffaloarms.com/stainless_st ... x?CAT=3889

This stainless steel method is interesting to me in that the media would last just about forever and no second polish media is needed, just a good rinsing and drying. The Thumbler's Tumbler is a rather noisy thing, though. I used to use one years ago with dry media, but found that a vibratory worked better, at least with the dry stuff. I think I might dig out that old tumbler and give the stainless steel media a try.

SHASTA

[El Chivo]

Thanks, I was checking out Thumler's stuff on Midway. The rotary is not too expensive and they have a vibrating one also, just a few bucks more than the Lyman that died within two weeks.

Some of the comments were interesting, one saying that the Thumler vibrating models are quiet due to the powerful motors. I like the cachet of the rotary one better.

[allhands]

I have the hornady cleaner as well, and I love it. As stated in another post, I use a universal decapper before putting the brass in the cleaner, and as per the instructions, I use distilled water and the cases come out clean...not shiny...clean. But they are clean inside and out, and the primer pockets are clean as well. I have run 200 .40 S&w at a time, and 50 7mm mauser cases at once. If I want them shiny, I tumble them after they dry. Thats the only drawback...if you consider it one...that you need to dry the cases (I let them sit overnight) before loading. I am very pleased with mine...

[Don McDowell]

Elchivo if you get the model B rotary, I would suggest you only use about half the ceramic media they recommend, that seems to do a much better job of cleaning than using the full amount.
You'ld do well to get a case drying rack so the cases can hang and dry.

[Lefty Dude]

I have had lots of vibatory cleaners over the years. I finally bought a Dillon and it cleans better than any thing I have ever had.

I have an Ultra sonic cleaner, for small batches it might be O.K.. It does not polish.
The Ultra-sonic I use to clean my BP cap & ball cylinders.