What's Brake Cleaner?

[Stephenw]

If you want to know what chemicals go into a product, check the safety data sheet (SDS).

What's in brake cleaner?

It depends on the brand. The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone.

Additionally there is small percentage of one of the following, depending on brand...

Naphtha
Heptane
Toluene
Alcohol

I've checked the SDS for around a dozen different brands. I've been using the non-chlorinated Super Tech brake cleaner from Walmart for a long time. It has a smaller percentage of acetone when compared to some of the other brands.

Acetone 40-55%
Toluene 20-30%
Methanol 20-30%
Carbon Dioxide 5-15% (The Propellant)

I mostly use it for a quick shot of solvent for cleaning things. Brakes, not so much.

I've decided to try straight acetone in a 16oz Sure Shot atomizer. It's awfully cheap in a 1 gallon can.

 

[WWheeler]

Which brands had more of the good stuff? Which had less? Can you tell that from SDS?

 

[Stephenw]

Which brands had more of the good stuff? Which had less? Can you tell that from SDS?

The SDS list chemicals in the product by percent. Google the SDS for the brands you are interested in.

Chlorinated brake cleaner usually contains perchlorethylene or tetrachloroethylene as the main ingredient.

 

[5ktq]

Yeah I like to check msds. Sometimes it doesn't list not toxic, proprietary stuff of course.

eg. "plastic parts cleaner" (prep for painting bumpers, etc) is... 99% isopropyl alcohol. cheaper at a drug store.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I buy BraKleen by the 5 gallon bucket. Much cheaper that way. I use a 1 quart "Pump and Spray" bottle. I bought some one gallon jugs of acetone, toluene, and alcohol to make my own when I run out.

 

[JimNC]

If you want to know what chemicals go into a product, check the safety data sheet (SDS).

What's in brake cleaner?

It depends on the brand. The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone.

Additionally there is small percentage of one of the following, depending on brand...

Naphtha
Heptane
Toluene
Alcohol

I've checked the SDS for around a dozen different brands. I've been using the non-chlorinated Super Tech brake cleaner from Walmart for a long time. It has a smaller percentage of acetone when compared to some of the other brands.

Acetone 40-55%
Toluene 20-30%
Methanol 20-30%
Carbon Dioxide 5-15% (The Propellant)

I mostly use it for a quick shot of solvent for cleaning things. Brakes, not so much.

I've decided to try straight acetone in a 16oz Sure Shot atomizer. It's awfully cheap in a 1 gallon can.

I have a 16oz Sure Shot atomizer and a Model M, and I’d suggest that you get the 24oz Model M with the adjustable sprayer. The Model M is not as robust feeling as the Model A, but I do like the lighter weight. The Model M is far more robust than th atomizer. Besides the parts in the M will last a long time, the valve in the atomizer needs to be replaced at every 4th or 5th filling.

I’m trying a couple Model A’s, and have found that having aerosol 99% alcohol is quite convenient and as you noticed, gallons of acetone is inexpensive. I’ve been thinking about trying Seafoam in an atomizer as a gun cleaner. The atomizer only because it has a plastic extension that fits on the nozzles.

 

[Jaja]

Do forget this (old but important) warning about welding and brake cleaner:

http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html

 

[The Cobbler]

Do forget this (old but important) warning about welding and chlorinated brake cleaner:

http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html

added some info to your post

 

[AA/FC]

I usually use 3M brake cleaner. I buy it by the case from NAPA. Seems to work good and dries quickly with no residue.

 

[plinker]

What are they using in non-flammable brake cleaner to make it non-flammable?

 

[5ktq]

chlorinated solvents (typically TCE) are used in the non flammable ones.

Chlorinated solvents are typically less immediately deadly (but have long term toxicity) and not flammable, but they have some downfalls. Heat decomposes them into phosgene which is very bad very fast, they probably cause cancer, persist in the environment - contaminate groundwater, etc. TCE was used as a general anesthetic before they came up with modern, safer ones.

 

[rtz]

Tetrachloroethylene is the good stuff. Works like magic. Used to hear stories of people working at industrial type places that had that stuff in 55 gal drums back in the 1980's and they would wash their hands with it! Said it worked great.

