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Non Aerosol Spray Can - What's Your Homemade Brake Clean Recipe?

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bulletpruf

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Fellas -

Bought this http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...le/titan-non-aerosol-spot-sprayer/333347_0_0/

Probably should have bought one years ago, given how much brake clean I use in the garage cleaning random stuff.

Any tips on what to fill it with? I've heard a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF is a pretty good one. Or you can get jugs of brake clean. Maybe $30 a gallon, but I don't know how much you would use for a batch.

Scott
 
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Dick in Wisconsin

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I discovered the Milwaukee Sure Shot sprayer last January.

http://www.sureshotsprayer.com/

Bought one. Then bought a five gallon jug of brake clean at NAPA. Love it. Works great. Holds a charge of air for a LONG time.

Only criticism I have is that stream doesn't seem to be as strong as the aerosol can for "blasting" some of the stubborn parts. But the can is probably wasting lots of cleaner.

Get the original Milwaukee Sure Shot sprayer!
 
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theoldwizard1

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bulletpruf said:
Any tips on what to fill it with? I've heard a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF is a pretty good one. Or you can get jugs of brake clean. Maybe $30 a gallon, but I don't know how much you would use for a batch.
Click to expand...

Your homemade concoction would not be good to brakes because the ATF would leave a residue.

CRC Brakleen is $90 for 5 gallons or $22.50 for 1 gallon from NAPA. Buying the gallon container, it is less than 1/2 the cost of the 14 oz. spray cans. They alos have 55 gallon drums.


Make sure to re-seal your containers well. The stuff is designed to evaporate quickly !
 
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bulletpruf

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theoldwizard1 said:
Your homemade concoction would not be good to brakes because the ATF would leave a residue.

CRC Brakleen is $90 for 5 gallons or $22.50 for 1 gallon from NAPA. Buying the gallon container, it is less than 1/2 the cost of the 14 oz. spray cans. They alos have 55 gallon drums.


Make sure to re-seal your containers well. The stuff is designed to evaporate quickly !
Click to expand...

Just to clarify -- I won't be using this for cleaning brakes. Pretty much just cleaning parts.

I could try to have 5 gallons shipped from the U.S., but I'm thinking that I can mix up something myself that would work just as good.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Scott
 
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anndel

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Hawaii, USA
bulletpruf said:
Fellas -

Bought this http://www.autozone.com/test-scan-a...le/titan-non-aerosol-spot-sprayer/333347_0_0/

Probably should have bought one years ago, given how much brake clean I use in the garage cleaning random stuff.

Any tips on what to fill it with? I've heard a 50/50 mix of acetone and ATF is a pretty good one. Or you can get jugs of brake clean. Maybe $30 a gallon, but I don't know how much you would use for a batch.

Scott
Click to expand...

50/50mix of acetone and ATF is a recipe for homemade penetrating oil, I think.
 
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DirtyWeRX

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St. Louis, MO
theoldwizard1 said:
Your homemade concoction would not be good to brakes because the ATF would leave a residue.

CRC Brakleen is $90 for 5 gallons or $22.50 for 1 gallon from NAPA. Buying the gallon container, it is less than 1/2 the cost of the 14 oz. spray cans. They alos have 55 gallon drums.


Make sure to re-seal your containers well. The stuff is designed to evaporate quickly !
Click to expand...
We've been using Wurth brake clean for a long time, but it's $99/5gal with a $29 hazmat tax (or something) on it.

I went to napa for a cheaper solution and got the CRC stuff for $99... But it's non-chlorinated. Personally, I don't think it does nearly as well and the smell is strong enough to where I probably won't use it again. The CRC chlorinated was about the same price as Wurth :(
 
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mbret2004

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I have used 50/50 mix of acetone/trans fluid for years. While it's effective, keep it away from brakes as stated. Also, careful around painted surfaces as well.
 
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theoldwizard1

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According to the CRC MSDS the primary ingredient (90-100%) in Brakleen is Tetrachloroethylene (a.k.a. Perchloroethylene or Perc). This is commonly used to dry clean clothing.

The non chlorinated kind is much more complex.
 

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kunkernator

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I have a Sure Shot sprayer and use it all the time at work. I keep it filled with mineral spirits.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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bulletpruf

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Bumping an OLD thread. What are y'all doing these days for brake cleaner? It's not uncommon for me to go through 6 or more cans in a weekend at $4/per can cleaning old car parts and chainsaw parts, and it adds up.
 
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MileHighRover

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Your improper use of brake cleaner is costing you a fortune. Brake cleaner evaporates way too quickly to be using it effectively for cleaning gunked up parts. Get parts cleaning solution and save yourself a ton of money. Once you scrub your parts clean use the brake cleaner to quickly rinse off the parts cleaner.
 
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MileHighRover

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Also, Walmart's SuperTech brand brake parts cleaner is the cheapest stuff I've found. $3 for a 14.5 oz can puts it at 20.6 cents per ounce. Napa gallon container is 27.3 cents per ounce and 5 gallon is the same. The prices I used were from Napa's website at $35 for a gallon and $175 for 5 gallons. That's store pickup prices.
 
