Hi all

So I inherited a used water bath sonicator. It powers on and makes a buzzing noise and all and the water seems to vibrate, but I was told it doesn't work (at least not for what the person who gave it to me said it was used for). How can I test it? Never used one for cleaning gun parts.

I have a couple dirty pistols, including a Sig P220 Carry and a P229. What type of solvent/solution would I use? Im guessing just throw it in, put in the slide and the recoil spring turn it on, and see if the solution gets dirty ?

Any major caveats?

Thanks

JB

I have a Harbor Freight model, use it to clean things up like the grip modules on glocks, barrels, springs etc.

Hoppes or simple green, couple of minutes and the parts are very clean and the fluid very dirty.

I have a top notch jewelry model. Came from my former boss. He had a jewelry store. He used Top Gun, a commercial detergent. He added water to a few ounces, but said any detergent would work just as well. Its out in the garage. Haven't seen it in a few years, but I'm confident it hasn't walked away.

Don’t use simple green on aluminum parts!!!

We had a guy use straight simple green in a sonic cleaner for some berets M9s.

It took all the anodized covering off the frame.

The Chief had him standing tall before the mast over that. Lost a stripe and had to pay a fine equal to the cost of the weapons.

Recently tried my Sonic cleaner on a APA Little Bastard Brake that was caked in carbon build up.

Water, Lemishine, and a little Dawn dishsoap. All clean and perfect without removing any coatings.

Andrew

Hornady makes cleaning solution for both gun parts and brass casings. I have found it to be effective.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

Don’t use simple green on aluminum parts!!!

We had a guy use straight simple green in a sonic cleaner for some berets M9s.

It took all the anodized covering off the frame.

The Chief had him standing tall before the mast over that. Lost a stripe and had to pay a fine equal to the cost of the weapons.

Wondering, how long ago was that?

Years ago, we used Simple Green on airplanes. Then, it turned out that it was bad for the aluminum. Subsequently, Simple Green changed their formula, and we were told that the new formula was OK to use on aluminum.

If you place a suitably sized piece of aluminum foil in the bottom of the sonic cleaner and turn it on for five minutes, the aluminum foil should be fairy well covered with a large quantity of tiny holes when done. Sonic cleaner should be filled with water only and do not use heavy duty "grilling" aluminum foil.
This is how we tested them during validation at a prior job. The "pattern" of tiny holes won't be perfect, but it should be somewhat uniform across the piece of aluminum foil.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Wondering, how long ago was that?

‘95/‘97 ish....

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
If you place a suitably sized piece of aluminum foil in the bottom of the sonic cleaner and turn it on for five minutes, the aluminum foil should be fairy well covered with a large quantity of tiny holes when done. Sonic cleaner should be filled with water only and do not use heavy duty "grilling" aluminum foil.
This is how we tested them during validation at a prior job. The "pattern" of tiny holes won't be perfect, but it should be somewhat uniform across the piece of aluminum foil.

Not quite. We need to test and validate ultrasonic cleaners in the dental office as well. The test involves suspending the aluminum foil in the solution without letting it touch the sides or bottom. Even a poorly functioning machine will perforate the aluminum if it is in contact. It is the cavitation bubbles in the solution you are testing for.

I'm glad this topic has come up. AGAIN...the usefulness and resourcefulness of this forum board!!!

I purchased an RCBS Ultrasonic Cleaner several years ago and really haven't used it yet. I bought it primarily to clean pistol parts, but have never gotten a clear cut answer on what is safe to put in the cleaner...don't want to damage anything.

So those with the experience in this, what can and cannot be put in the ultrasonic cleaner in terms of cleaning my pistolas?? I'm pretty sure a bought a jug of the Gun Cleaner and it's in a cabinet somewhere. I wet tumble in a Rebel 17, so my intent on getting this ultrasonic cleaner was NOT to clean brass...pistol parts or small AR parts ONLY.

Thanks for the guidance!!

I've put pretty much everything in mine as far as gun parts (except optics / glass).

I've put fully disassembled Kimber 1911s, including the frame. Fully disassembled ARs and MPX.

I use water, dawn dishsoap and lemishine. And turn on the heater in the unit.

I pull the pieces and let dry on a towel or use a hair dryer or an air nozzle on the compressor.

