i've never had any plating loss using a vibratory tumbler using walnut shells and even adding some 80-grit silicate carbide lapping grit

what media were you using?

still, i see one of those cleaners in my future...

Walnut shells in the vibratory.

For lugs screws or TR rods looking at this approach.

First impression is no clogging of threads or screw heads. PITA removing embedded walnut medium in these bits after a tumble. The parts were clogged and never got clean.

Time will tell. But I'm liking this device.

Played with the heat solution option. No fires so will test and report.

Creighton

Hey thanks for the tip on the machine, never thought about one of those. I just recently tried the vinegar method and it worked good but still required a wire brush to get the threads clean.

Good tip! I may have to get one.

Jeff, you may already know this trick, but I have a Gibraltar key made to chuck in my drill. I put my rods in the key and squeeze some vinegar-soaked 0000 steel wool around the threads, then squeeze the drill trigger with my other hand. I also soak the rods in vinegar a few beforehand. It's not perfect, but it's fairly quick and easy...and does a nice job.

Lynn

Yes, I have done that as well but I had been using evaporust or something like that which works but much more expensive than vinegar. And the vinegar dose not seem to harm the chrome like other cleaners I have tried, I let them rods soak for a week with no problems.

I have used one of these for quite awhile, I use a smaller container inside the unit to hold the parts and the cleaning solution of 1 part commercial simple green and 9 parts water. I find it much easier than contaminating the whole 2.5 l capacity of the tank each time. Another trick is to make sure you don't let anything touch the bottom of the container itself. I took the screen it came with cut the tabs off of it turned it upside down and zip tied some pop bottle caps on it so only the bottle caps touch the bottom of the container in the non raised portions of the tank. It keeps the tank from burning out as that is the area where the heater and the ultrasonic waves are generated.

Using this setup for over a year and can basically do most parts from a set in just a couple of smaller containers loads of media mix.

As my buddy Joe Luoma says "it almost seems like your cheating" when rehabbing hardware compared to the tumbler or hand polishing. I still soak my tension rods first in white vinegar for a few hours if really rusty before the ultra sonic bath. I usually run the parts with heat for two or three 8 minute cycles. Oh and to speed things up use luke warm water to fill the tank and your container as that way the cleaner heater than doesn't have to heat up the cold media and starts cleaning better immediately.

I have used my cleaner extensively for the past year with great results and no signs of it giving up the ghost yet.

I got a lot of these tips from an automotive forum where they use it to clean small parts.

Hope this helps some of you get one, as it is the best thing I have found to speed up and make the rehab process much faster and better than the tumbler which I used for years before. I do still use the tumbler in certain instances so they both have their place.

Any questions just PM me and I will try to help.

Thanks for that info nopork. I'm really tempted to get one of these. I don't acquire gear as frequently as I'd like, so I'm still hesitant to make the investment, and find a place to store the unit. However, it sounds safe and extremely effective. I soaked a couple rusty lug screws from my Jazz Festival in vinegar for about 30 minutes several years back and it stripped the white paint off the heads and the gray plating/coating completely off. It stripped them down to a copper-looking material. They still work, and don't have a speck of rust on them anymore, but that experience made me hesitant to leave nickel-plated parts in vinegar for more than 10-15 minutes. Chrome is tough, so I don't worry much about those parts.

Thanks again!

Lynn

Thank you NoPork. Great tips.

Ran a butt side first gen clamshell through the device today.

Used rubber washers under the tray (no soda lids and scotch bottle tops to tall :-). Leary of Simple Green on nickle plating so went with Dawn.

Warm water in both containment vessels. Heat on and temp probe touching outer wall above water line in one of the pics. I shut heat off at 135 degrees. When I used a hot plate to soak didn't like anything over 90.

First round was 480 (7.55 min) 5 min rest, 480, rest, 480 =+/- 35 minutes. Then heat off and temp probe in the inner tray. Stayed at 125 for a run of 380/rest/380/rest/480 30 minutes or so. I'm calling it an hour total.

Photos aren't the greatest. Big thing I am liking is how clean everything thing is. PITA to get walnut oil off bits. Not throwing any tools out but this is a nice addition. Went with the $20/2 yr. replace so can test the limits :-).

Hey Lynn, lucky my lesson in better know base metal and plating types before tossing into solutions came "somewhat" cheap.

Creighton

Hey Creighton! I like that Slingerland Radio King parts cleaner! :p Pretty nice results. I wanna see pics of your snare when you get those clam shells back on! Yeah, lug screws (I previously said lug nuts) aren't a terribly big deal to loose playing on since I can get some off eBay. However, that's made me nervous that vinegar will strip nickel off, though...and it'd be a bad day if it was P83 or a 3-point.

So, are you guys picking these up at a local store or online?

Lynn