LEM Electromagnetic Case Cleaner

As a reloader one essential part of your brass! To this end most of us use a vibratory machine with dry media. The biggest drawback is the ability to clean inside of the body, primer pocket and flash hole, the latter requiring a separate, manual operations. In many ways the process does little more than polish the exterior; OK it gets it clean but! Other alternatives are the ultrasonic machines that vibrate the cases in water. The results are not bad but not amazing and I would not bother with one!

LEM now offers their Electromagnetic Case Cleaner, which is a wet machine but uses steel micro-needles. It’s powered by Neodymium magnets that agitate the needles that literally scrubs inside and out. As you can imagine this should solve the problems of the interior and also the primer pocket and flash hole.

BIG

The machine is big and heavy and consists of the electromagnetic base, 10-litre plastic bowl with lid, pack of micro needles, power cable and the magnetic needle recovery tool. This is a series of magnets on a plate that is applied to the base of the bowl once cleaning has finished. The field it exerts traps the needles so when you pour out the contents they do not get lost. You will also need a 2-pin plug adaptor for the UK power supply. There are two versions of the machine both identical but one has a timer.

The process is simple; drop in up to 300 cases and top up with water to about 2” above the brass. Give a quick squirt of washing up liquid and set the machine going. LEM recommend a run time of 20 minutes. I dumped in 150 mixed cases and ran it for the proscribed 20 minutes. The first thing I noticed was how dirty the water was, obviously removed debris. To drain the bowl lift it off and place the needle recovery plate on the base and pour out the water and the ‘majority’ of the needles remain in the base.

WASH, RINSE & REPEAT!

Cases come out clean and smooth, though some particularly grotty 8.5x63 brass was still dirty inside but you could see it coming off. What I really liked was the primer pockets and flash holes were clean so no tiresome post-prep! I dumped the brass back for a further 30 minutes and things were getting better. Two things – sometimes the needles stay in the case so get thrown away, I’d recommend taking the cases out individually and just resting the neck on the base of the bowl so the magnets remove the residue. Secondly they are wet so will need drying, which is just a matter of laying them on a towel in a warm room. After experimentation I reckon really dirty brass needs about 60 mines, but once sorted a 25 min wash cycle will keep them up to snuff! However the end result is well worth the effort!

PRICES: Standard £365
DELUXE: £395 (timer)
REPLACEMENT NEEDLES: £16.50
CONTACT: Henry Krank & Co Ltd, 0113 256 9163 * www.henrykrank.com

FOR: Highly effective cleaning system
AGAINST: Not cheap compared to a tumbler
VERDICT: Far more effective than a tumbler Well worth the effort!