Good Tip - use a 4 parts water to 1 part ammonia and sonic clean the wife's jewelry. Rinse in plain water. You'll get the "atta-boy points". Basically the same process that a jeweler uses.

Andrew

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Wondering, how long ago was that?

‘95/‘97 ish....

I am not positive about the time frame, but I think that you're referring to the original formula, which was determined to cause problems with aluminum. The newer stuff is supposed to be OK to use on airplane skins.

This was sort of a big deal to me. The V-Tail has an air-oil separator associated with the "wet" vacuum pump that is used to run a couple of gyros in flight instruments. The pump is lubed by engine oil, exhaust air-oil mixture is then routed through the separator. Oil is returned to the crankcase, air is exhausted through a tube that extends down through the bottom of the engine compartment.

The air-oil separation is not 100% effective, so the air that is routed down and out, contains some oil which is then blown back during flight and coats the belly of the airplane.

We used to joke about leaving the oil coating there, to prevent the aluminum skin from rusting, but used a creeper to get under the belly and clean it with Simple Green. Then along came the Air Force study that said Simple Green should not be used on aluminum, so we stopped using it, leaving the oily layer to protect the aluminum from rust.

The Simple Green formula was subsequently changed, allegedly making it safe for use on aluminum, so we went back to having a clean belly again.

quote:

Originally posted by El Cid 92:
I've put pretty much everything in mine as far as gun parts (except optics / glass).

I've put fully disassembled Kimber 1911s, including the frame. Fully disassembled ARs and MPX.

Thanks for that, El Cid!! So even the plastic lower of a pistol will withstand the ultrasonic cleaning without damage? And after cleaning and drying, is it then just a matter of "use some damn grease!" and get everything back together? And there's no need to run a bristle brush down the barrel? Please forgive my neophyte, unintelligent questions...

I still run a bore brush thru the barrel. And a weapons brush/old toothbrush over the parts to ensure they are clean. But, yes, for the most part it will get stuff clean. I use the opportunity to inspect the parts as I brush them.

Yes - the plastic grip modules of the 320 series goes in the sonic cleaner as well. But, not knowing your sonic cleaner unit, watch the heater usage if the plastic parts are sensitive or thin. Some of those heaters can get quite warm.

Obviously, the time between cleanings and the amount of rounds on the weapon will ultimately determine how through or quickly the parts are cleaned.

Hope that helps.

Andrew

^^^^^
It does, greatly! Thanks!!

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Wondering, how long ago was that?

‘95/‘97 ish....

18 or 19, as in 1895 or 1897?

Simple Green actually makes a couple of different formulations. One is specifically made for use on aircraft which tend to be aluminum. I think it’s actually blue in color!

I have a Lyman ultrasonic cleaner I bought earlier this year. I went all in and bought their chemicals as well, thinking they know what they’re doing. I kept it packaged until I had time to research it in depth because of all of the conflicting information online about cleaners harming parts.

I went to the NRA Annual Meeting in April and spent some time with the Lyman reps. They confirmed their cleaning solution is safe for all modern firearms and finishes, so long as the finish is sound. He recommended cutting their cleaning concentrate by 10 or 20% with distilled water for the remainder.

They said that after running the cleaner per the directions, that parts need to be promptly removed and thoroughly dried with compressed air, if available.

They also sell an insert tank and an ultrasonic lubricant. They recommended soaking the parts in their lube and placing the lube tank into the cleaning tank and turning the unit back on. The ultrasonic waves will transmit through the cleaning solution, oil tank walls and agitate the oil. The oil gets into all of the metal pores and prevents corrosion. Once treated, the parts can be drip dried, wiped and re-lubed for storage.

Their man advised that finishes that are imperfect may lift off because the ultrasonic waves get under the finish and lift it off just like it removes carbon fouling. He said it can happen with painted parts if the paint job wasn’t properly applied and adhered to the part. He suggested contacting the companies of my equipment and guns and asking if they want end users like me to not use an ultrasonic cleaner on their products. None of the reps at the meeting had any concerns with it.

I kept the unit and set it up near my bench. I haven’t used it yet because life got in the way and I don’t have enough dirty equipment to fire it up yet.