Home Made Parts Cleaner

[PeterT]

I like the hills bros coffee can and a cup of gas

 

[PCO6]

... it looks like mineral spirits is very similar to Varsol, and Stoddard solvents. It seems that mineral spirits is still easily available so therefore an easy choice of the three.

Good stuff. Clean on.

 

[dolfans]

Past: When I was young and poorer I used a turkey pan. I still use it occasionally...but never for turkey.

Present: Now it is the medium sized HF tank and some Kerosene Gunk mixture.

Future: I want a stainless steel three bowl sink with a really dirty bowl for scraping and degrunging, a kinda dirty tank for cleaning superficially clean stuff and a drip dry tank as well as pumps and a holding tank with an oil based cleaner over a water trap in the bottom of a plastic drum.

Guy can dream right?

On the future have you thought about those sinks used in restuarants. I have worked in a restuarant and had one of those sinks

 

[Ric in Richmond]

On the future have you thought about those sinks used in restuarants. I have worked in a restuarant and had one of those sinks

Exactly....there is a restaurant auction house and I bid on them, but refuse to pay big bucks for them. Have gotten lots of other cools stuff SS trays, plastic tubs, cutting boards.

 

[homemadetools]

Old thread, but it's a homemade tools gold mine!

We've got these builds listed in our Parts Washers category on HomemadeTools.net, and fully credited out to everyone: PCO6's Parts Washer #1, PCO6's Parts Washer #2, Jagmandave's Parts Washer. Also found garage_creature's Parts Washer in a previous thread. Let me know if I've missed any.

41ratrod -- yes, usmcdoc14 on Pirate4x4 did a sweet parts washer build from a dishwasher: usmcdoc14's Parts Washer.

BTW, so far we only display a reduced-size photo of these builds (like what you would find in Google Images). If anyone wants to grant permission to use their fullsize pic, we'd like to include that alongside their build listing.

 

[gearhead1]

I took a 55 gallon drum and cut it lengthwise a little over center (not exactly halfway) to add a little more sidewall to help,with splash. I welded a 4 angle iron tabs to keep it from rocking in the 2x4 frame it sets in. I welded a 2" pipe union in the bottom and a piece of 2" pipe screws in which sits down in a 30 gallon drum.

It was simple and easy to build. I'm bad for not taking pics, but I'll try to take some, it's cheap for what you get out of it. I wanted something I could put a 4 cyl engine block in if I wanted to.

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I have a friend that built his own from "spare parts." Pump was a SBC oil pump bolted to a flat plate that was tapped for pipe thread, it set in the 30 gallon oil barrel a few inches off the bottom, a shaft was used to drive it was connected to a small 120V electric motor coupled with a shaft coupler. Another 30 gallon tank was cut in 1/2 with a hole through the bottom, welded to the 30 gallon holding tank with an expanded metal grate in the bottom. A flat metal lid closed over the entire opening. He used Varsol and water to start with until his torch set it on fire. He was glad he made the lid where it sealed tight to put it out. After that he went to water based cleaner.

 

[Lassen Forge]

What do you use for a pump if, say, you're pushing K-1? I was gonna try using a fountain pump I have sitting unused, but not sure if the plastic, seals, or motor would last more than a day or 2 sitting under kerosene.

41ratrod -- yes, usmcdoc14 on Pirate4x4 did a sweet parts washer build from a dishwasher: usmcdoc14's Parts Washer.

THAT... is just too bada$$ totally cool. Makes me wonder "now why didn't I think of that?"...

 

[sometoyotaguy]

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone tried using a windshield washer pump for a parts washer?

 

[metalmagpie]

Jeez. Twenty years ago I bought a Graymills drum-mounted parts washer. Haven't given it a thought since then.

metalmagpie

 

[txvwnut]

I know this is an old thread, but has anyone tried using a windshield washer pump for a parts washer?

Very small GPM flow rate and they aren't really made for an extended use situation. That and you would most likely be limited to water based cleaning agents than solvent based, as the solvent based agents would probably destroy the pump.

 

[homebuilt burner]

Mine is made out of a metal 5 gal pail with an air windshield wiper motor( out of a peterbilt) hooked to a metal screen basket. Just put the bearings or whatnot in turn the air on and let it go for about an hour. Does not work on large items.

 

[TractorJeff]

12 volt electric fuel pump from a car works well! I bought a Parts washer from Tractor Supply and a 5 gallon pail of Solvent. The pump quit after a couple of hours. No I didn't get a manual as it was the display clearance model! Took the pump apart to see a cheap o-ring had swelled and burst the pump. Obviously not compatible with the solvent they sell? Anyways, It will work without the o-ring but am going to put a better pump in to get it out of the solvent. I figure it will harden the cheap cord next and eat its way into the 120volt motor.

 

[KDXSR5]

I have used both pressurized systems and 12v electric fuel pump systems in mobile industral cleaning setups. Here is my take:

Pressurized: Set up with a small twin tank air compressor. The air compressor feeds a large (80ish gallon) pressure tank at the top that holds clean/filtered solvent. A hose with a repurposed air gun is hooked to the bottom of the pressure tank. All solvent is collected and filtered separately.

