Wet Tumbled , not Bright and shiney!

[RonnieT]

I made a wet tumbler because I had an old rubber lined drum.
It works very well.
The first 2 batches of brass I tumbled came out great , looked new, ( was old black range brass.)
Last few batches I have done are clean but not bright like before.
My tumbler tumbles slow and quiet.
Probably 2.5 pounds of brass in each load. Used just over 2.5 pounds of SS pins, not quite covered the brass/media with cold water, a squirt of dawn, a squirt of Simple green, and not quite a teaspoon of Lemishine.
Hardley any suds when I open it.
First batches tumbled 1 hr 45 minutes, bountiful, since the others have been dull I have tumbled them a total of 4 hours each. Still tarnished.
I hose off with cold water rinse in my sifter, pouring out the dirty water till its clear.
Storing my pins still damp but with the lid off to air dry some.
Do you think the simple green is doing it or the lemishine?
Thanks

 

[FROGO207]

I use a few drops of Dawn dish detergent and 1/2 TSP Lemmy Shine for clean brass. I do not know what the simple green will do to it. Did you use that for every batch you cleaned? Did you rinse well and dry the same each time? Seems something must be different to cause different results.

 

[cfullgraf]

The wet tumbling recipe that I have calls for Dawn and Lemi-shine.

I'd guess the Simple Green might be reacting with one of the others and diminishing the cleaning and polishing action.

Try a batch without the Dawn and try a batch without the Simple Green and report back the results.

Inquiring folks want to know.

 

[medalguy]

Use sufficient water. The water and soap serve to hold all the crap in suspension until you drain and clean water rinse. Be sure to rinse the pins also when you're done with a load to get the carbon, etc out of it. You want clean media when you start a new load.

 

[KansasSasquatch]

Use sufficient water. The water and soap serve to hold all the crap in suspension until you drain and clean water rinse. Be sure to rinse the pins also when you're done with a load to get the carbon, etc out of it. You want clean media when you start a new load.

I don't wet tumble with stainless media but I do wet tumble in a concrete mixer. It gets the brass clean but not shiny. I think medalguy is right about not letting there be any air space in the tumbler. Also you may consider using hot water if possible. Hot water in an ultra sonic cleaner definitely shows improvement over using cold water, I imagine it could make a difference in wet tumbling as well.

 

[RonnieT]

Yes did the same each time, will try covering it full of water. and using hot water, and then without lemishine and then without Simple green.
yes I rinse well , I dont rinse all pins , only the ones that make it from the tumbler to the sifter bucket.
Will let you know.
Ron

 

[PhotoBiker]

Simple Green in my HF Sonic Cleaner (with water) turned my brass a dull brownish green. I switched to Dawn and Lemi Shine and then follow up with a corncob tumble and I have shiny clean brass inside and out. I do use Simple Green when I clean my gun parts though.

 

[Beanie-Bean]

I have the STM system with the Thumler's tumbler, and I've followed their recipe with great results.

Big squirt of Dawn
1/4 tsp of Lemishine
1 gal of H2O

5 lbs of pins
2 lbs of brass

Experiments on timing were done, and it was determined that if you change the water out after two hours, then run the brass another two hours with fresh solution that you'll end up with the desired results.

I've also learned that after the brass has been cleaned in this manner a few times, it only takes one cycle to get the brass just as clean and shiny.

Oh yeah, the water I use is cold.

 

[918v]

I have found the ideal ratio to be a .6cc Lee Dipper full, not heaping, of Lemishine with two flat table spoons of dish soap in a gallon of water. If I vary the amounts the color of the brass is affected. Sometimes the city adds crap to the water which also affects the color of the brass.

To me, you have too much Lemishine, and too little water and soap.

 

[Springfield0612]

I use the Harbor Freight dual drum tumbler, and when I go OCD and do 1# of SS pins and 1# of brass and 1# of water (yes I weigh it on an electronic digital kitchen scale), which is the max load for each drum, my brass comes out perfect. If I go overboard on the brass and light on the water I get bad results like you descibe. I'm thinking the same as was listed above with the water holding the dirty stuff in suspenion. If you over load what the water can hold off the brass, the dirty stuff has to go somewhere.
+1 on the experiment with and without the lemishine/simple green. Trial and error.

 

[Lee S. Forsberg]

I use one good squeeze of dish soap with water about an inch from the top of the drum. Turn for about four hours, drain, separate, let the brass dry and load. Brass comes out like new.

 

[bronco_buster]

I was getting splotchy water spots on my brass with dish liquid and lemishine. I changed my routine by adding one step...after rinsing is complete, I add a 45 case full of Lemishine with fresh water for a FINAL rinse. No more splotches, just shiny clean brass.

 

[oldpapps]

It's the 'Simply Green'.

I obtained a batch of nasty .40 cal brass and rattle tube didn't do it. So I dumped them into a mix of Dawn, ss pins and water and to help cut the caked on gunk a couple of spurts of 'Simply Green'.

This cleaned off the mud and tar (from the range) and left the brass a nice 'dark bronze' color. I kind of like the color.

With out the 'Simply Green', out comes the shine.

I always rinse under flowing water and dry in the oven (preheat to 250 degrees, brass on a towel on top of an old cookie sheet, wet brass into the oven and turn off the heat, when the oven is cool the brass is dry).

 

[RonnieT]

Well its all my fault , I now rinse my pins after each use , I do not add any simple green , I do add more Dawn and more water and a little more lemishine,
Came out bright , so I did it on the next 10 loads, each load only tumbling for 1hr.45 min each.
I only rinse in cold water from a garden hose while spinning in the sifter.
My tumbler and sifter are both homemade and work very well.
The sifter is made from a plastic storage tote you buy from dollar store.
the cage is 1/2 of a minnow trap with a home made lid set on a PVC frame work so you can spin a rinse clean.
lay the brass on a clean towel and let air dry with a fan, no spots yet and everything looks brand new.
Also I load the tumbler with the hottest water my water heater makes.
Thanks
Ron