Aqueous Parts Cleaner Fluid

[Tscott]

I know the question of what parts cleaner you use has been run a few time through here. What I want to know is does anyone use and get good results with aqueous parts cleaner? Do you heat it or run it room temperature? Do you like it or will you be switching back to solvent based cleaner?

Tom

 

[Tscott]

I'll take that a s a no?

Tom

 

[58Yeoman]

I'm waiting to see what's said about this also. I'm looking at a HF parts washer right (unused) and a large container of simple green (also unopened) on CL right now for $45.

 

[Falcon67]

I tried both Simple Green and Castrol Purple and ended up back at mineral spirits plus one quart of ATF.

 

[Tom_20m]

I was going to use Kerosene or Diesel. The simple green and castro purple power works but caked on greasy parts will take a while to clean.

 

[W-Cummins]

I'm running it in 2 of my machines I have a product called RPM-20 that cleans really well when heated. None of the stuff cuts well cold, heated it's probably better than any "non-nasty"solvent based stuff at room temp. Now if you have a vapor degreaser, I bet they really cut well.

William....

 

[Tscott]

Huh never heard of a vapor system degreaser. I guess not many folks use aqueous. I have noticed the machines are much more expensive so perhaps that why. I have a line on a cheap inline heater if the deal goes through I may use it in my build and see if I can use aqueous. If not I guess I'll use Stoddard solvent or the stuff from Tractor Supply.

Tom

 

[Mmfh]

I use a solvent based cleaner. Had a friend a few years ago wanted to go "green" with his shop. He paid big money for one of the name brand cleaner tanks with heater.

It worked OK when it was hot, but the chemicals had to be kept up and its expensive. All in all it didn't work as quick and easy as my Mineral Spirits, and its more expensive to run.

 

[95light]

I used the "aqueous" cleaner (from northern tool) in a metal 40 gal HF washer I got since I didn't want fumes in my basement. I noticed two downsides.

1. After a few months I noticed a nice green slime on top of the solution which you had to skim off before using it. It also smelled badly.
2. The parts washer started to rust where ever there was exposed metal and also started to flake the paint off the metal.

 

[nospeed]

I am tired of using carb cleaner by the case and want to get a tank cleaner as well. Menards has a perfict size unit. Does anyone have experience with the cleaning solution that they sell? It's in a 5 gallon bucket but I forget the name.

 

[W-Cummins]

Well for me there is no comparison of the costs, the water based stuff it WAY cheaper! The 40 gallons of solvent in my solvent parts washer was $$$ ( $85 for 5 gal.) and it's evaporating away every day! The RPM-20 stuff I picked up was dirt cheap, so much so I almost stole it! Now I know that it's not reproducible but I got the large fiber drum of it ( almost full) for $4.00 at an auction. It's a dry detergent that you add water to, so when it evaporates you just add more water to the tank! You need to use a system that is setup for the water based systems adding them to a solvent tank will not work well as they are not made to heat the solution and corrosion can be a problem also.

Here is the tank system I have

Of course it's not in the nice green color, but black. And no I didn't pay the 3k price tag for it either. Mine came with some scratches and rather dirty, but fully functional, and for the $126.00 I paid for it I'm not complaining! I guess it does have one down side it takes a while to heat up as I don't leave it turned on when I'm not running it. It seems to take about 1/2 hr to get nice and warm, not a problem for me though as I just turn it on in advance if I think I'm going to need it.

The other unit I have is this one

Mine is a few years older than the current model and runs off 120V, unlike the newer ones that take 240V so I supose it's slower to heat up.

William.....

 

[Gixerfixer]

Always used Paraffin/Kerosene in my machine last ages and cost little specific parts cleaning fluids here are to costly for what I use the machine for Diesel would probably be OK but to oily for me

 

[1320stang]

I'm kicking around the idea of adding a bung to my tank and inserting a small water heater element and stat for aqueous cleaner.

I've got mineral spirits in it now (I think, it may have all evaporated) but I only paid $10 per 5 gal bucket then.

 

[E.Marquez]

Id use it if I could...

I was very lucky to get access to a Drive line shop in Alaska when I was stationed there. My wife worked for the shop, and I was welcome to come play. They had a large Aqueous Parts Cleaner. Large basket on the bottom and ability to hang parts. Could get all internals from a 15speed Eaton in there. This was a heated, hi pressure sprayer system. Fluid was run though a filter and oil skimmer as part of the fluid cycle. Sprayer bars / jets tops, middle and bottom.

In 30 min run time, the nastiest of parts would come out hot (too hot to hold for more than a few sec with bare hands) and clean, oil free. Cast or plan steel would flash rust in minutes sitting on the bench air drying, the stuff was so well de greased.

The first line…in my reply.. I would if i could...The machine was 9-10 ft tall, 6ft dia footprint. Used Nat Gas to heat, a high amp 220 line to run and only turned off on long weekends as it took several hours to bring up to temp and ready to run… plus I seem to remember being told it used less gas over a 2 day weekend to maintain temp, vice from cold startup.. I’ve been looking for the last 10 years for a used one at affordable pricing.. Never seen one. But I would sacrifice floor space to have it.

 

[mslisaj]

I tried both Simple Green and Castrol Purple and ended up back at mineral spirits plus one quart of ATF.

Tried the Aqueous at work and it's nice but the company pays for it and it's ultra high maintenance and costly. Mineral spirits and the ATF is a long time tried and true method. Gets the job done, easy on the hands.

Lisa