Hello guys. I sell high end ultrasonic cleaners (some are $50,00 plus) and I have a demo unit that I get to keep in my garage. I use it to clean my AR's, AK's and handguns. I usually just throw everything in there. and pull it out. The water is 160 degrees so everything flash dries. My question is related to night sights. Do you guys think the ultrasonic waves would damage the sights (meprolights) I literally just installed them yesterday so I don't know a whole lot about the maintenance of them. I usually only leave stuff in for 5 minutes.

BTW, the unit is 40,000 hertz, so it's the most powerful one out there.

Probably not a good idea. You don't need an ultrasonic cleaner to clean a pistol slide.

I have never had a problem using my ultrasonic with trijicon sights. I remember reading somewhere that a person had a problem with the ultrasonic damaging the adhesive that holds in the titrium vials on meprolight sights. Just have no idea if it was an isolated incident.

The tritium is safe in two capsules, it will most likely not cause any issues.

But the ultrasonic cleaners do have a tendency to weaken polymer parts and if not oiled upon removal, it will also wear down the firearms finish a lot faster. We have a $7K setup sitting in storage for those reasons.

Take the time and do it by hand

I stand my slides upright with the top of the slide (and sights) out of the solution.
Probably not needed, but every now and then I like to (think) I'm cleaning debris out of the extractor, firing pin etc.  Places you can't get to otherwise.
After cleaning, I run it with the ultrasonic lube to make sure there is no water internally (doesn't really "lube" but coats the parts to prevent rust)

ETA: no idea if it would hurt my night sights, but I paint the front of my sights around the vial bright orange and don't want the paint to come off.

I asked Trijicon:

Question:
I have your night sights installed in my Glocks. Can I clean the slide in an ultrasonic cleaner or is there a danger that this may damage the night sights? Thanks for your help.

Their response:
Thank you for your patronage of Trijicon products. Our Nights Sights should not be adversely affected by ultrasonic cleaning when used as directed, no more than 5 minutes in the machine. Many Law Enforcement agencies use this method and we deem it as acceptable practice, and we are also hearing good things about the newer, biodegradable degreasers. Please contact us should you require further assistance.

Sincerely
EL
Trijicon Customer Service