Using the dish washer to remove lube and clean rifle brass after resizing

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I was thinking about buying a wet rotary tumbler but after watching a few videos on how to use one and people buying a food dehydrator to dry them after I was thinking , what a pain in the keaster. There has got to be a easier way of removing the lube and clean them up some before throwing them into my vibratory tumbler. After some brain storming I came up with the idea , why not use my diswasher with a packet of cascade plainum. Not only will it clean and wash away the messy lube , it will also dry them with it's built in dryer. Between the upper and lower basket there are 120 nylon coated 3" spikes sticking up that work perfectly for each cartridege. Works like a charm. Thought I would pass this on. Makes life a little bit easier...
 
My concern would be any lead deposits that might become imbedded in the plastic "spikes". Seems you might be setting yourself up for ingesting that lead.
Not really concerned about lead as the dishwasher does not do much cleaning if any to the inside of the case. I use are either polymer tipped or totaly encased copper clad bullets. Only thing left in there is powder residue which I have found no evidence of it impregnating the nylon. Even if there was a small trace of lead anywhere on the case , there is not enough pressure by the dishwasher to impregnate the nylon coated spikes..
 
After dad had lead removal chelation therapy I'm scared to have any of that near my food prep. Same goes for vibratory tumbler used indoors.

Lead exposure is mostly due to the primer compounds emitting aerosolized lead.

Dad basically gave me instructions at such a young age perhaps I'm unable to overlook the precautions
 
For basic cleaning sure, but most folks who tumble, wet or dry, are after not only clean but “shiny” as in factory new brass. Does the dish washer remove the stains and restore the shine.
 
Well, now that the secret is out, this may put the wet tumbler industry out of business. You have to wonder why no one has thought of this before. ;)
 
Not really concerned about lead as the dishwasher does not do much cleaning if any to the inside of the case. I use are either polymer tipped or totaly encased copper clad bullets. Only thing left in there is powder residue which I have found no evidence of it impregnating the nylon. Even if there was a small trace of lead anywhere on the case , there is not enough pressure by the dishwasher to impregnate the nylon coated spikes..

Lead is a component of primer compounds unless you're using "green" primers. I'm not sure how much lead could be transmitted to you using the dishwasher but I'm sure there is some.
 
Yeah I do my depriming in a shed, then it's about a 70ft walk to the back door, all done intentionally.
Keep lead away from the house.
Primers use lead styphnate, which in the presence of burning smokeless could form all kinds of crazy lead compounds.
 
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I think it's a bad Idea. Get that wet tumbler and let the brass dry on it's own overnight. You don't need a dehydrator, just a towel to shake off most of the water and lay them out to dry while you're sleeping.
 
When I was a lead man in a Circuit Board company , I ran a Gold Plating line. When that Gold Plating business went overseas, I went to the leveler department. They put lead on the circuit boards. Each board was about the size of 1 page of newspaper. There was one guy that worked in the room where the lead was put on the board. After the lead bath, the board was blown level by 550 degree air through a small slit. He was inside of that room a minimum of 5 to 6 hours a day for years. The small room he was in had a constant haze from lead and the oil on top of the lead in the sump.Finally his blood test showed him barely over the PPM warning level. IT took a long time of daily-- weekly-- yearly exposure. Is lead a worry, yes--- but at what exposure level ?
 
Not really concerned about lead
Most lead contamination comes from primers.

Personally I would not recommend cleaning brass in the dishwasher as water is recirculated through the entire system continuously for hours - Too many places for lead particles to be trapped to be released later.

There are some great wet tumblers made to do just that like Frankford Arsenal Rotary Tumbler.

Be safe.
 
I just put mine in a bucket of hot water with tide, during summer months I bungee cord it to my lawn tractor for some vibration. I do dry in the oven and then tumble in walnut shells. They get very clean.
 
Don't mix cases with food.

I do wash my cases in hot soapy water and a plastic wash basin. Not a basin I used for food dishes. It does not take much mixing or stirring to remove RCBS water soluble lube. My memory was that Imperial Sizing wax came off easily with hot, soapy water. There are lubes that can be only tumbled off.