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bulletpruf

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MileHighRover said:
Your improper use of brake cleaner is costing you a fortune. Brake cleaner evaporates way too quickly to be using it effectively for cleaning gunked up parts. Get parts cleaning solution and save yourself a ton of money. Once you scrub your parts clean use the brake cleaner to quickly rinse off the parts cleaner.
Click to expand...

If the parts are heavily gunked, I generally scrape the gunk off first.

I'll check out the WalMart stuff.
 
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Under_Pressure

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I use a Sure Shot with brake cleaner. For a while, AutoZone's house brand brake cleaner in 5 gallon containers was by far the best buy- I want to say less than 80 bucks as recently as last year. But like everything else it seems brake cleaner has skyrocketed and AZ is showing $115 now. Which is still one of the cheaper options, though from a quick look it seems that Advance's Wearever brand is the best buy right now at $109.

I have a second Sure Shot that I keep full of kerosene for cleaning tasks for which brake cleaner is not well suited. Which is really most things other than those where oily residue is a real problem.
 
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bwringer

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Jason at Fireball tool had an unusual recommendation in a recent video -- Zep floor stripper.

I bought a jug at Menard's, but haven't had occasion to try it yet. It makes sense, in a crazy way...

 
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VolvoRyan

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If you want to get gunk off quick? CRC Tech Grade Gasket Remover. This stuff demolishes anything that's not metal..... including nitrile gloves and then your fingers. I bought Tech Grade for its intended use, but then noticed that it makes grease and grime wipe off instantly.

Soaking in mineral spirits is my preferred cleaning method.

-Ryan
 
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bulletpruf

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kaymccampbell said:
Lacking brake cleaner, I scrub the crud off with mineral spirits, then rinse dry with acetone or lacquer thinner.
Click to expand...

I've got 5 gallons of mineral spirits in my parts washer but I try to get most of the crud off the parts before I put them in the parts washer. That may not make a lot of sense to some, but I get a lot more mileage out of my mineral spirits that way.
 
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bulletpruf

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VolvoRyan said:
If you want to get gunk off quick? CRC Tech Grade Gasket Remover. This stuff demolishes anything that's not metal..... including nitrile gloves and then your fingers. I bought Tech Grade for its intended use, but then noticed that it makes grease and grime wipe off instantly.

Soaking in mineral spirits is my preferred cleaning method.

-Ryan
Click to expand...

Have you bought any recently? I recently ran out and haven't been able to find it. Wondering if it's been discontinued.
 
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M6erfan

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bulletpruf said:
I've got 5 gallons of mineral spirits in my parts washer but I try to get most of the crud off the parts before I put them in the parts washer. That may not make a lot of sense to some, but I get a lot more mileage out of my mineral spirits that way.
Click to expand...

On the other hand, to some it makes a lot of sense :thumbup:
 
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MileHighRover

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bulletpruf said:
I've got 5 gallons of mineral spirits in my parts washer but I try to get most of the crud off the parts before I put them in the parts washer. That may not make a lot of sense to some, but I get a lot more mileage out of my mineral spirits that way.
Click to expand...

So you're spending $25 a weekend at times on brake cleaner to save $50 in mineral spirits? Your $50 in mineral spirits will last many, many times longer than your $25 of brake cleaner.

I can see knocking the big stuff off before putting it in the parts cleaner, but cleaning it before putting it in the parts cleaner seems to me a bit over the top. Doesn't really seem like you need a parts cleaner, just a **** ton of brake parts cleaner. At least with those hundreds of dollars of brake cleaner you won't have to worry about spending that $50 on mineral spirits.
 
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dnschmidt

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bwringer said:
Jason at Fireball tool had an unusual recommendation in a recent video -- Zep floor stripper.

I bought a jug at Menard's, but haven't had occasion to try it yet. It makes sense, in a crazy way...

Click to expand...
The only problem with that idea is that since it's waterbased it will rust out a Shur-Shot unless you pay the big bucks and get the aluminum version and considering how highly alkaline cleaners like this are it would probably corrode the aluminum ones as well. A normal plastic sprayer is the way to go for these types of solutions. Frankly, I find Super Clean to be the best degreaser I’ve ever used of any variety.
 
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bulletpruf

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MileHighRover said:
So you're spending $25 a weekend at times on brake cleaner to save $50 in mineral spirits? Your $50 in mineral spirits will last many, many times longer than your $25 of brake cleaner.

I can see knocking the big stuff off before putting it in the parts cleaner, but cleaning it before putting it in the parts cleaner seems to me a bit over the top. Doesn't really seem like you need a parts cleaner, just a **** ton of brake parts cleaner. At least with those hundreds of dollars of brake cleaner you won't have to worry about spending that $50 on mineral spirits.
Click to expand...

The problem isn't the cost on the mineral spirits, it's disposing of the used mineral spirits.
 
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