Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaner

[MacGyver]

I haven't seen a review posted on one of these, yet, so thought I would add my comments here.

I purchased one of the new Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaners yesterday on a bit of a whim. I was curious if it could improve one of the hurdles in my reloading - that is the noise and mess associated with tumbling.

It's a small unit, that is advertised as fitting up to 100 .308 cases at a time. Frankly, it looks roughly the same as the small ultrasonic cleaners you can get at harbor freight or off ebay, just Hornady branded. I loaded it up with 250 pieces of 9mm brass that were pretty dirty. I covered them with water, which was right at a quart, poured in a capful of Hornady's cleaner, and turned it on. It will operate for up to 480 seconds at a time.

I was skeptical going in, but after three 8 minute cycles, the brass was spotless, inside and out, primer pockets and all. They came out not quite as shiny as they might out of a tumbler where you added some flitz, but they were spotless. They looked like new pieces of brass.

I'm impressed and will continue to use it.

[Guest nicemac]

I haven't seen a review posted on one of these, yet, so thought I would add my comments here.

I purchased one of the new Hornady Ultrasonic Cleaners yesterday on a bit of a whim. I was curious if it could improve one of the hurdles in my reloading - that is the noise and mess associated with tumbling.

It's a small unit, that is advertised as fitting up to 100 .308 cases at a time. Frankly, it looks roughly the same as the small ultrasonic cleaners you can get at harbor freight or off ebay, just Hornady branded. I loaded it up with 250 pieces of 9mm brass that were pretty dirty. I covered them with water, which was right at a quart, poured in a capful of Hornady's cleaner, and turned it on. It will operate for up to 480 seconds at a time.

I was skeptical going in, but after three 8 minute cycles, the brass was spotless, inside and out, primer pockets and all. They came out not quite as shiny as they might out of a tumbler where you added some flitz, but they were spotless. They looked like new pieces of brass.

I'm impressed and will continue to use it.

I have considered getting one of these. Thanks for the review!

[Caster]

I wonder if the harbor freight version will do the same....for half the money?

[MacGyver]

I'd guess that it would. It's not really rocket science. I've got a friend who has one, I'll ask him in the morning.

I think Hornady's cleaning solution has something to do with it as well. They've got the acid mix right, and also neutralize it appropriately so your brass isn't discolored in the process.

[mikegideon]

They're not marking it up much, unlike the Remington dehumidifier. Might as well pay a couple bucks more and get the logo...

Amazon.com: iSonic® Digital Ultrasonic Cleaner, 1.5 QT, Professional Grade, Silver Color: Kitchen & Dining

[MacGyver]

I've never had reason to use their warranty, but I like the fact that if I break it and I call hornady because I've been cleaning "gun stuff". that's not likely to flip them out.

Detail strip on a Ruger MkII with about a jillion rounds through it tonight.

[Guest nicemac]

I've never had reason to use their warranty, but I like the fact that if I break it and I call hornady because I've been cleaning "gun stuff". that's not likely to flip them out.

Detail strip on a Ruger MkII with about a jillion rounds through it tonight.

I have used their warranty. About as good as I have ever experienced. Top notch customer service!

[dlm37015]

i use one from harbor freight.i use it with solvent in it to clean gun parts i use an industrial vibrator for cleaning brass it works very fast

[Magiccarpetrides]

I've never had reason to use their warranty, but I like the fact that if I break it and I call hornady because I've been cleaning "gun stuff". that's not likely to flip them out.

Detail strip on a Ruger MkII with about a jillion rounds through it tonight.

let us know how it does on the firearm....i thought haveing one might be nice for such purposes.

[MacGyver]

let us know how it does on the firearm....i thought haveing one might be nice for such purposes.

I did a detail strip before putting it in the tank. Ran it for two 480 second cycles. Cleaner got it spotless. After reassembly and lube, it may as well be a new weapon.

[Guest UberDuper]

I've got some cheap ebay one. It does such a poor job cleaning glasses and jewelry that I never bothered trying gun parts which is what I originally got it for. Probably need to find one with a little more oomf. I also never got around to mixing up some "Ed's Red" (I think that's what it's called).