I used a strainer and rinse. And I shake the washed brass to remove as much water as possible. Once you see the residue on the bottom of the basin you might figure out that you do not want that stuff on your dishes. Then it goes on a pan, used only for this purpose, into the toaster oven which I set on low. Which is supposed to be around 150 F. Temperatures above 400 F will anneal the brass. I don't recommend heating brass above the boiling temperature of water as it becomes too hot to handle. You will burn yourself, or something. Just wait for the water to evaporate, which takes about half an hour for 100 rifle cases.

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I'm using and old plastic pretzel canister, filled with hot tap water to wash brass. I put in a bit of laundry detergent (keeps the foaming down) and just shake it for a minute. Set it down for a few, shake it again, roll it around on the countertop.

Set out in the sun to dry on an old towel.

This method keeps the ickies from doing whatever the ickies may do. I really don't know what the level of danger is, but a small amount of prevention is easy.
 
There has got to be a easier way of removing the lube and clean them up some before throwing them into my vibratory tumbler.

I actually chunk them in the dry tumbler to knock off the lube, doesn’t get much easier than that.

For drying I set them out in the Sun, I can dry thousands of them in less than 3 beers during the summer.

D8F4EE0D-A4C6-4E07-B1D4-F9DD406296C5.jpeg
 
3 beers? That's a pretty fast drying time. I live in North Carolina and in the summer it is just to humid to dry my cases that fast.

Mine take more than 3 beers. I see you have a tumbler out there, you must be knocking more water out of them before you throw them on your stand to dry.
 
How close is the heating element to the brass? I would shut of the water & try to get a reading on the temperature near the element.

"Although dishwashers are watertight, they don't actually fill with water. Just a small basin at the bottom fills up. There, heating elements heat the water to 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. ... The heating element at the bottom of the dishwasher heats the air inside to help the dishes dry."
 
I use a Lyman ultrasonic cleaner to clean my brass with lemi-shine and Dawn. I know that combo won't hurt my brass in the long run. When done the dirty water goes down my sink drain.

I mounted an infered dryer on the wall above my workbench in the garage and dry my brass under it. I leave them under there for about an hour and works winter and summer case dryer.jpg
It takes them up to about 330 degrees and for some reason must keep my brass about half annealed. I don't get split cases since I started using this thing.

I did put a timer on it after forgetting about it once and leaving it on over night. It turned them a pretty blue on the mouth. I ran them through the rotary tumbler and they were bright yellow after about a half an hour. Three inches away from the pans and I can hold my hand in there and it's just warm.
well dried brass.jpg

I kept this batch separated from my other brass and did neck tension tests with my Shimpo stain gage and they had the same neck tension the others had so I loaded them and I am still shooting them. I thought I ruined them but apparently not. If I can get 50lb neck tension with loaded rounds I consider them as good or better than factory.

Really, I run them through the Ultra sonic, rinse them off with clean water, throw them on the pans under the infered heater and set the timer and forget about them.
Very easy and they are clean inside and out, including primer pockets most of the time.

This method only takes two beers from start to finish.
More equipment involved though.
 
Don't mix cases with food.

I do wash my cases in hot soapy water and a plastic wash basin. Not a basin I used for food dishes. It does not take much mixing or stirring to remove RCBS water soluble lube. My memory was that Imperial Sizing wax came off easily with hot, soapy water. There are lubes that can be only tumbled off.

I used a strainer and rinse. And I shake the washed brass to remove as much water as possible. Once you see the residue on the bottom of the basin you might figure out that you do not want that stuff on your dishes. Then it goes on a pan, used only for this purpose, into the toaster oven which I set on low. Which is supposed to be around 150 F. Temperatures above 400 F will anneal the brass. I don't recommend heating brass above the boiling temperature of water as it becomes too hot to handle. You will burn yourself, or something. Just wait for the water to evaporate, which takes about half an hour for 100 rifle cases.

View attachment 892230

Good heavens. I agree with you. he should just buy a tumbler and be done with it. I have developed a protocol, and many others have too. I wash off my dishes to the point nothing is left on them before I put them in the washer.....dirty brass? I dont think so. Just my take. If you live with a wife, girlfriend etc., this will not make them happy either.

Russellc
 
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