Pros:
-Never had a failure aside from old hoses and worn out air guns in over 2 decades of use. There are 3 of these systems currently in use. One has been in continuous operation for 15+ years.
-Pressure adjustability is great. Air regulators offer a wider range of pressure.
- higher volume. Volume is limited by plumbing size, not mechanical equipment
-No mechanical parts submerged in solvent. It's all air.
-Uses 120v power, great if setup in a garage/shop

Cons:
-Expensive. Go on Grainger's website and price this system out
-Bulky. Setup requires a lot of room


12v electric pump: uses a non pressurized diesel truck bed tank filled with clean/filtered solvent. A hose off the bottom of the tank feeds a cheap Summit Racing brand remote mount electric fuel pump. An Aeromotive brand fuel pressure regulator is hooked to the fuel pump outlet and has a return to the top of the tank and a supply line. The supply line feeds a hose with a repurposed air gun. All solvent is collected and filtered separately.

Pros:
-Significantly cheaper than the air setup
-More compact. This setup takes way less room

Cons:
-Lower volume: volume is limited by pump specs
-Less pressure adjustability: the fuel pressure regulator allows for some, but not as much as an air setup
-Fuel pump failures: they usually last a year or more, but die quickly if they get water pumped through them
-Uses 12v, which may be inconvenient in a shop/garage

Currently there are 5 of these systems in service. The oldest setup is now 5 years old. Aside from old hoses and worn out sprayers, the only issue I have seen is pump failures. This is now the preferred setup mainly due to cost and size constraints.

Both systems use specialty hoses from a local hose supplier. We use Citgo 142 solvent 66/3.

Filtering is handled by large settling tanks.

If anyone has more questions, please ask and I will try to provide answers when I get a chance.

 

[Toolmaker51]

Here, I've a 25 gallon Clarus cleaning tank. Never saw one used commercially, but every small arms shop [armory] of US military seems to, IDK. Anyway, they are big units that use Little Giant Pumps that pressurize hose or brush, flush filtration, connect to shop air, fusible link for lid, lighting, leveling pads, everything a tank should have.
But they're steel, so aqueous solutions aren't satisfactory. Many parts don't need or withstand petro-based cleaners, justifying a stainless tank for water-based solutions as a primary tank. Part of this stems in huge difference of cost, petro vs aqueous.
So, searched this thread, pulling out keywords of what makes a successful tank using either liquid.
Surprisingly, the most effective separator doesn't appear, water works with some petro's but water-based, not so much. It's called a weir. Visualize a series of dam with successively higher vertical walls, sediment and gravity do the work. Large enough to access for cleaning the sump, effective until the 1st is around half full of debris. So whatever rides viscous layer forming in the cleaning area, goes into drain, to fall out of circulation. Some drain where fluid hits a short low-angled floor at leading edge of first weir.
Started yesterday collecting the bits. It'll run before TIG is, or would fabricate here. Any of you with a Habitat Restore will find salvaged stainless kitchen sinks, got a single farm sink; 8" deep - center drain, 15" x 28". Preference would be off center drain. Plumbing will be NPT much as possible. May add brass P-trap just for the drain feature and large diameter. The weirs will be in something wet-bar sized, remainder yet to be found. Your local 'dollar store' has a rather spectacular water based cleaner that I used, cleaned decades old grease from rails of my lift gate...........

Those promised keywords; filtration, aqueous, diesel fuel, mineral spirits, Varsol, weir, tankless instant heater, manifold for flush hose & brush with hose, air pressure, dishwasher pump, water separator, P trap, engine oil pump, electric fuel pump, ultrasonic generator,......
Mix a few of those together for one dang kick-**** tank.

 

[bb29510]

it needs to be as small as yu can get away with.cleaner fluid not cheap. like one guy say, he had a bomb with all that fluid

 

[isb cornbinder]

Past: When I was young and poorer I used a turkey pan. I still use it occasionally...but never for turkey.

Present: Now it is the medium sized HF tank and some Kerosene Gunk mixture.

Future: I want a stainless steel three bowl sink with a really dirty bowl for scraping and degrunging, a kinda dirty tank for cleaning superficially clean stuff and a drip dry tank as well as pumps and a holding tank with an oil based cleaner over a water trap in the bottom of a plastic drum.

Guy can dream right?

Watch for that triple sink at used building supply and Craigslist.
I used to build and sell single sink units, decades ago. The only one of these that I know about, now, is at my neighbor's
I built one bigger, 24" X48" with a side tray drain-back, for a local shop. The submersible pump went into a small removable barrel under the tank. For dirt filters I/we used inexpensive socks from a Dollar Store. The socks fit over the sink drain pipe stem.

 

[nadogail]

While I was in High School I also worked at an Automotive Machine Shop where we rebuilt engines.

We soaked the parts in a coal tar solution and then washed them in solvent. We used a petroleum based solvent from Standard Oil. AFAIK, it was Stoddard (sp?) Solvent.