MK5/MK10 body cleaning brush?

[Gilldiver]

Stop by a gun store or any Walmart and get some gun cleaning brushes. They should have both bronze and nylon brushes in calibers from .22 on up through .45.

The nylon ones would be better on chrome plated ID's.

Then, a good cleaning in an ultrasonic cleaner will do the job. If you don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, take all of the metal parts apart and put them into a strong solution of automatic dishwashing detergent and let it simmer on the stove top for 10-20 minutes, brush out what you can, repete till clean.

Warm/hot detergent solutions work much faster and better then cold.

 

[Zung]

That's an excellent point, Gilldiver. I once fought hard against a stuck HP plug on a 1st stage. I finally stripped it and put it in the oven along side my sunday roast (OK, slow roast, 250°F, but plastic should get pretty soft at that temperature).

I won.

 

[HenrikBP]

Stop by a gun store or any Walmart and get some gun cleaning brushes.

Thanks Gill ... but while we have take-out Chinese food everywhere, gun shops in NYC are as rare as hens teeth

Guns brushes are a good idea though and I'll try to source some from an online store.

OK, slow roast, 250°F, but plastic should get pretty soft at that temperature).

Slow cooking, eh. I don't think there's enough gunk to warrant cooking. I'll be getting some scrub pads today and give that a try.

Thanks again guys,

Henrik

 

[Gilldiver]

What I do is get a medium to large sauce pan, fill it 3/4 with tap water and dump in some cascade dish washer detergent. Then get it up to a slow simmer/boil and drop the reg parts into it. Even plastic parts should be fine at 180-200F. Salt deposites should come off in about 15-20 minutes.

I understand that gun stores are hard to come by for some, so go to the camping area of a walmart, or you can do mail order from just about any gun supply house.

Here is one:

Gunslick Nylon Bore Brushes Rifle/Shotgun. 41579, 41590, 41583, 41580, 41582, 41588, 41581, 41584. Gunslick Cleaning Kits.

 

[HenrikBP]

Thanks for the details Pete. Good to know.

The reg is actually really pretty with no deposits, corrosion or chrome damage.

The problem was that some of the o-rings were so old that they were stuck to the reg parts and generally crumbling. The ones where I could see the grooves had a bit of o-ring residue left on the chrome surfaces after I got the o-rings out. This residue came off fairly easily with some Simple Green and a bit of toothbrush scrubbing.

It's just that HP o-ring groove that I 1) can't get to scrub and 2) can't see to check for residue.

Henrik

 

[fppf]

Never pick in oring grooves, they are smooth machined surfaces.

Here, its currently on sale.

- Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[Couv]

The problem with leaving a MK5 or MK10 in an ultrasonic cleaner (or acid bath) long enough to dissolve the discrepant o-ring, is the chrome will also start to erode.

 

[fppf]

If its quality chrome that has not been already compromised, by say, picking at it or corrosion. Using a water based cleaner in the ultrasonic should not damage the chroming at all.

And if we are talking about the piston, I thought that material was stainless. Typically the bodies are brass with chrome plating with the internal parts stainless.

 

[Couv]

Fppf,

Correct about the piston, it should be stainless.

Quality chrome is the issue; SP chrome seems to be either very thin or the process that applies it is not very durable. I found this out the hard way with a very nice MK 5. It looked perfect for except some of the hard to clean areas needed a little more attention. I was the owner of a new ultrasonic cleaner, so I left the body in longer than I should have. When I removed it from the bath, to my shock I saw a crescent shaped area of brass with no chrome on it at all.

c

 

[redacted]

Fppf,

Correct about the piston, it should be stainless.

Quality chrome is the issue; SP chrome seems to be either very thin or the process that applies it is not very durable. I found this out the hard way with a very nice MK 5. It looked perfect for except some of the hard to clean areas needed a little more attention. I was the owner of a new ultrasonic cleaner, so I left the body in longer than I should have. When I removed it from the bath, to my shock I saw a crescent shaped area of brass with no chrome on it at all.

c

That sounds like my kind of regulator.