Iroc-Z
Well-known member
Seeing that you can get a used dishwasher for cheap on craigslist. Seems like it would be a good parts washer. Hot water and soap. Thinking of installing one in the garage. Opinions?
Dishwasher as a parts washer?
- Thread starter Iroc-Z
- Start date
Yep the chainsaw guys swear by old dishwashers as parts washers. Just don't sneak parts into your wife's dishwasher or you'll be ******* your hand that night.
tonydanzah
Well-known member
You need a hot water supply unless you can find one with the heating element in the bottom. I tried hooking my old one up in my garage with just the a garden hose and didn't clean that good with cold water.
CraftsmanOnCall
Active member
I bought a used dishwasher from my neighbor for 40 bucks. It’s an old KitchenAide, maybe 8 or 10 years old, but they said it works. I hooked it up in my garage next to the utility sink as a parts washer. I ran it on Pots and Pans and used the Hi-Temp wash and Sani-Rinse options and some cascade on some old parts for a lawnmower motor and some old valve covers I wanted cleaned up for an upcoming project. I’ll be ****ed if they didn’t come out pristine, and they got that way while I was sleeping! It got all the crud out of the nooks and crannies too. I have since switched to Dawn detergent - seems to cut the grease better.
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Mickey O
Well-known member
You're supposed to hook them up to cold water (too much junk in hot water), most dishwashers have a heating element.
Never thought about using one as a parts washer, I suppose with some simple green it would work okay. Shame i just threw one out not to long ago.
tonydanzah
Well-known member
most cheaper dishwashers don't have a heating element, only the older style and more recent versions have a heating element in them. The first one i tried was a 15yr old whirlpool which i gutted, no heating element. I just recently replaced a 10yrold bosch also with no heating element.
new fridgidare with heating element
old bosch without
new fridgidare with heating element
old bosch without
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Mickey O
Well-known member
They've been putting heating elements in dishwashers for over 50 years, some cheap ones and a few 18" models don't have them but most do.
Eds_tls
Well-known member
I bring motorcycle parts in the shower with me. I'm slightly ashamed, yet strangley I enjoy it
A few years ago I ran couple of fairly expensive printers through a dishwasher ( after removing the electronics) and it did the job. I was able to put them back together and got a couple of extra years out of them. I had heard of other people doing it with success and didn't have anything to lose.
Mickey O
Well-known member
It's hard to believe the Bosch didn't have a heating element (must be a cheaper model, the one I tossed (a kitchen aide) was about 15 years old, it had a heating element), I think Bosch or Miele specified cold water supply. But I do think I got it mixed up, most you hook up to hot but some get hooked units get hooked up to the cold (the insty hots get cold only). I should know this I've literally installed hundreds of them and the only ones I saw without a heating element was the 18" models and cheap ones.
Mickey O
Well-known member
I used my bathtub in a rental apartment as a motorcycle parts washer.
Mickey O what did you mean by this? Does hot water typically have more contaminants or something?
X1 Mike
Well-known member
Doesn't everyone? My wife asked what that squeaking was and I told her I was just pumping the fork cartridges.... Really that's all I was doing.
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Some dishwashers have a heating element, but don't use it for the wash cycle, just the final rinse to remove soap particles and dry the dishes. Pretty sure that is the way my GE 1200 is, or it only has one setting for heat.
I would look for a good used one that runs at the highest heat, 163 F on some as I recall.
Dawn is NOT a good choice, you need a non foaming soap like the new front load washers use. Foam cushions the impact of the water, which reduces the scrubbing ability.
I never heard of running a dishwasher on anything but hot water, but maybe its a regional thing, here in SoCal electricity is VERY expensive compared to gas.
I would look for a good used one that runs at the highest heat, 163 F on some as I recall.
Dawn is NOT a good choice, you need a non foaming soap like the new front load washers use. Foam cushions the impact of the water, which reduces the scrubbing ability.
