Do i need to preclean brass before i put it in the FART ?

[armydad]

I'm guessing it might be a combination of concentration and time in solution. I will contribute too and will post. I'm anxious to see how you fare.

Edited June 1, 2016 by armydad

[Sandbagger123]

So after 2 hours in my tumbler with corn cob i got some interesting results. about half of them came out ok. not polished or 100% clean though. half of them still had the tarnish and pinkness to them. i know my ratio was high on the lemi shine. there was not pattern to the headstamp so it must be the deepness of the tarnish that is the difference. so lemi shine and dry tumbling seem to not work.

can't wait till my FART shows up

[lefty o]

lemishine is citric acid, it needs to be desolved in water.

[Bkreutz]

I use a sprinkle of lemishine (less than a teaspoon) in a gallon of water, I also use Turtle Wax Zip car wash and wax for soap (along with SS pins) Tumble 1 hour, rinse and lay on a towel to dry. (I separate the pins in a media separator with water in it, the water keeps the pins from sticking to the brass)

[bamabound]

I agree. I've had my water almost come out black

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[Sandbagger123]

got my tumble this morning and ran it and the pins for an hour to clean it out. out of curiousity i threw in some 38 sup cases . after an hour they came out shiny except for a few that were pink. i think they are probably the most tarnished ones.

i am going to put these very tarnish in the machine and run it for 3 hours and see what happens. will report back in 3 hours .

[Steve RA]

If they are turning pink you are using too much Lemishine or leaving the brass in the solution for too long.

[Ray_Z]

Frankford arsenal rotary tumbler. Gets a lot of people.

Thank God!! I didn't know what that meant either. In my dirty mind I just couldn't Think of how putting brass where the sun don't shine could get it clean.

[Ray_Z]

Would adding brasso work? Or is this one of those things that does more harm than good?

[Sandbagger123]

so i am done. 3 hrs in the FART with 1 tsp lemi and 1 dawn . Am i happy? very much so. About 90% came out perfect with the rest quite a bit better, i think those were extremely tarnished. the important thing to me is the insides are clean. no matter how much i washed them before, there would be residue inside the previous way. i used to have access to indoor range brass but that has stopped and i need to get out door brass like the great unwashed masses.

this load was precleaned by corncob tumbling. i am doing another load now that is straight from the ground. Dirt etc still on it. i wonder how it will do.

[outerlimits]

Having had a FART for 2 years now, I have chased everything...hard and soft water, too much/too little lemishine, etc. if you wanna have it perfect, bite the bullet and use the cleaning solution sold by FA. Works perfectly every time.

[slavex]

Does this count as tarnished?

Edited June 10, 2016 by slavex

[FightFireJay]

- 1 teaspoon seems like a lot of lemishine unless you have EXTREMELY hard water.

- I use a Thumlers Tumbler B with SS media and I can get chocolate brass back to shiny. But it takes a long while.

- The only time I ever got pink brass was when I had a couple brass coated steel cases get in the mix and weird things happened.

- Putting the brass into a media separator and adding water to the bottom bucket works flawlessly for me... but I still use a magnet to make sure, lol.

[noylj]

Why is so much time, effort, worry, and thought spent on such insignificant things? For almost 100 years, all case cleaning consisted of was wiping off the exterior and ensuring there was no mud, rocks, spider webs, wasp nests, or such in the case.

If you are going to wet tumble with SS pins, just do so. It will take 6-8 hours.

I fill the tub of my RCBS media separator with water and all the pins fall out after just a few spins.

The cleaning liquid is filthy and it gets poured down the sink.

Have you considered the "proper" way to bathe? First, you shower to remove most dirt. Then you soak in the tub for at least 30 minutes to loosen dead skin and embedded dirt. Then you take another shower to exfoliate and clean your pores. That is how to get clean. So, do the same for your cases if you want. Soak cases in water and detergent for a day or two and air dry. Tumble in nut media for 1-3 hours and then SS tumble. If it makes you feel better, it's worth it.

[FightFireJay]

Why is so much time, effort, worry, and thought spent on such insignificant things?

Because we like shiny things!

[chrishoesel]

If you use Dillon case lube, or other lanolin based lube, then yes, you absolutely have to clean the lube off before putting it in the FART. I use a mixture of Krud Kutter degreaser in a plastic pail with water for 5 minutes before putting it in the tumbler.

If you skip this, you will have black brass come out.

[ultimase]

With pink cases, also check if they are steel. The only time I had cases turn pink when tumbling was when there was a case or two that were steel that snuck in.

[rustybayonet]

The tarnished cases I have tumbled and then stainless steel pinned look like yours - polished tarnish. I think the case needs to be free of oxidation; at least long-term oxidation.

So are you saying the wet tumbling will not bring them back to shiny brass if they are this tarnished? this is just with corn cob as i am waiting for my Fart to come

Push harder. here in Detroit we just head to whitecastle and the farts get out quik!