Rex Rugged
New member
Can you and is it a good idea to clean a bolt in a ultrasonic cleaner?
Here is a new (I think) question concerning ultrasonic cleaners
- Thread starter Rex Rugged
- Start date
Yes, all metal parts should be fine in an ultrasonic.
A few caveats i can think of
The bolt and parts should probably be disassembled so that they can be dried and lubricated before reassembly.
If its a surplus bolt that is seized up, you might try the ultrasonic to get it loosened up enough to get it apart.
And make sure your cleaning solution is appropriate for your application. Seen people use degreasers to clean suppressors out, worked well, and there are other dedicated additives, but id be careful with household chemicals.
A few caveats i can think of
The bolt and parts should probably be disassembled so that they can be dried and lubricated before reassembly.
If its a surplus bolt that is seized up, you might try the ultrasonic to get it loosened up enough to get it apart.
And make sure your cleaning solution is appropriate for your application. Seen people use degreasers to clean suppressors out, worked well, and there are other dedicated additives, but id be careful with household chemicals.
Last edited:
georgehwbush
New member
also of note depending on the media used, it can get stuck pretty tightly in small holes "like flash holes" ejector maybe or other tight places, be sure to clean all the media out afterwards.
Never heard of sn ultrasonic using anything but liquids, did i miss something?
I think the above is mistaking a tumbler with an ultrasonic clearner.
Re: the latter, we routinely disassembled fyre-arms before placing the parts in a basket for immersion into the liquid. Depending on how dirty the part was, we could scrub it afterward with a brush. Ultrasonic cleaners just made the task easier
Yes, time is the question. If you have plenty of time, soaking in firearm ultrasonic (US) cleaning solutions with the heat on before running the thing can also help get it clean faster. If you don't disassemble fully (and some don't), the final step of running the part in the US (to get it into tight places) filled with water displacing oil is important. I have put some extremely tough jobs (M1A gas cylinder, for example) in other water-base solvents (Slip 2000 Carbon Killer) to soak prior to the US cleaning, but I rinse them off in another US filled with water just before going into the US with the gun cleaning solution in order to avoid chemical mixing to any significant degree. One exception I can think of is after a 3500-rounds-with-no-cleaning function test (yes, it ran that many rounds before the slide stopped closing completely on its own), I once left some heavily fouled 1911 parts in a container of Ed's Red for a week, which turned the bulk of the fouling into a sort of black sludge that was flowing off of them to the bottom of the container. I then took them out and let them sit a day in mineral spirits to clear the other components in Ed's Red, and then let them dry for a day before going into the US solutions (Infante Sonic Tonic gun cleaner and their Sonic Lube water-displacing oil). That made the fouling really easy for the US to drive off.
georgehwbush
New member
apologies i was tired when i read the OP and did "think" bolt in "tumbler" ... didn't think ultrasonic bath... sorry my bad.
Double Naught Spy
New member
As Shadow9mm noted, certain cleaners may not be a good choice with some metals. For example, we used ammonia & soak for cleaning gold and silver, but would never want to use ammonia on carbon steel for prolonged runs or without an immediate oil bath after thoroughly being washed with plain water.
Stuck parts we have put into their own little cup of penetrating oil in the rest of the cleaning solution (as its own little isolated solution) and the stuck parts can vibrate in their own solution without contaminating the cleaning solution. Sometimes, the parts will disassemble themselves from the vibration after a couple of days.
Stuck parts we have put into their own little cup of penetrating oil in the rest of the cleaning solution (as its own little isolated solution) and the stuck parts can vibrate in their own solution without contaminating the cleaning solution. Sometimes, the parts will disassemble themselves from the vibration after a couple of days.
Ultrasonic cleaners work great for anything with carbon deposits and oil. I use them mostly for suppressors but have found they will surprise you what they will break up quickly. I read comments about soaking for hours, usually I run mine for 15-30 minutes maximum but I do turn the cleaners on a few minutes before I start so they can heat some. Cleaning just suppressors with one of mine I only change the solution every couple of months and I shoot very often. I don't use anything exotic, I buy simple green by the gallon and mix about 10% simple green with water and it breaks up carbon quickly. Here is a Mask HD cones before after with no wiping at all.
