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Just for the sake of completeness, why IS comparing a suppressor to a muffler "apples and oranges"? If you get nitpicky enough, EVERYTHING is "apples and oranges".

because they are not even close to the same, for the reasons given.

does your engine run on smokeless powder, with chamber pressures of 60,000 psi and combustion temperatures of 1400F? is the exhaust violent enough to erode iconel and vaporize lead?

comparing an automotive muffler to a firearm suppressor is more like comparing a baseball and a jellyfish.
 
I haven't used my brand new Sparrow yet, and after watching some YouTube video's showing the different ways to clean it, it seems that an ultra sonic cleaner works the best.
Couldn't you use a really light film of Never-Seez on the internals to prevent all of the leading that accumulates? Or, would the high temps scorch the anti-seizing compound.
They do make a high temp compound that's good for up to 2,400 degrees.

you can put a light coat of oil/lube/water/etc in some cans to reduce the fouling, but you will never completely prevent it. this may also destroy some cans as the sudden vaporization of the material increases the internal pressure beyond design limits. this restriction is more common with centerfire rifle cans -- you can't run them wet for example. where you can with many pistol cans where the pressures are far lower.

anti-sieze is designed for mated surfaces, not as a general coating. i'd expect it to get blasted off the internal surfaces in short order. the anti-sieze that doesn't get blasted off would do the same thing that lube does in firearms -- attract carbon fouling like nothing else. while it might prevent hard caked on fouling, it would make your can foul quicker overall and require more frequent cleaning. so it's a tradeoff.
 
Picked up a dust deputy (cyclone dust separator) for the blast cabinet yesterday. :)

found a used dust deputy deluxe on craigslist for $50. (they cost $100 new) came complete and assembled with 2 buckets, casters, vacuum hose, and mounted dust deputy. :D

now I just need to get or make an adapter to hook up a shop vac hose to the cabinet, and then I will have a dust collection system in place on the blast cabinet.
 
That makes sense. I missed the post about the "Dip" method. How does that work, and, what is needed?
The "Dip" is equal parts of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. It is not compatible with aluminum. You soak your steel baffles in the solution for a while, at least overnight. The resulting stuff is a toxic mess that needs to be disposed of correctly, but your baffles should be clean. Suggest google "suppressor dip"
 
An interesting trivia item regarding lead acetate: the Romans used it to sweeten sour wine; even though they knew it would make them sick or crazy, they did it anyway.

I have heard that it's possible to precipitate the lead out of used dip using NaCl, table salt. Anyone know if this is true?
 
The "Dip" is equal parts of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide. It is not compatible with aluminum. You soak your steel baffles in the solution for a while, at least overnight. The resulting stuff is a toxic mess that needs to be disposed of correctly, but your baffles should be clean. Suggest google "suppressor dip"
I don't have silencer but have leaded a barrel or two severely.. think a 3/8" hole reduced to .30 cal and a few 10-15 minute "soaks" (plug barrel) and token scrubbing worked like a charm. I've heard that it will indeed damage steel and would suggest not leave it "at least overnight" especially if it's still acting in a sacrificial manner.
 
I have heard that it's possible to precipitate the lead out of used dip using NaCl, table salt. Anyone know if this is true?
I have also read that it is possible to precipitate out the lead in the Dip, but I don't remember what was used. I'll go find the info. I think it was on silencertalk.com

Here is what I read:
Kind of a late reply, but a note on the "dip." Dipping produces lead acetate, a water-soluble lead compound that is just toxic as hell. It can be rendered LESS toxic, and much safer to handle, by precipitating out the lead into an insoluble lead salt.

Mix up about a pint of epsom salts. Make the solution saturated, i.e. add enough epsom salts so that no more will dissolve.

Take your used dip, and slowly add the epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) solution. You will immediately see solid lead sulfate fall out (precipitate) as a powder. Continue adding epsom salts until no more lead sulfate forms. If in doubt, add it all.

The solubility of lead acetate is about 50 grams per liter... that is a lot. Lead sulfate is only 0.0038 grams per liter. Lead sulfate is still toxic, like all lead salts, but much, much less dangerous than lead acetate.
 