 

[1982fxr]

Do forget this (old but important) warning about welding and brake cleaner:

http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety-alert-brake-cleaner--phosgene-gas.html

Holy ****

 

[pstemari]

Yeah, chlorinated solvents break down into some really nasty stuff. That's pretty much why you can't buy them in most cases anymore—manufacturing processes that use them have to use a closed circuit processing and consumer use is outlawed.

I don't think ”mostly acetone" is correct, though. There's a lot of aromatic hydrocarbons—toluene, xylene, etc, all of which I believe are more toxic than acetone.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[sweet victory]

This would leave me to believe that your statement, " The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone" may not be correct.

 

[PFSard]

Tetrachloroethylene is the good stuff. Works like magic. Used to hear stories of people working at industrial type places that had that stuff in 55 gal drums back in the 1980's and they would wash their hands with it! Said it worked great.

Great stuff for degreasing. I still have some. A friend of mine's dad had a dry cleaning store. I wouldn't use it to clean my hands.

From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachloroethylene

.....probably carcinogenic to humans. Like many chlorinated hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene is a central nervous system depressant and can enter the body through respiratory or dermal exposure. Tetrachloroethylene dissolves fats from the skin, potentially resulting in skin irritation.

 

[agradetools.com]

[/QUOTE] This would leave me to believe that your statement, " The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone" may not be correct.
[/QUOTE]

I don't get that the video only showed him testing all the brake cleans he never discussed anything about chlorinated or not.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Great stuff for degreasing. I still have some. A friend of mine's dad had a dry cleaning store. I wouldn't use it to clean my hands.

From Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrachloroethylene

.....probably carcinogenic to humans. Like many chlorinated hydrocarbons, tetrachloroethylene is a central nervous system depressant and can enter the body through respiratory or dermal exposure. Tetrachloroethylene dissolves fats from the skin, potentially resulting in skin irritation.

I was a pinsetter mechanic in the 80's. I used this stuff everyday to clean the lane oil off the ball lifts and pit cushions. Thanks Brunswick We had 55 gallon drums of it, we would put a gallon in a pale and dip a rag with our bare hands.

 

[L.Cheapo]

Yeah, chlorinated solvents break down into some really nasty stuff. That's pretty much why you can't buy them in most cases anymore—manufacturing processes that use them have to use a closed circuit processing and consumer use is outlawed.

You can buy them in most any auto parts store that isn't the Communist Republics of California or New Jersey.

I buy my chlorinated brake cleaner in Delaware or Massachusetts.

 

[pstemari]

I meant chlorinated solvents in general, not just brake cleaner. TCE, carbon tet, etc used to be commonly available but are no longer.

Chlorinated brake cleaner is still available, obviously, but you have to weigh the fire safety benefit against the long term health risks.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[MikeF2316]

I have some Red Stallion brand which evaporates very quickly, and some Kleen-Flo which evaporates much more slowly. They clean about the same, though.

 

[ttpete]

Anyone else ever work with a vapor degreaser? We had one in one shop where I worked. It's a big tank with steam coils in the bottom. It used trichloroethylene. The coils vaporized the solvent, and a cold water jacket around the top edge kept the vapor inside the tank. We would hang parts from an overhead hoist in the tank and the vapors would condense on the cold parts, then run off along with the dirt and grease. There was also a pressure wand to spray solvent if needed. I used it a lot on engine blocks and heads.

 

[bonneyman]

Didn't know about chlorinated brake cleaner, but the old generation of freons (like R12 and R22) break down in a flame to hydrofluoric acid and phosgene, among other nasties. So, the BC decomposition sounds plausible.

 

[MikeF2316]

Didn't know about chlorinated brake cleaner, but the old generation of freons (like R12 and R22) break down in a flame to hydrofluoric acid and phosgene, among other nasties. So, the BC decomposition sounds plausible.

Back in the R12 days, we had a car that had a large A/C leak in the high pressure hose right by the condenser and engine air intake. Diagnosis was quick and easy, but what came out the tailpipe as we drove it out of the shop just about killed us. You have to really feel for those guys in WW1 who endured dense clouds of phosgene.

 

[Stephenw]

This would leave me to believe that your statement, " The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone" may not be correct.

I didn't just make it up, I checked the SDS sheets.

