Questions about Ultrasonic cleaning

[rob52]

Years ago I used to detail clean my pistols every time I shot. Then I started doing it every two or three times. Then about 15 years ago I read about Ed’s Red and started soaking my guns in that mixture for 20 or 30 minutes and allowing them to drip dry. Periodically I would still detail clean my pistols, but much less often. Over the years I’ve read about ultrasonic cleaning but never did it.

Then a week ago I was talking with my pawnshop FFL buddy and he was ultrasonically cleaning a Star .380 that he had bought a few minutes earlier. I saw it before it went in the cleaner and it was filthy, really filthy. After 10 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner it was pristinely clean.



So here are some questions:

1. Has anyone in this forum used an ultrasonic cleaner. I want firsthand information, not something like “I had a buddy or a friend of a buddy who used one once and did/did not like it.” So, any firsthand experience here?



2. Is it safe with the various finishes on pistols now, such as bluing, nickel, hard chrome, NP3, cerakote, ionbond, and other finishes?



3. What are the concerns?



4. What soap do you use in the water?



5. How do your dry/remove the water after cleaning?



Any firsthand experience is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[CXM]

I too use the same formula as Ed's Red (Hatcher's Frankfurt Arsenal Ordnance Solvent) for 10-15 years now and have been extremely pleased with it.

Ultra Sonic is not something I have used, but I have been told it is not at all a good idea for guns, unfortunately I don't recall the reasons... Still simply dunking guns in water seems to me a bad idea from the start... guns and water just don't mix.

You probably can find information if you do a web search on the subject... but my advice would be to stick with a material you KNOW works and works well and it cheap to make...

Maybe someone has tried ultra sonic.


V/r

Chuck

[mw4570]

Hornady recommends only using its house brand cleaning fluid in its ultrasonic cleaners. It appears that this is 75-85% water, but there are some other interesting ingredients, according to their material safety data sheet (MSDS). It is provided in a pdf format on at: www.hornady.com/support/faqs/sonic-cleaner
Scroll down to the link in the middle of the paragraph where they are careful to explain that their cleaner is NOT Pinesol. 

[craig]

I have used a cheap plastic vibrating sonic bath cleaner, with good results, on varnished up motorcycle carburetor parts, for some years. I have put in brass carb jets that looked beyond redemption, & had them come out shining like new. I use a combination of water, detergent, & denatured alcohol. Instinct tells me that sonic cleaning MAY damage plated/painted/coated parts.
So far I haven't had any dirty enough gun parts to need sonic cleaning, nor do I own a large enough one for an entire pistol, but I wouldn't hesitate to sonic clean a really dirty unplated/uncoated steel pistol - after I removed the grips. Alcohol in the bath mix helps chase the water off, & a jet of compressed air & paper towels, can get the rest.

[rob52]

Thank you for the replies.  So, I decided to try ultrasonic cleaning using a device that I bought a while back at Harbor Freight.  Three pistols with a couple of hundred rounds through each of them since their last cleaning were the test pistols, and the finishes were Cerakote (for 2) and stainless.  The grips were removed and I put only the frames and the slides in the cleaner, leaving the barrels, slide release, and recoil spring/guide rod out.  I used lukewarm water and a 1/2 teaspoon of Ajax dish detergent.    The run time for each was about 7 to 8 minutes.  I was really impressed with how clean the rails and breech face were, and there was no apparent damage to the finishes.  The water was visibly dirty.  I used compressed air to blow out the water, applied a little of my favorite oil (Mobil 20-50), reassembled, and shot the pistols again this past Friday.  

Next time after cleaning I might drop them into my can of Ed's Red.  

So, I'll probably repeat this type of cleaning on a limited basis.  I won't do it every time I shoot, but probably every three or four times.  Most of the time I'll just use a bore snake for the barrel and ramp, clean and relube the rails, clean the breechface, and lightly lube.  More guns are worn out by cleaning than by shooting, IMO.