Gets parts really clean
I have just used it for some really carbonned up parts and cleaning a suppressor and it works great.
Is it worth the extra money?
I'm not sure I should have rated it a 5, because it wasn't quite up to all the hype I have read about it. On the other hand, it does work very, very well, and there is no way to rate it 4.5 . There are two purposes for this machine. 1) CLEANING CASES This is what it is sold to do, but it isn't quite up to all the hype I've read. You really can't put all that many cases in the thing and have it do a good job in a short period of time. I liked throwing 50 or 100 cases in my tumbler, turning it on, and forgetting about it for a few hrs. The max time you can set this for is 8 minutes. It will not clean many cases in 8 minutes, even with the solution mixed in distilled water at 1-20 ratio as suggested. Maybe 300 WSM cases are hard to clean. Whatever. You will go reset the timer quite a few times before all those 50 cases are cleaned in batches of 10 or 15 (1 layer deep, in a 5 X 8 pan). On the other hand, it DOES clean the inside of the cases much better than the tumbler ever did. That's the only reason it got the 5 rating. 2) GUN PARTS CLEANER Now, it DOES do this well. (A point to reinforce here is that there are two different cleaning solutions to use depending on what you are cleaning). I used it to clean my muzzle brake by suspending the gun with just the brake submerged in cleaning solution. It worked GREAT. I can only image that it would work just as well cleaning any other gun parts you could fit in it. RECOMMENDATION Lyman, upgrade the machine to allow the operator to set the timer to at least 15 minutes. It's a pain in the butt to keep having to go out and reset it. Work on that case solution a bit to make it more aggressive. Yes it works, but it could be better. Compared to a tumbler, it's a 5.
works well and quiet
this product worked as I heard about online. NOT as it was advertised. Yes technically you can shove 900 or whatever 9mm cases in it and get the lid to shut. it has to vibrate what is inside to clean it. I personally clean 25 357 cases with the recommended cleaner in 8 minutes everytime including the inside no exceptions. REMEMBER TO DILUTE THE CLEANER. but its good stuff. Yes you have to let them dry. You can run the unit in the house on the kitchen table with the baby sleeping no problems. Its that quite. Do that with your stainless media tumbler.
what are you looking for ??
Got this unit for a early Xmas present and ran my first batch of 270 shells thru it. I wanted a sonic case cleaner basically for the inside of the cases and really for the primer pockets. Does this unit work ? and the answer is yes! I have a tumbler cleaner and will still use this for extremely dirty cases before I de-prime and resize my brass then I will run them thru the sonic cleaner. The only draw back is the price of the cleaning solution...
Great product but.....
I have used my cleaner for about 3 years and it has worked well but.... First of all, I load it fairly full (2/3 basket depth) and will run it for 3-5 480 second cycles with the cleaning solution. I then rinse my cases in hot water and dry them on an old towel (they are probably still damp inside) and then put them in my vibrating cleaner for about an hour to polish the brass. They look better than new when done. Now the "but". The fan has started to rub and make noise. I contacted Lyman via email but no response. Now it is either replace or find a new fan. If not for the fan issue, I would rate it at a 4.5 to 5.
Expensive hot Water cleaner
This machine isn't quite uselsss,although it was basically an expensive water heater that makes high pitched noises. Yes I know what ultrsonic means, but I didn't expect it to be so loud I need ear plugs to sit next to it.It was mentioned in the instructions that ear plugs were needed but I didn't think it would be this bad. This items basically just super heats the water, the ultra-sonic part was as big as a half dollar in size. The most cleaning it does is just from the heat that heats up the burnt powder. It is also pretty expensive to run due to it needing "RO" water and expensive cleaning agent. For every 40oz of water I was using 1oz of solution,mind you the solution came in a 15oz bottle for $1 dollar an ounce.I eventually went back to tumbling, unless you are super picky about your cases inside and your primer pockets to be spotless I WOULD NOT BUY THIS ITEM!
Poor cleaner for rifle cases
Cleans handgun case reasonably well after 6 480 second cleaning periods with the Lyman cleaner, ratio set for heavy. Rifle cases-- don't waster your time or money
Don't waste your money!
I have tried several batches in this "cleaner" and this is probably the biggest waste of time and money I have ever spent. Unless you want to do batches of 10 or 15 cases at a time, you do not want this cleaner. It may work well as a parts cleaner but I purchased it to clean cases and it does not work as stated. I called Lyman because the instruction plainly state that it comes with the new stainless steel basket which significantly improves performance over cheap plastic baskets. Problem is, it came with the cheap plastic basket. Lyman said that they all come with plastic now which means they no longer have the "improved performance". The biggest problem though is that the cases have to be dried over night before you can do anything with them. Can't resize or prime wet cases. Save your money and buy a different brand or a vibratory tumbler.