[MacGyver]

Disassembled and loaded 4 10/22 mags into the basket. Was going to use simple green, but just used the hornady cleaner instead. Magazines were nasty going in - a couple had 1000s of rounds through them. All had been hanging up due to crud buildup in the mags. Came out spotless. Lightly oiled the springs, reassembled and retensioned the springs. Tested at the range, and all worked perfectly.

I'm finding a lot of uses for this thing.

[Guest xlearguy]

Does the Hornaday ultrasonic cleaner have a heater, and if so, do you use it?

[Guest nicemac]

I got surprised for Father's Day with this cleaner. Shot a bunch of 9mm and 5.56 at CHMR on Saturday. So I will get try out the new cleaner this week!

xlearguy, no heater. Hornady has a new Ultrasonic cleaner shipping in July that does have a heater–the Lock-N-Load® Magnum Sonic Cleaner.

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: New Products :: Reloading :: Lock-N-Load® Magnum Sonic Cleaner™ and Accessories

Midway lists it at $239.

[MacGyver]

I have been using hot water, even though the ultrasonic action of the cleaner seems to heat it up a good bit.

[Guest razorblade]

Just thinking. Anyone consider putting really old live ammo with fine sand in one of these to remove tarnishing on the brass? Just curious and have not given this nearly enough thought. Any other solution for this minor problem?

[Guest nicemac]

I have now used the cleaner several times and must say I am disappointed. I knew the unit was small, but was shocked when I actually took it out of the package. It is tiny. It will not hold many pieces of brass. Hornady says 200 .223. I do not believe it will clean that many– possibly hold that many if you VERY CAREFULLY stack them, but after a hundred or so in the basket, it just didn't clean well. Completely filling the basket resulted in no cleaning action at all. Filling to the "full" line still meant many cycles to clean the brass. Using the 40:1 ratio for the Hornady cleaning fluid, the (already tumbled) brass was only marginally cleaner inside than it was after tumbling. Increasing the solution to water ratio to 20:1 and running through three more cycles delivered what I would consider reasonably clean brass. Some primer pockets still had small amounts of goo however. Keep in mind, this brass had already been tumbled and was clean on the outside already. I had already used a primer pocket tool to get the chunks out. This batch of brass would be considered best case scenario for cleaning.

I will admit, it did put a shine on the outside of the brass that I did not have before - the brass really glows (on the outside) after a few cycles. I learned however, that this is likely a function of the solution alone. Just soaking some brass without sonic cleaning delivered nearly the same results.

After several cleaning cycles, the unit was hot. I mean HOT. Hornady says to let it cool after three cycles. I had 500 or so pieces of .223 to clean. I can see that taking all day and a lot of futzing with. (the maximum timer setting is 480 seconds–8 minutes)

APPARENT PRODUCTION CHANGE:

The unit I received has a different basket than the one that most reviewers trash for not having a handle. MINE HAS TWO HANDLES THAT ALLOW FOR LIFTING THE BASKET OUT OF THE SOLUTION EASILY.

Positives:

◦ Small

◦ Quiet

◦ Relatively inexpensive

◦ Hornady solution puts a brilliant shine on outside of brass

Negatives:

◦ Low capacity

◦ A single cycle at the maximum timer setting is too short to clean anything–by Hornady's admission. They recommend three or four cycles. Why not just allow for a longer cycle and not have to keep going back and restart it?

◦ Lid is not hinged so you have to find somewhere to put it while putting brass in and taking it out. No huge deal, but it builds condensation during use. As soon as you set it down on the counter, you have a messy counter as it drips. If you set it down inverted to prevent this, it runs off the side as it is not flat on the top. Picky I know, but easily avoided with hinges on the lid.

After cleaning a couple of hundred cartridges, I do not believe this unit is for me. I will likely return it.

So, I still need a solution. Have any of you tried the stainless steel media cleaners? It looks like a lot of people like the Thumbler's Tumbler B with stainless steel media.

Stainless Steel Reloading Supplies | Tumblers, Seperators, Media & More!

While it has a 15 pound capacity, it will really only clean two pounds of cartridges. (five pounds of media, eight pounds of water in a gallon) That is only 175-180 .223 cartridges. That process takes four hours plus rinse and dry time. That looks like all day again to clean 500 pieces of brass.

What are you guys experience with this, if any?

Edited June 23, 2011 by nicemac