Better than homemade (bore cleaner) !
Or ... Why should I spend $ real money for this danged EBC Electronic Bore Cleaner thing?
1. No Batteries
This reduces the frustration level (the most important feature of the EBC) of weak batteries, batteries stolen by kids, can't find any batteries (honey didn't I just buy some at Walmart?), bad connections, and having to replace them.
2. Constant Current Supply
The current is limited and regulated by a constant current circuit to a low value, about 90mA maximum. This insures enough power to remove lead and copper, but not enough to boil the electrolyte off too quickly (some out gassing occurs), and you should not need to top off chemical during the cleaning cycle. The current is much more constant during the cleaning cycle, it does drop somewhat as the electrolyte is depleted, but it is a much more controlled operation throughout the cycle.
3. Timed Operation / Automatic shut off
This insures a consistent result without the worry of over doing it. I have gone away and got busy, and left it on too long sometimes. My attention span is not that long! :) It is a safeguard against rusting and pitting. The steel and (chrome plating?) are much more strongly attached than any lead and copper is to the barrel, but leaving the solution sit too long, even when off, can oxidize any steel that is in contact. The current being turned off automatically after an hour minimizes this risk. Just make sure you empty the solution and don't leave it in there all night long!
4. Short detection / Open detection and Indicators
A RED LED light lets you know that the rod is touching the barrel (solid RED) or that the clip is not attached (blinking RED, circuit not connected), and that no cleaning will take place. This reduces the frustration factor, and lets you know that cleaning is
occurring correctly when the GREEN LED is on.
5. Only 1 wire / clip to connect
This reduces the number of clips to fall off when your not looking by 1. It also prevents a backwards or reversed connection, rendering it engineer proof. I have been known to not always pay close attention to what I'm doing, especially when I'm doing something that I have done many times before (the boring factor). Should the 1 clip still fall off despite your best efforts, the microprocessor remembers (and the RED LED comes on blinking), and continues the timed cleaning operation when it is reconnected. It is smarter than I am! :)
6. Pre measured chemical
This insures consistent cleaning from one gun to the next, not having to make up new batches and forget how much of what stuff you used before.
7. Current matched to chemical concentration
The EBC cleaning current is matched to the concentration of the electrolyte solution so that the best results are obtained.
8. Time left / done indicator
If you simply must watch the danged thing (I never trust anything to itself ;) ), a blinking YELLOW LED lets you know how much time left there is, and yes indeed the EBC is still on the job, keeping watch over the cleaning process. At the end, the YELLOW LED comes on solid to let you know that it is finished and the current is shut off automatically. Maybe I should add a loud annoying beep that just won't quit until it is attended to like my microwave, but I might have too many warranty replacements from being hurled up against the wall. And we want to REDUCE the frustration factor not increase it.
9. More Things
There are probably more things, that have gone wrong in the past while cleaning, and I have tried to prevent and give myself peace of mind, but I can't remember them. This product was developed mainly to prevent MY frustration and goofing up, and I have tested it and improved it as I went along. When I was done, I let a friend give me some unwanted advice on what
should be included also. He wanted 3 different color LEDs to indicate different things, not being a brilliant engineer like myself who could get by with 1 RED LED, and read the morse code message that is blinked out by it :)
So being hounded by my marketing friend to actually make the thing for average, normal people to use, the EBC became better, not that I'll admit that to anyone. It was perfect when I designed it in the first place :)
So now you have the benefit of having the end result without all the pain, frustration, rewriting the code, making new pcb circuit boards, and arguments of what color should it be, and giving birth to it. My friend insisted that I share it with others, and they might even compensate me with cash money if they liked it.
So if you read this far, now you know!