I never heard of running a dishwasher on anything but hot water, but maybe its a regional thing, here in SoCal electricity is VERY expensive compared to gas.
mkdive
Well-known member
I agree with the fact the heating element will in fact help in heating and maintaining the water temp inside the DW. But that's because it heats the water up to 120-140 degrees. Then it will also use the element if the user selected the heat drying option.
mkdive
Well-known member
I think he is referring to the hot water lines from the water heater to the faucet...having more mineral build up in the lines than the cold lines. That should be dramatically reduced with copper or wirsbo lines. Galvanized lines will have an amazing/unbelievable buildup in them over the years....the hot water line's buildup is more pronounced. I had a couple job sites that we had to re-line the domestic water supply....some of the lines were so built up we couldn't even shoot the epoxy through them....we had to re-pipe those sections. When I saw the pipe removed, and the **** in the lines I vowed to never, ever drink tap water. I wont even let my pets drink it. Again copper & wirsbo is totally different.
those premium brands have internal flow through heaters, eliminates the "top rack only" requirement and all the melted plastic dishes that fall down below.
fatfillup
Well-known member
+10 on nonfoaming soap. Dawn, simple green and the like will cause a great mess with foam oozing out on the floor. Use soap designed for dish washers.
Also bear in mind all that grease and oil going into you septic system, sewer or back yard. Environmentally, not a good choice.
allapanoo
Well-known member
I have an old washing machine in the garage for washing rags and I am looking for a deal on an oven for powdercoating.Never thought about an old dishwasher for parts washing though.Perhaps this could be a new thread with everybody showing their garage appliances!I am thinking about a small instant hot water heater that runs on 110 for hot water for my washing machine,they are pretty cheap at $200 or so.
mrshaun
Well-known member
do the parts get rusty after you clean them? I had a guy stick his guns in there once. they were spotless after that, but within minutes they started to rust. they needed a lube bath after the hot bath.
kwoody51
Well-known member
Spot on!
Flow through heaters also get the water hotter, ensure even heat, use less energy, and are safer.
Packard V8
Well-known member
Yes, kitchen/laundry appliances work in the garage. I've used a self-cleaning oven to bake the carbon off cylinder heads. The weight plays hell with the racks, so put two in one slot. Old washers clean rags and dishwashers will wash parts.
No, kitchen/laundry appliances don't last long in heavy duty applications. A clothes washer will get pretty gnasty when fed a diet of shop towels. Inevitably, you'll put too-heavy stuff in there and bend hell out of the dishwasher racks.
Maybe, since many are available free for hauling, just replace as needed.
thnx, jack vines
No, kitchen/laundry appliances don't last long in heavy duty applications. A clothes washer will get pretty gnasty when fed a diet of shop towels. Inevitably, you'll put too-heavy stuff in there and bend hell out of the dishwasher racks.
Maybe, since many are available free for hauling, just replace as needed.
thnx, jack vines
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Mickey O
Well-known member
Hot water does have more **** in it from the hot water tank (I suppose not with a tankless though) but I screwed up and was thinking of those insty-hots, those are for drinking water. Most dishwashers use the hot water supply but some do specify using the cold water supply.
Mickey O
Well-known member
I have installed easily over 1500+ dishwashers no ****!....And have never even heard of anyone hooking one up to cold water.....That's why when a kitchen is plumbed for a dishwasher hookup (three angle stops under the kitchen sink)....there is one cold angle stop for the cold side of the kitchen faucet.... and two hot h20 angle stops, one for the kit faucet and the other for the DW.
I agree with the fact the heating element will in fact help in heating and maintaining the water temp inside the DW. But that's because it heats the water up to 120-140 degrees. Then it will also use the element if the user selected the heat drying option.
I've done a lot of dishwasher installs as well, don't think I'd like to do them anymore. They are usually plumbed a bit differently out here, a single valve with a double outlet is common. Have you replaced a lot of those gravity drain ones? What a pain in the a$$. How about the ones installed before the 3/4" flooring? The saw saw is great for those. One of my worst installs was one that had the polarity reversed (used to do them live a lot), I had wet hands and hit the neutral (which was the hot) and got one of my worst shocks ever.
Have you seen or used those brass fittings (can't remember the name), that was supposedly invented my a guy working at a local parts supply place, for new dishwasher installs (when there wasn't one before). It's a tee that goes right on top of the valve and has an outlet for the faucet and the dishwasher, I have some at my other place I'll take a pic of one, they're pretty slick (couldn't find it online).
Here's from the Miele Instructions (see pic below), I know some (I thought it was Bosch) say cold water only and I have hooked some up that get both hot and cold supplies to them.
Mickey O
Well-known member
Here's the picture of the Max Adapter (there's a 3/8" for dishwashers and a 1/4" for ice makers, humidifiers, etc.):
