Armory Sponsor
Posted: 7/11/2026 6:28:07 PM EDT
[Last Edit: limaxray][Edited]
|
Doing my semi-annual bulk brass cleaning, so running about 12 loads or so through the tumbler. Same process for all the loads. Frankford Arsenal tumbler, Brass, 5lbs of steel pins, about a tablespoon of laundry detergent and about 1/2 teaspoon of generic Lemishine. Attached File Batch on the left is like every other batch before--nice and shiny. Batch on the right just came out, it's almost olive drab. NEVER seen that before, and I have been doing brass cleaning for literally decades (but only about six years with the tumbler). Any ideas on what happened? Assume it's a chemical reaction of some sort, but with what? The only difference between this batch and the previous is caliber (this was all .30), so maybe a chemical reaction of some sort with powder/primer? No steel cases in there by accident, everything was brass, everything deprimed before tumbling. Doesn't bother me from a functionality perspective, but my OCD is a little twitchy right now.  |
"Three, two, one, keyturn."
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
| Total mixed bag of brass. Some .mil, some commercial from all manufacturers, for all calibers in the batch (.30 carb, .300Blk, .30-06, commercial 7.62x39, and a couple of .300 Win Mag) |
"Three, two, one, keyturn."
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
Joined:
Jun 2007
Posts:
72880
EE: 100% (1)
WA, USA
|
Originally Posted By limaxray: Doing my semi-annual bulk brass cleaning, so running about 12 loads or so through the tumbler. Same process for all the loads. Frankford Arsenal tumbler, Brass, 5lbs of steel pins, about a tablespoon of laundry detergent and about 1/2 teaspoon of generic Lemishine. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/30315/20260711_181107_jpg-3793580.JPG Batch on the left is like every other batch before--nice and shiny. Batch on the right just came out, it's almost olive drab. NEVER seen that before, and I have been doing brass cleaning for literally decades (but only about six years with the tumbler). Any ideas on what happened? Assume it's a chemical reaction of some sort, but with what? The only difference between this batch and the previous is caliber (this was all .30), so maybe a chemical reaction of some sort with powder/primer? No steel cases in there by accident, everything was brass, everything deprimed before tumbling. Doesn't bother me from a functionality perspective, but my OCD is a little twitchy right now. There is gunk build up on your pins or the inside of the tumbler barrel. Easy fix. Fill tumbler with normal amount of water, pins, Lemishine, but a little extra Dawn. No brass. Run tumbler a couple of hours. When you empty your tumbler it will be clean and ready for the next batch of brass. When you tumble the green cases, a little extra Dawn with that load. Good luck. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
|
Originally Posted By dryflash3: I know exactly what happened as it happened to me. There is gunk build up on your pins or the inside of the tumbler barrel. Easy fix. Fill tumbler with normal amount of water, pins, Lemishine, but a little extra Dawn. No brass. Run tumbler a couple of hours. When you empty your tumbler it will be clean and ready for the next batch of brass. When you tumble the green cases, a little extra Dawn with that load. Good luck. That simple? Nice! We'll do that today. I usually use laundry detergent on brass, I have found that Dawn will leave some greenish residue (too many phosphates, from what I've read), but on this cleaning cycle I'll use it. |
"Three, two, one, keyturn."
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
Joined:
Jun 2007
Posts:
72882
EE: 100% (1)
WA, USA
|
Originally Posted By limaxray: That simple? Nice! We'll do that today. I usually use laundry detergent on brass, I have found that Dawn will leave some greenish residue (too many phosphates, from what I've read), but on this cleaning cycle I'll use it. But water chemistry is different in various locations. So you have to experiment to find what works for you. Good luck. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
|
OP, I like the look of the greenish-grey brass. <-- Now, THAT is weird. More weirdness - Has anyone ever used dishwasher detergent products? I ask because this seems like an alternate use for a product I already have and it works really well at cleaning dishes AND the dishwasher. I ask because the detergent they use is very simple and very effective. It can be purchased as a stand-alone product. They also sell Lemishine and/or citric acid as a stand alone product to modify the water's chemistry (pH). Finally, they sell rinse agent, too, either incorporated or as a stand alone product. |
|
Originally Posted By dryflash3: I know exactly what happened as it happened to me. There is gunk build up on your pins or the inside of the tumbler barrel. Easy fix. Fill tumbler with normal amount of water, pins, Lemishine, but a little extra Dawn. No brass. Run tumbler a couple of hours. When you empty your tumbler it will be clean and ready for the next batch of brass. When you tumble the green cases, a little extra Dawn with that load. Good luck. This is the way. I used to use Simple Green to do my clean outs. I eliminated the issue entirely going to PEG 75 lanolin which is water based. |
|
Originally Posted By dryflash3: I know exactly what happened as it happened to me. There is gunk build up on your pins or the inside of the tumbler barrel. Easy fix. Fill tumbler with normal amount of water, pins, Lemishine, but a little extra Dawn. No brass. Run tumbler a couple of hours. When you empty your tumbler it will be clean and ready for the next batch of brass. When you tumble the green cases, a little extra Dawn with that load. Good luck. Yep that looks exactly like what happened to me when i was trying to wet tumble insanely filthy leo range pickup….. my drum got filthy fast I used dryflash’s method to clean my drum |
|
All is right with the world again. Ran a load of dawn, lemishine and pins only. That was NASTY.  The water out of that one looked, and smelled, like black moldy sump pump water. Ran it this morning with those olive-drab cases, this is the result. Attached File Will have to see about that greenish verdigris-looking corrosion I saw last time I used dish detergent, that usually doesn't show up until after everything's dry. One other interesting note, this is the second time I've seen this: Attached File Pink/purplish spot on a case after tumbling. First time I saw it was about three runs ago, with a good 15 cases or so looking like this. Most of the purple wipes away. Almost like it's a reaction to an area of corrosion on the case. So thanks everyone, looks like I'm going to have to add a cleaning cycle every 10 or so loads. |
"Three, two, one, keyturn."
