Steam cleaning part 2
The last topic got locked but I wanted to weigh in on this...
The little hand held steamers you get at Target or Wal mart... in my experience, while they generate a fine looking cloud of vapor, it isn't really that hot. Yes, it is hot enough RIGHT AT THE NOZZLE but even an inch away it feels room temperature. It is great for working on the interior of bolt bodies, crevices in the receiver, etc.; but I've never been able to get the bore really HOT using one. Some models may work better than others, I don't know.
I'll take boiling water over steam any day. At least with what the little $35 unit I have generates. I tried a steamer hearing about its benefits, but only used it once or twice as I wasnt' wowed. Water has a high heat capacity and a bore full of boiling water quickly heats the metal up to nearly boiling, i.e. over 200 degrees... and that DOES open the pores and let the crud come out. Whereas with steam, the amount of water put into the bore is very minimal- meaning less heat capacity, less heating up the bore. Even if you DO have a high power steamer, I'll take a pint of water at 212 over a few ounces at 300 any day. The former just transfers more heat to the metal.
As said, it pretty much flash dries. Though I still use a dry patch to be sure. It is a treat for corrosive primers and black powder, and while it will remove carbon, as said, doesn't do much for metal fouling.
The little hand held steamers you get at Target or Wal mart... in my experience, while they generate a fine looking cloud of vapor, it isn't really that hot. Yes, it is hot enough RIGHT AT THE NOZZLE but even an inch away it feels room temperature. It is great for working on the interior of bolt bodies, crevices in the receiver, etc.; but I've never been able to get the bore really HOT using one. Some models may work better than others, I don't know.
I'll take boiling water over steam any day. At least with what the little $35 unit I have generates. I tried a steamer hearing about its benefits, but only used it once or twice as I wasnt' wowed. Water has a high heat capacity and a bore full of boiling water quickly heats the metal up to nearly boiling, i.e. over 200 degrees... and that DOES open the pores and let the crud come out. Whereas with steam, the amount of water put into the bore is very minimal- meaning less heat capacity, less heating up the bore. Even if you DO have a high power steamer, I'll take a pint of water at 212 over a few ounces at 300 any day. The former just transfers more heat to the metal.
As said, it pretty much flash dries. Though I still use a dry patch to be sure. It is a treat for corrosive primers and black powder, and while it will remove carbon, as said, doesn't do much for metal fouling.
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I'm going to add something too; responding to some of the comments from the last thread.
Again, steam is just really hot water.
Plain water *WILL NOT* remove hydrophobic fouling (Eg oil or grease) like you get from most burnt powder. Ever hear about oil and water not mixing? They still don't mix if the water is hot!
Plain old carbon isn't water soluble either. . .if it were you could simply wash the burnt on gunk right off the bottom of your neglected frying pan. . .but we all know that doesn't work!
Yes, back in the "good old days" soldiers cleaned their bores with boiling hot water, BUT that water was mixed with SOAP. Its the SOAP that dissolves the oil, grease and gunk out of the bore into the water.
Now, will adding soap to the water in your little cheapo steamer get said soap into your bore? I strongly doubt it. More likely it fail to evaporate, burn, or clog up your steamer.
Jonk's point about the low heat capacity of steam versus water is excellent as well. It will take a LOT of steam to equal the heating and wetting ability of a relatively small amount of water.
(Or put differently, think about how much steam you generate from a relatively small amount of water. . .and think about the converse. . .how much steam you need to equal a small amount of water).0 -
we own a steamer made by Orek. It is quite effective at cleaning grease from household surfaces (have used it to clean the grills of my bbq without any scrubbing necessary). Contrary to what you you might think about oil and water not mixing, pressurized steam is very good for removing oil and grease, and it's been done for years in the automotive industry to clean engines.
The steam heat greatly reduces the viscosity of the oils, and the pressure dislodges it from the surface. That the fluids are immiscible (IMO) actually aids in dislodging the oils rather than leaving a film.
Like Jonk mentions, the real question is whether or not you would see the intended benefit from a household steamer in a gun bbl.
I'd say that based on my experience with the Orek, it would work fine on a shorter bbl, say 4" or so, but there is no way it would work effectively along the length of a rifle bbl for all the reasons Jonk mentions.
Happy cleaning.0
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