Wet tumbling brass - why is my brass getting tarnished?!

[450 Dakota]

I went from 1/4 teaspoon to 1/8 and my brass looks way better.

 

[Wayne Huff]

I've recently switched to wet tumbling and when I'm done with a lot of brass it looks great, but after a few hours out of the tumbler it already starts to tarnish and look grey.

I've been told that lemon shine is very acidic and using too much can actually cause this. I never really measured my Lemi shine but I use a small sized tumbler (it holds 30 or so cases of 7mm Rem. Mag.) and I was probably using a full tablespoon amount along with the same amount of dawn dish soap. That being said was that the problem and if so how much lemi shine should I use?

I like the wet tumbling and the brass comes out looking awesome I just want the shine to stay. Any thoughts or recommendations would be great on what you all use while wet tumbling to get great results.

To much

Sounds good! Thanks for the info. I was already doing a post wash in cool water and then I would individually wipe down each piece of brass before I let them air dry for a day prior to reloading.

I'll def start measuring and using less lemi shine which sounds like will fix my problem. I'm going to start with a new lot of brass as well in case the acidity in my old method damaged the brass I was using.

I knew someone on here would have the answer, and I knew there was a chance I jacked it up.

To much Lemi-shine, also rinse in warm water, use 2 drops of liquid dish soap with the first run in the tumbler

 

[bigedp51]

Lemi-Shine is just citric acid that adds bling to the tumbled cases.

And Lemon-Lime Kool-Aid is 97% citric acid but your fingers and brass will turn green if you use it.

When all else fails read the directions, my STM wet tumbler calls for 2 to 3 tablespoons of dish washing liquid and a 1/4 teaspoon of Lemi-Shine.

Below make sure you read line 5

 

[foul bore]

I have used distilled water for rinse, no problems, don't overkill with liquid shine and soap. tap water causes a problem

 

[planetwaves]

I use Frankford Arsenal Brass Cleaning Solution. My tumbler has a 7 liter (7.4 quart) capacity and the instructions call for 4 cap fulls of the solution (a smaller tumbler would use proportionally less). After tumbling for up to two hours, drain out the dirty water and rinse thoroughly to remove solution and dirt inside and outside of cases (there are various ways of doing this). Note: I just use tap water for the entire process and have had no issues with tarnishing, etc. Then drain the water from cases and dry. I use a cookie sheet in the oven at 200 degrees for an hour. Brass comes out looking like new. Although steel pin media came with my tumbler, I have never used it. Once through the above process has been adequate.

 

[czymtn]

Too much LemiShine - it's fairly acidic, so reduce that.
Don't tumble excessively long w/pins (esp. w/the LemiShine) - beats the brass up a bit.
You can get tarnish and water-spotting by not drying also, depending on water source/quality. Rinse the brass in clean water, post-tumble, and drain. Get a cheap food dehydrator at the Goodwill or on sale, with as many drying racks as you can, arrange the brass on the racks right after tumbling and 'dehydrate' until dry. That should help hold the 'shine'. You can dry your pins this way too, by spreading them on a cloth over one of the drying racks.

 

[hollywood63]

I pre soak in dawn overnight just drain most of the water dump them in a Franklin tumbler with 3/4 teaspoon of lemi and a teaspoon of meguiers car wash soap. 3 hours rinse and air dry. Shine like the sun. Till the next time

 

[jbrand11]

When you wet tumble you are taking everything off the brass. After tumbling and drying the brass put it in a dry tumbler with several gobs of NuFinish polish and it will stay shiny forever. Or until you wet tumble again

 

[Dosh]

Ben, I've been SS pin wet tumbling for quite some time. From trial and error I've found tumbling too long, too much Lemishine, and not drying quickly all contribute to discoloring. 2 hours, 1/4 tsp Lemishine, squirt of Dawn and compressed air drying yields the cleanest, shiniest brass. Just my procedure. Good luck

 

[RockZ]

All great advice!
Another thing found is that dishwashing detergent really strips the brass.
Car wash and wax is much better in helping the brass retain it's luster for a much longer time. Try it!

 

[cougarvan]

I agree on car wash, I've been using Meguiars car wash with wax. My brass stays shiny and looks good for a long time.

 

[hubb]

I also use Meguiars wash and wax. It's the best thing I've found, it cleans well and makes for some great looking brass

 

[MudRunner2005]

I've recently switched to wet tumbling and when I'm done with a lot of brass it looks great, but after a few hours out of the tumbler it already starts to tarnish and look grey.

I've been told that lemon shine is very acidic and using too much can actually cause this. I never really measured my Lemi shine but I use a small sized tumbler (it holds 30 or so cases of 7mm Rem. Mag.) and I was probably using a full tablespoon amount along with the same amount of dawn dish soap. That being said was that the problem and if so how much lemi shine should I use?

I like the wet tumbling and the brass comes out looking awesome I just want the shine to stay. Any thoughts or recommendations would be great on what you all use while wet tumbling to get great results.

Using too much LemiShine will make your brass tarnish and turn black and pink. I used to run the brass processing portion of an ammo plant, and we had a couple batches that did that when too much LemiShine was put into the mix.

Be sure to extra-thoroughly rinse your brass afterwards, too. You don't want any chemical residue on it. This is also probably causing you some of your scaling issues.

What you need is a brass dryer. And then tumble polish the brass after it's completely dry. That will remove the water quicker, and then the tumbler will polish up the cases and remove any tarnish or chemicals stuck to them.

 

[whirlwindjml]

Hi all.... I don't normally chime in. Always forget my password. But I have to agree with the zero purple cleaner to clean the pins. If ya notice you can use a pretty broad amount of lemishine at first then after a few times you get the dull black brass. Cleaning the pins [not the brass] with the purple cleaner every few runs to bring the ph back. Has worked for me anyhow. I saw a guy on the utube where i got idea to try it. Hope it helps ya. Don't shoot yer eye out.