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
Joined:
Jun 2007
Posts:
72889
EE: 100% (1)
WA, USA
|
Originally Posted By limaxray: All is right with the world again. Ran a load of dawn, lemishine and pins only. That was NASTY. The water out of that one looked, and smelled, like black moldy sump pump water. Ran it this morning with those olive-drab cases, this is the result. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/30315/20260713_134618_jpg-3794555.JPG Will have to see about that greenish verdigris-looking corrosion I saw last time I used dish detergent, that usually doesn't show up until after everything's dry. One other interesting note, this is the second time I've seen this: https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/30315/20260713_134752_jpg-3794557.JPG Pink/purplish spot on a case after tumbling. First time I saw it was about three runs ago, with a good 15 cases or so looking like this. Most of the purple wipes away. Almost like it's a reaction to an area of corrosion on the case. So thanks everyone, looks like I'm going to have to add a cleaning cycle every 10 or so loads.  Looks like that 300 blk case has a bit of corrosion, and wet tumbling revealed. From the pic, I would scrap that case. Now if whole batch was pink, it would indicate you used too much Lemishine. But I don't think that is the case here. Just a bad case in the batch. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
|
Originally Posted By Trollslayer: OP, I like the look of the greenish-grey brass. <-- Now, THAT is weird. More weirdness - Has anyone ever used dishwasher detergent products? I ask because this seems like an alternate use for a product I already have and it works really well at cleaning dishes AND the dishwasher. I ask because the detergent they use is very simple and very effective. It can be purchased as a stand-alone product. They also sell Lemishine and/or citric acid as a stand alone product to modify the water's chemistry (pH). Finally, they sell rinse agent, too, either incorporated or as a stand alone product. I’ve looked into using dishwasher detergent, like cascade and the like. Apparently it’s a bad mix of harsh chemicals that don’t play well with brass. |
|
Originally Posted By dryflash3: All I have ever used is Dawn. But water chemistry is different in various locations. So you have to experiment to find what works for you. Good luck. Absolutely. pH and Hardness come in to the equation. Some areas you may not need Lemishine, others - too much you get pink brass and too little it will be dull. There is no one dose or recipe for all, it is indeed an experiment. |
Then President Biden added “The only garbage I see floating out there is [TRUMP] supporters.
|
When you see pink on a piece of brass it is called dezincification. It happens when the zinc in the brass is leeched out (usually chemically or corrosion) leaving the copper. The pink is the copper showing through. The internet says the pink spot is porous, spongy, highly brittle, and structurally weak. I consider any piece of brass with pink on it to be trash. |
|
Originally Posted By Jeeps-And-Guns: When you see pink on a piece of brass it is called dezincification. It happens when the zinc in the brass is leeched out (usually chemically or corrosion) leaving the copper. The pink is the copper showing through. The internet says the pink spot is porous, spongy, highly brittle, and structurally weak. I consider any piece of brass with pink on it to be trash. Yup, that's what I'm doing with it. Plus, as a 100% red-blooded American hetero male, I'd rather be caught at a Nickelback concert than shoot pink ammo. Not a chemist, but I'm curious what the chemical process is that does this. Dawn, generic lemishine, water, steel pins. |
"Three, two, one, keyturn."
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
"If there must be trouble let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." - Thomas Paine
I know the voices aren't real, but MAN do they have some good ideas!
Global Warming Hoax Skeptic before it was cool
Joined:
Jun 2007
Posts:
72905
EE: 100% (1)
WA, USA
|
Originally Posted By Jeeps-And-Guns: When you see pink on a piece of brass it is called dezincification. It happens when the zinc in the brass is leeched out (usually chemically or corrosion) leaving the copper. The pink is the copper showing through. The internet says the pink spot is porous, spongy, highly brittle, and structurally weak. I consider any piece of brass with pink on it to be trash. Then these cases went into the mix. Never had a problem with shooting them. Just my experience. But of course Mr. Murphy is always looking for a chance to appear. |
Selling agent for Algores carbon credit scam.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
Shooting and Reloading, one hobby feeds the other.
|
One thing I’ve done to keep my pins from getting yucky is this: when I’m done with them, I pour them back into my media separator and let them dry in the garage. Right now, it’s 100F in San Antonio, and while the garage isn’t quite that hot, it’s a great environment to dry stuff out. I’ve seen recommendations for drying the pins in an oven (spread out on a big cookie sheet at like 200F for half an hour) or drying in the sun. Whatever you choose, keeping the pins from getting colonized by mold and other gunk is a good tactic. |
Armory Sponsor