OilyPablo
Member
I've been tumbling .45ACP and 10mm. Batches?! -we got batches! My tumbler can handle 5 #'s of brass easy. With excellent results. Thousands of pieces of brass, gleaming and perfect. Bagged and tagged.
I do it per the book in a Rebel 17. 4-5# brass. 5#'s steel pin media. 1/4 tsp Lemishine. 4 TBSP of earth friendly liquid dish detergent. 3 hrs. Rinse really well, separate, rinse, ring dry in a towel, dry in a food dehydrator.
I finally today ran out of deprimed brass. I had been depriming for a good while before I started tumbling. The only part I hated was how dirty the process is. SO......I thought........hmmm.... ok, tumble with the primers in......it works with the formula above, but the primers stay wet, so I deprimed right away, and yes the pockets were still dirty. When wet the primer pockets clean with a tool, once hardened it's more of a pain........it's a pain either way. So back in the tumbler....smooth and pockets clean in under an hour. Again using the same formula as above.
I repeat the "primer in" cleaning sequence a couple times.....
Still with me?
Well I get the brilliant idea of not using Lemishine for the first wet clean.....and think that some other degreaser cleaner would work better...hmm...Simple Green?, Amazing Roll Off? Zep Orange Cleaner? All sitting on the shelf.
For no particular reason I grabbed the Zep.
http://www.zep.com/ZepSearch/singleproduct.aspx?search=0415&nu..
Poured about a 1/2 cup in top with cold water and set the tumbler in motion. 1 hour later open up. First thing I notice is the top seal is STUCK. Like glue. I get it peeled off, no harm....but everything is coated with black gooze. The brass, the pins, the inside of the tumbler liner. YUCK. Rinse everything as best I could to assess the situation. First thing, this scunge will wipe off with elbow grease....it's tough but removable. And better, the rubber liner isn't damaged. First I clean the rubber liner with Simple Green, the Roll Off. Nice and clean. The pins are a complete mess, so soak in Simple Green rinse with very hot water, repeat. Then tumble alone and every thing is finally clean. What a waste of time!
Now to that batch of brass..........it's coated with this gooey junk and I need to deprime it. So I clean it a couple times, and it is cleaner, but still messy to deprime. Ugg. I will finish depriming it tomorrow and do the regular clean in the AM.
So what happened?
1) My pins and tumbler had built up a lot of junk.
2) The Orange cleaner made a strange emulsion with the built up stuff and all the new dirt. Maybe emulsion is not a good word because the stuff was not water soluble.
Lesson learned. Keep pins clean and stick with known chemistry.
I do it per the book in a Rebel 17. 4-5# brass. 5#'s steel pin media. 1/4 tsp Lemishine. 4 TBSP of earth friendly liquid dish detergent. 3 hrs. Rinse really well, separate, rinse, ring dry in a towel, dry in a food dehydrator.
I finally today ran out of deprimed brass. I had been depriming for a good while before I started tumbling. The only part I hated was how dirty the process is. SO......I thought........hmmm.... ok, tumble with the primers in......it works with the formula above, but the primers stay wet, so I deprimed right away, and yes the pockets were still dirty. When wet the primer pockets clean with a tool, once hardened it's more of a pain........it's a pain either way. So back in the tumbler....smooth and pockets clean in under an hour. Again using the same formula as above.
I repeat the "primer in" cleaning sequence a couple times.....
Still with me?
Well I get the brilliant idea of not using Lemishine for the first wet clean.....and think that some other degreaser cleaner would work better...hmm...Simple Green?, Amazing Roll Off? Zep Orange Cleaner? All sitting on the shelf.
For no particular reason I grabbed the Zep.
http://www.zep.com/ZepSearch/singleproduct.aspx?search=0415&nu..
Poured about a 1/2 cup in top with cold water and set the tumbler in motion. 1 hour later open up. First thing I notice is the top seal is STUCK. Like glue. I get it peeled off, no harm....but everything is coated with black gooze. The brass, the pins, the inside of the tumbler liner. YUCK. Rinse everything as best I could to assess the situation. First thing, this scunge will wipe off with elbow grease....it's tough but removable. And better, the rubber liner isn't damaged. First I clean the rubber liner with Simple Green, the Roll Off. Nice and clean. The pins are a complete mess, so soak in Simple Green rinse with very hot water, repeat. Then tumble alone and every thing is finally clean. What a waste of time!
Now to that batch of brass..........it's coated with this gooey junk and I need to deprime it. So I clean it a couple times, and it is cleaner, but still messy to deprime. Ugg. I will finish depriming it tomorrow and do the regular clean in the AM.
So what happened?
1) My pins and tumbler had built up a lot of junk.
2) The Orange cleaner made a strange emulsion with the built up stuff and all the new dirt. Maybe emulsion is not a good word because the stuff was not water soluble.
Lesson learned. Keep pins clean and stick with known chemistry.