what cleaner/solution do you use in parts washer?

[skipmarcy]

Varsol is the best.

 

[firefighter9208]

This is what I use: http://www.partsamerica.com/Product...XT&MfrPartNumber=0362005RND&CategoryCode=3227 . I buy it at Advance auto parts. Kind of expensive, but it's made for parts washers and works well. Not sure if its Varsol or not.

Chris

 

[Soundguy]

Ditto what another poster said.. you can get surplus/replacement parts washer pumps for cheap.. last one I bought was 5$.. and it WILL pump mineral spirits..

Soundguy

Now JohnnyDark has raised the subject, i have a question too:
Will kerosene eat away rubber parts of a standard water pump ?

I want to make a parts cleaner from an oil drum, but i was warned by a friend: He made a heated one from an old laundry washer. 30 minutes after filling it, the rubbers were eaten away and the kerosene flowed out...

My band saw was missing a coolant pump, so i put a pond fountain pump in the coolant liquid reservoir, which works great.

If i buy another pond fountain to build a parts washer, will kerosene eat away that plastic jet pump ?

 

[AlanB]

What we use is a product called New II, it meets a whole slew of requirements that we must meet, but I doubt you want to go through the effort and expense of using it.

Ecolink - Clean Ideas for Industry

In the home shop, I would use Varsol, or Mineral spirits. The trick to most home shop stuff is keeping it clean enough to stay in service.

I would suggest working towards having a cone bottom tank of some form or fashion, or even just leaning a tank too one side and having a bottom drain valve on it.

Many people also will add in a remote filter to push the solvent through to help clean it up. A standard spin on mount will be available at good auto parts stores or most Tractor Supply type places, then just pick the filter dependent on the amount of filtration you desire.

A good place to get ideas from is a company called Clarus and another called Inland Technologies.

Pre-cleaning tables work great if you use them, but the cone shape of the Clarus really helps clean things off.

That said, and depending on how serious you are, a System one cleaner in a small shop is "the bomb" Little on-site distillation units, and they work exceptionally well when operated by folk's that care about them and are concerned about them. I think that Safety Kleen bought System one up but I believe they are still available. Straight mineral spirits in them and always clean solvent available. Very nice, but bring money

Good luck.

 

[Renze]

Just go to Harbor Freight and get a parts washer pump.

Problem is, we dont have stores like Harbor freight, in Holland

 

[bjcsc]

I use a water-based degreaser that I bought at Northern Tool (although I see they don't sell it anymore). I use it straight and it does a great job...

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Problem is, we dont have stores like Harbor freight, in Holland

That stinks, how about mail order?

 

[rpoage]

I use simple green 1 to 1 with water in my parts washer. My parts washer is designed for non-volatile cleaners and has heating element in its reservoir. It makes an amazing difference in how well simple green works. If I don't plug it in it's not worth a darn but heated up it great. I trust this system so well that is now in the basement of my house.

 

[ZoneIII]

I just learned something that should eliminate any concern some here have about using mineral spirits in their parts cleaners. I suspected that mineral spirits would work fine all along. Anyway, I was at my local Menard's today and they had some parts cleaner solution in stock in 5 gallon buckets. I bought my parts cleaning machine at Menard's about 4 or 5 years ago and, although the cleaner still works fine even though it's black, I wanted to top it off. (I filtered it and cleaned out the tank first.) I looked at the label of their parts cleaner and there, in big letters as plain as day, it said, "MINERAL SPIRITS." When I moved the can out to read the label I noticed that a vent hole was open and a little cleaner splashed out and it had the unmistakable smell of regular mineral spirits and that's exactly what it was according to the label. So I just went to the paint department and bought two gallons of store-brand mineral spirits for $7 each which is cheaper than what you pay for it when they call it parts cleaner. When I got home, I looked at the labels on the two 5-gallon buckets of parts cleaner that I bought with the outfit originally. (I kept them as utility buckets.) Although it is a different brand than the store carries now, it says on the label, "Better than REGULAR mineral spirits." (I added the emphasis.) That tells me that the old stuff was basically just mineral spirits with something added to it.

Anyway, the folks who assure you here that mineral spirits will work fine are right because that's exactly what some brands of parts cleaner are. Use it without worry.

 

[maryangel]

Depends on if the parts washer is heated or aqueous...for heated use PK12 and for the other use APW they are amazing products you will never find another like it and the apw is non toxic it is the most amazing one i have yet to see...both are made by a company in Alberta Canada called Teamwork Distributing...they have alot of fantastic products that you wont find anything that could even touch it...their degreasers are amazing too nothing works like them and they do ship world wide as well...don't hesitate to email me for more information...at passionate_angel72@hotmail.com