I just found the post you are referencing. Another chemical to use in the same manner, albeit slightly more dangerous than Epsom salt, is battery acid. You can get it from an autoparts store (~25% Sulfuric acid) and keep adding it until all the lead sulfate precipitates out.
 
I wonder if you could drop off that toxic mess (lead, sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide) at my annual neighborhood DEQ cleanup day, without raising too many questions.
 
I wonder if you could drop off that toxic mess (lead, sulfuric acid and hydrogen peroxide) at my annual neighborhood DEQ cleanup day, without raising too many questions.
Who knows. You could probably request operating procedures.. but they probably pour everything upon kitty litter and after drying/gassing off, burying it
 
You have to dispose of the resulting lead sulfate precipitate (the byproduct of both the Epsom salt and sulfuric acid method) at a hazardous waste facility. For the sulfuric acid method, you also need to neutralize the solution using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). I would neutralize the solution after precipating the lead because there will still be some acetic acid from the dip itself.
 
Probably not any more acetic acid than in salad dressing, though?

Our local Pierce County facility has a hazardous waste office to which your dip solutions can be submitted. No doubt all major county facilities have a version of this. Your phone is your friend. It is good that suppressor owners are aware of the proper methods of use and disposal of these compounds.

Thanks for the Epsom salts post!
 
dust separation system in place and working pretty well! keeps the cabinet clear and makes it MUCH easier to see inside while blasting and evacuates all of the dust within seconds so I don't have to wait long for dust to settle before opening the door.

Using a cheap small shop vac on the bottom with double layered filters (there is a foam filter underneath the dust filter)
20140428_164403_zps5ff26968.jpg
mounted the dust deputy to the side of the cart to keep it all together, keep that top heavy dust deputy stable, and keep the whole unit mobile so I can get it out of the way easily when it is not in use.
20140428_164427_zps081e5e5f.jpg

Added a drop light inside the cabinet because my LED light idea while effective and bright had a flaw....me :( I kept forgetting to turn the damn things off so the next time I would go out to use the blaster, the batteries were dead! :|
I used boxing tape to seal up the drop light so it wouldn't get media or dust in the outlet on it, or inside the bulb housing.
20140428_164501_zps90a6267f.jpg

Inside of the vacuum after an hour or so of blasting my tac-65 baffles and a little media cleanup around my cart from media that fell out after opening the door.

20140428_164605_zpsb58edbe1.jpg

and inside the cyclone dust separator after the above...
20140428_164654_zpsb740b8aa.jpg

note the vacuum was brand new and spotless, and I had just cleaned out the inside of the dust bucket with water and dried it off before I put the system to use... so a very minute amount of dust made it to the vacuum, but 99% of the dust got caught in the separator as you can see. :)
 
sure bring your dirty can(s) over :D

or clean ones and we can dirty them up long as it's only 22lr...

I only built my backstop for the 22's and low velocity rounds. Don't know how well it will stop high powered rifle rounds...probably stop a few before they start punching through but I don't want to test the theory. Using 3 VERY LARGE sections of tree trunk as a back stop. 2 ends back to back and the 3rd behind the first two making sure nothing makes it through the very small gap between them and provides extra depth to ensure the rounds stop.

The backstop has held up quite well to tannerite as well :D
 
here are the after pics:

cleancan1_zpsde3fd502.jpg
cleancan2_zps93550a09.jpg

It did take a while because of working out the bugs in the chineseum blaster gun and getting dust recovery system set up, so I technically only spent about an hour of doing any real blasting and the rest was tinkering with the gun and cabinet getting everything working and how I want it.

here was the before pic again:

20140330_170748_zps699e9a34.jpg

not bad for being only the second time this can has been cleaned since 2009, and it has had thousands of rounds through it. mostly federal value pack and remington subsonic rounds.


I don't think they came out too bad considering how neglected they have been and how many rounds they have endured. Obviously don't look like new, but they are good enough. the blaster wasn't really getting the rest of the blackening off of them but all of the caked up lead and powder are gone off of them.

The blaster made light work of the caked up parts and such. really would have only taken me maybe 10 minutes if that was all I was originally going for, but I tried getting all the blackening off too and that just wasn't happening lol. So I finally gave up after an hour and called it good enough.
 

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