CRC non-chlorinated...

80-90% acetone
10-20% carbon dioxide
1-3% toluene

http://docs.crcindustries.com/msds/5151.pdf

The CRC brake cleaner the guy used in the video you linked is the non-flammable, chlorinated variety.

90-100% tetrachloroethylene
1-5% carbon dioxide

http://docs.crcindustries.com/msds/5089.pdf

 

[bonneyman]

Back in the R12 days, we had a car that had a large A/C leak in the high pressure hose right by the condenser and engine air intake. Diagnosis was quick and easy, but what came out the tailpipe as we drove it out of the shop just about killed us. You have to really feel for those guys in WW1 who endured dense clouds of phosgene.

Dang, that would ****!
I remember in my earlier tech days I'd be unsoldering some tubing in a tight area between a unit and a wall. (Have to squeeze in there a bit to reach the joint). We had removed the R22, but some always "hides" in the compressor oil, and the heat from the torch would boil it off and drive it out. Distinctive greens and purples in the exhaust gases. Man was that stuff nasty!

 

[SantaAna12]

TCE. Used to think nothing of it. Now I don't like using Acetone. Older and slower I guess.

 

[6PTsocket]

This would leave me to believe that your statement, " The non-chlorinated variety is almost all acetone" may not be correct.

The Super Tech is 45 to 55% acetone, per the SDS, just as he said. Why would you doubt his research on other brands? Look it up for yourself if you think he is wrong.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[jim faston]

I tried some of the Super Tech and didn't like it compared to the Wearever 7340 from Advance Auto which is apparently made by Zep and contains 70-90% naptha.

https://www.aapmsds.com/msdsimages/m8/sds/z/zep inc/w7340.pdf

 

[Moparman390]

What's brake cleaner? Same thing as cooking spray, use it next time you make eggs

 

[66HertzClone]

TCE. Used to think nothing of it. Now I don't like using Acetone. Older and slower I guess.

And given the size of the font you are using your eyesight has deteriorated as well.

 

[pcmeiners]

"It has a smaller percentage of acetone when compared to some of the other brands."

So? Acetone is one of the safest solvents for shop use, our bodies produce it naturally.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Acetone....isn't that the main ingredient in finger nail polish remover?

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

Brake cleaner is hash chemical, just be careful using that stuff.

 

[454cid]

For some silly reason I was under the impression that brake cleaner was relativity safe. I normally buy the chlorinated stuff.... I knew about phosgene, but I thought it was the non-chlorinated stuff that was the brake cleaner that could break down into phosgene if exposed to flame (sparks?). I normally get the stuff on my hands when I use it.... I think I'll be more careful now.

Carb cleaner is the one that I normally avoid using much, or getting on me.

 

[kythri]

Besides the phosgene hazard, what's the benefit to chlorinated or non-chlorinated?

 

[rijndael]

Non-chlorinated is safer for plastic parts.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

chlorinated works better.

 

[xin]

chlorinated works better.

Chlorinated is the way to go.

That non-chlorinated is about as useful as a flat tire. Been using this since I was Motocross racing (call it contact-cleaner).

Lastly, due to the nanny state we live in today everything has a label stating it is the end of the world. I would be more worried about BREATHING in a WHARF FREIGHT - who knows what is in that stuff!

 

[JohninCM]

I didn't just make it up, I checked the SDS sheets.

CRC non-chlorinated...

80-90% acetone
10-20% carbon dioxide
1-3% toluene

http://docs.crcindustries.com/msds/5151.pdf

The CRC 05151 formula is their California/OTC compliant product which by law must be nearly all acetone. About all it is good for is washing away brake dust. It will not cut oil or grease with any efficiency. When you find a brake cleaner that is 1171 compliant it will be of this type.

There are plenty of great performing "non-chlorinated" brake cleaners to consider that have little to no acetone. As the OP pointed out taking the time to review the SDS sheet is a great way to "look under" the hood before buying brake cleaner.

Another point to consider is the can PSI. The higher the PSI the stronger the cleaning action (and the quicker the can will empty). Unfortunately this spec is generally not listed anywhere so it comes down to trying what is available in your area to see which works best. One trick is to try squeezing in the sides of a new can. If there is any give then the PSI is low.