Posted: 8/5/2014 4:30:24 AM EDT
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Now maybe everyone already knows this but while watching some video reviews of various suppressors I found a guy who had a shiny silver can. He said he had out it in his ultrasonic cleaner and it stripped the finish off of his AAC can. I brought this up to AAC while calling them to ask about the best cleaning methods. They said DO NOT put any aluminum in an ultrasonic cleaner. They said that ultrasonic cleaners can actually destroy the metal as well as very likely to strip aluminum surface treatments. Apparently the US waves can alter the metallurgy of the aluminum and weaken and essentially cause premature failure to aluminum gun parts.
I was not aware that no aluminum should be cleaned in an Ultrasonic cleaner. I haven't gotten a cleaner yet since I find cleaning the old fashioned way after every shooting session to be therapeutic. It was always ritual as a kid that after shooting my father always made sure we cleaned the guns completely before we did ANYTHING. You also didn't put a gun down without wiping it down after every touch. So anyway I thought I would share this warning in case others didn't know about it with the popularity of US cleaners growing. |
| The main problem is cavitational erosion that occurs in most ultrasonic cleaners wherein a part sits in a static position during the cleaning cycle. If the part can be oscillated during cleaning the erosion is less likely to occur. As mentioned, the cleaning solution plays a role as well. Any acidic cleaner will etch the surface of the aluminum, basically stripping off the protective oxide layer over and over if used in an ultrasonic cleaner. Wrong chemical and your fancy aluminum lower will dissolve like an Alka-Seltzer. |
| The physics behind Ultrasonic action is pretty interesting, (Actually I guess it would be closer to fluid dynamics ). I remembered my discussion when I saw a beautiful Sig P238 Desert for sale on the EE that the seller said he would UltraSonic clean it before shipping, and I cringed and said "Nooooo" in my head thinking it would remove, or weaken the Cerakote, or ruin the Aluminum. I forget if any of the 238 fram is Al, or if the frame was steel. I had one when they first came out, but I sold it. |
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Silencershop discussion
just pay arrention to what parts are made of each material, most of the really dirty parts of a SS sparrow can be cleaned but not everything can just go in -Mike |
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Quoted: The main problem is cavitational erosion that occurs in most ultrasonic cleaners wherein a part sits in a static position during the cleaning cycle. If the part can be oscillated during cleaning the erosion is less likely to occur. As mentioned, the cleaning solution plays a role as well. Any acidic cleaner will etch the surface of the aluminum, basically stripping off the protective oxide layer over and over if used in an ultrasonic cleaner. Wrong chemical and your fancy aluminum lower will dissolve like an Alka-Seltzer. Actually the opposite is is true. A basic solution will strip aluminum, lye ie sodium hydroxide is used to strip the oxide layer off of aluminum prior to anodizing. A solution of sulfuric acid along with electric current is used to grow the anodizing out of the surface of aluminum.
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