Wet tumbled nickel plated brass - turned "gray"

[IMtheNRA]

I tumbled nickel plated brass in hot water, a little bit of Lemishine, and a couple of drops of Dawn. NO PINS, 2 hours in Frankford's big wet tumbler.

The brass is not nearly as shiny when compared to the brass that came out of the dry tumbler with walnut shells.

It seems a little duller, and grayer then it was before it went into the wet tumbler.

Any idea what caused this, how to avoid this dulling effect, and whether or not it is reversible?

 

[dredd]

Too much 'shine could do it.

No pins eliminates any abrasive action which would help with the cleaning process.

I actually did an experiment last weekend with Nickel.
I wanted to see if I had any flaking issues etc.

I cut down some 223 to make 300BLK cases.
I ran them 6 hours in a Thumblers with 1 table spoon soap and less than an 1/8 of a teaspoon of shine.

They came out looking like chrome.
No issues with the plating etc.

If I were you, (wanting to freshen them up) I'd run them again with pins, a sprinkle of shine and a spoon of soap.

As they are, I am sure they are just fine to load.

 

[gamestalker]

That seems rather odd.

I've never had nickel change color before, seen yellow brass do some strange things, but never nickel.

GS

 

[ku4hx]

Interesting comments here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/archive/index.php/t-116182.html

Lemishine may not be compatible with nickel plated cases.

 

[IMtheNRA]

Thanks for that link. So what actually happened to my nickel plated cases? Did they get plated with brass, or did some of the nickel get washed away in the Lemishine solution? They're just a little dull, but still look like nickel plated cases. Of course, I'd prefer to have the old "chrome" look back.

 

[Longhorn 76]

Are you sure they were nickel plated and not steel cases, or aluminum?

 

[Rule3]

Thanks for that link. So what actually happened to my nickel plated cases? Did they get plated with brass, or did some of the nickel get washed away in the Lemishine solution? They're just a little dull, but still look like nickel plated cases. Of course, I'd prefer to have the old "chrome" look back.

Hard to say with seeing them, or what, if anything else was in your tumbler,

Sounds like electrolysis caused by dis similar metals.

Same basic action that corrodes outboard motors in salt water. Aluminum and copper kinda makes a battery and starts corrosion.

Too much acid (lemi shine or vinegar) will cause regular brass to turn purple.

Take a piece of your brass and try some extra fine steel wool and/or some Flitz and see if it will polish back up.