Ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas

[Isabel1130]

I love my AW-93s but both guns are clean freaks. My family has generously offered to buy me an ultrasonic cleaner for Christmas. I have settled on a model and size I think are a good value for the money but I am concerned about cleaning solutions. I don't want to clean the guns with anything water based that will require a second bath in oil in order to displace the water and I wondered what others thought would be good. I would also like to find or make some sort of filter for the solvent so that I am not constantly buying and disposing of solvent. I wondered if I could build one out of an engine oil filter or if coffee filter and two jugs would do it. Ideally I would like to be able to use this cleaner indoors without gassing myself out of my RV. I know a lot to ask but any thoughts would be appreciated. Kate

[zoned]

... an ultrasonic cleaner... am concerned about cleaning solutions....Kate

Try for an ultrasonic as close to 64K cycles per second as possible--the commercial grade machine. Get a tank long enough to completely submerge the parts you intend to maintain. I use straight Simple Green household cleaner if no aluminum is involved. It is water-based but more efficient at removing lead and carbon than any of the "gun solvents" I've tried. Otherwise, I use slower acting painter's naphtha for alloy parts. This is a flammable mild solvent, so keep that in mind. You could also use diesel or auto parts cleaners. The later may contain trichlorothane which can kill your liver, so be careful.

- Instead of polluting the tank, put the firearm or parts in an industrial strength poly bag or molded container containing the cleaning solution and place that in the tank. The reason for this is to prevent sediment buildup on the tank floor.

- The tank solution should be water and some sort of liquid soap, it needs the ionic surfactants to help transmit the sound waves.

- Never run the UC with less than a half-tank of liquid or you might burn out the transducer/s.

- In a home shop, cleaning solutions can be filtered through common paper coffee filters.

- A UC will generally not harm blued steel, but extended tank times 'will' remove paint and anodized finishes. How quickly that happens will depend upon the power output of your UC. Experiment on scrap parts so you don't trash a firearm. No worries with stainless steel.

[Leon]

If I was you I would think twice.... Or use the abolute mildest cleaner you can find.

The AW93 has an electroless nickel finish which. in one my AW93s, proved not to be durable at all.....

[waxman]

I agree with zoned, except for the "molded container" part. Ultrasonic energy will be absorbed by most polymers like plastic, reducing the cleaning action on your parts in the container.
I'd recommend a glass container containing the parts and solvent, sitting in the UC filled with water.
UC is very effective- re-lubing will be necessary.
To demonstrate the power of ultrasonics, drop a piece of aluminum foil in water and run the UC for a few minutes. It will become holey, then turn to powder and sink to the bottom of the tank, obliterated by energetic cavitation.

[fc60]

Greetings,

I used to use Kerosene in my Ultrasonic Cleaner. Messy and hard to dispose of. I now use Extreme Simple Green, Part #13406. It is available from Grainger. This cleaner is approved by Boeing for washing airplane skins and other parts. I wrote to Simple Green asking which cleaner would be suitable for firearms.

Wash the cleaned parts off in clean water and submerge in a water displacing oil.

Simple Green is biodegradeable and goes down the sink.

Contact the manufacturer of the cleaning solutions before you clean anything. Some parts "fizz" and by then it is too late.

A friend in the Aerospace industry told me that Ultrasonic will damage hard anodized aluminum parts. More research is needed here.

Cheers,

Dave Wilson

[Guest]

I have had excellentg results with Ed's Red. You can find the mix on the net. I do use less acetone than recommended.
Ronn

[gulliver62]

I was looking at one to clean my magazines. M41 mags get especially dirty and I thought this might be a quick and easy way to clean them.

I had the same concern about water based fluids.

What about mineral spirits?

[Isabel1130]

Mineral spirits might work. I was leaning towards Ed's Red. However, I did not go ahead and get one for Christmas. Based on conversations with my gunsmith, I decided that it would not cut down on cleaning as much as I had hoped it would so I am still doing it the old fashioned way. Isabel