Al safe solvent?

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Magoo

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I got a bit carried away on Thanksgiving and put too many rounds through my .22 suppressor without cleaning it. It is STUCK now and I can't open it up to clean it. The tube is alloy steel and the baffles are aluminum (it's an AAC Prodigy).
Anything with amonia will attack the aluminum. This rules out Hoppes,
Sweets, and GI bore cleaner. None of the gun solvent bottles I look at (understandably) list their recipe.
So far the can has sat submerged in Kroil for 48 hrs, and I started an overnight soak in mineral spirits a few hours ago. The MS may work, but I was hoping for some suggestions for my next plan of attack expecting the worst.
 
Whoa!! Not trying to steal your thread but Hoppes #9 attacks aluminum?!? I've been using it on mine with no problems so far. Please tell me....do I need to stop?
 
Steal away. Al + Amonia (NH3) will for Aluminum Hydroxide Al(OH)3.
I don't know what you're using amonia-based stuff for, but I'd imagine as long as you don't soak your part in it and let it sit that you may well be okay. Sure you may lose a bit of Al, but not enough to notice or matter.

I am looking for something to thoroughly soak the can in, and any oxide/hydroxide formed is only going to make things worse. I need something that will "cut" the carbon while not reacting with the aluminum. I should probably call my dad the retired chem prof, but I figured someone in here would have a solvent in mind.

I'm going to look up Ed's Red now...
 
Looking at the Ed's Red recipe I think I'll just go change my overnight soak from mineral spirits to acetone. I don't really need to properties of the other ingredients for my goal here. If I had TCE or MEK I'd jump to that, but I'll give acetone a try for the night.
 
Thanks RC, and I will use a bit of anti-sieze in the future. It's not the threads that get stuck on these though. What sticks them is crud build up between the baffles and the tube. Anti-sieze might help lube that area up some though and keep it from getting gunked so quickly. Apparently the real "trick" to these is unscrewing them a turn or so every magazine or two to break up the crud before it gets built up too much.
 
The MPro 7 says it cuts lead and "most" copper fouling. I've got to think that if it does that, it's also going to react with the aluminum.
 
Thanks for the update. Is that on their website and I just missed it? I'll call around town tomorrow and see if anyone has some in stock. I also think I might head over to Harbor Freight for one of thier ultrasonic cleaners. I hate cheap tools, but I've heard decent reviews on these units.
As of last hour, it is still stuck. My frustration has yielded a couple of new wrench scars on the unit :(. It has spent the day duct taped to the top of my vibratory cleaner in an acetone bath. It spent a few hours that way in an MEK bath, but the MEK was eating the PVC container tube a bit too quickly (and I knew better- oops).

AAC has been harrassed aplenty over on the Silencer Talk forum to make a disassembly wrench for the Prodigy and they haven't come through :fire:. I guess I should give them a call tomorrow with my displeasure and further encourage them.
 
You can usually Goggle the MSDS for any bore cleaner.
That right there will list all the ingredients in percentage points.

If the MSDS doesn't list ammonia, it doesn't have ammonia in it.

rc
 
Good call RC. That should have occurred to me, but it didn't.
Hmmm.....I wonder if there's an MSDS for Coca-Cola's original formula? :p

Well, I got the HF ultrasonic cleaner today. For $25 I'm sure I'll get my money out of it assuming it doesn't self destruct too quickly. The suppressor just fits, and the 3 minute cycle time is annoying as it requires babysitting. It is definitely getting black out of there, just pretty slowly. I don't know how long it's going to take but I think it'll work.
 
I am going to risk sounding like a broken record here, but this is important. Do NOT use Simple Green in the USC if you have any aluminum parts in the tank. You can seriously damage the parts. I know, because I have done it myself....
 
Not a broken record at all. If you'd mentioned Simple Green before I missed it. I hadn't reached for it, but I do like the stuff when wrenching on greasy stuff. I'll certainly avoid the SG. Really, all input and advice is appreciated.

I seem to be getting diminishing returns out of the USC. :(

Sidebar: I talked to AAC today about them making a wrench for the can. "Yeah, we really wanna make one- check back after the Shot Show" was the best he could do. And they wouldn't sell me a couple of o-rings (that I've detroyed with the chlorinated solvents) and I had to get a 25 pack from McMaster. I'll be taking a long look at Silencerco for my next purchase. I failed to ask them what the most aggressive solvent they'd okay was :banghead:.
 
I know some manufacturers will let you return a suppressor for cleaning. AAC isn't one of them.

Cleaning directions from GemTechs website on how to clean an Outback 2:

The suppressor is all aluminum, and many normal gun cleaning solvents
will damage aluminum. These include Hoppe’s, Sweets, GI Bore Cleaner,
and all water-based agents (such as SLIP-2000, MP-7, Simple Green, etc.).
Water should never be used.

What does have merit is to occasionally blow out the suppressor with
dry compressed air to blow out loose powder granules. Blowing should be
done first from the rear and second from the front.

Any other attempt at cleaning may well shorten the life of the suppressor.
If it becomes necessary, the suppressor can be rebuilt to factory new
condition at a reasonable cost.

If the user feels compelled to clean the suppressor, immerse only in
hydrocarbon-based solvents such as mineral spirits, WD-40, or lacquer thinner.
Click to expand...
 
Heck, I should have thought of WD-40 in the first place and mentioned it.

I use it all the time in gun repair to hose out old dryed bullet grease & burned powder from .22's I am working on.

rc
 
I think USCs can be a really great tool and a great labor-saver, but you have to be a little careful. I've tried to be a miser by using other solutions - the bottom line is that nothing works as well as the cleaners that are purpose-made for cleaning guns, etc. in an USC. Save it to reuse a few times - filter the cr@p out with coffee filters - they do things that are almost impossible to do otherwise. One example that really surprised me recently was a Model 12 that hadn't been cleaned in years. I disassembled it and went after it with toothbrushes, cleaners, the whole 9 yards. I thought I had it clean. I put the receiver, bolt, trigger assembly, etc., into the USC. An unbelievable amount of carbon and other filth came out, even after a very careful and thorough cleaning. M1/M14/M1A/Mini-14 bolts are another great example...
 
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