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Parts washer fluid.

Man Cave

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Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
94
Location
southern Indiana
I have a Safe T Kleen parts washer and the fluid needs changed. The saf T kleen guy won't service my home unit or sell/exchange fluid. Any suggestions where to buy good parts cleaning fluid? Harbor Freight sells parts washers but the one in my area does not carry fluid for them. No luck with the local auto parts stores either. Thanks. Kevin
 
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bgott

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Oct 31, 2005
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Location
Houston, TX.
Mineral spirits, AKA paint thinner. Dump a quart of ATF into the washer after you service it to keep your hands from burning up
 

neblinc

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Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
425
Location
Lincoln, NE
My local TSC carries parts washer solvent with a flash point of around 140F.
Mineral spirits is around 100F.

You might also check a local oil supplier, they sometimes carry the solvent.

Randy
 

Gearhead559

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Joined
Oct 15, 2006
Messages
289
Location
Columbus,ohio
i have been using purple power in mine, mixxed with water...they say use a 50/50 mix, but i have been using a 70/30 to 80/20 mix and it works great. soak some head in it for a few hours, and most of the carbon release's itself when you hit it with the water hose


and i just get mine for the parts stores in the 5 gallon jugs
 

bluesman2a

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Joined
Aug 16, 2005
Messages
1,312
Location
Atlanta, Ga.
I just went through this myself about a month ago... I had a parts washer that had been empty for a long time, but hadn't refilled it because it's so friggen expensive ($11 a GALLON around here for mineral spirits at Depot/lowes).

Tractor Supply was the cheapest I found. I bought the stuff Neblinc mentioned. They had it for $39.99 for 5 gallons. In looking, working, and smelling it, it's JUST like mineral spirits, maybe a tad less smelly, but pretty damned close.
 

nate379

Banned
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Feb 2, 2009
Messages
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Location
Palmer, AK
Stoddard Solvent. Around $40 for 5 gals. Sometimes can get a brake on drums if your solvent tank is larger (mine takes 20 gals)
 

Rigmaster

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Joined
Nov 17, 2008
Messages
1,061
Location
Elm Grove Farm, NC
kerosene with a gallon of zylene.......we go through this every couple of months. maybe a sticky?

I know this mix works, but it's not very healthy.


The main active ingredients in Purple Power and most of those other Purple cleaners are usually either Sodium Hydroxide (lye) or Potassium Hydroxide and Butyl. These are not exactly health foods either, but they are alot less harmful to humans than Xylene, and they are non flammable (Xylene is extremely flammable).
 

Charles (in GA)

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Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Messages
12,489
Location
50 mi south of Atlanta
I got Agitene at Grainger.

Same here, I used the Super Agitene 141, which has Lanolin in it (have to wash parts in soap and water to remove the lanolin if you plan on painting them, otherwise it doesn't matter), and has a 140F flash point. Oddly, Grainger seems to have the best price. I bought six five gallon cans, used four, held two in reserve, large parts washer.

Charles
 
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lametec

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May 5, 2008
Messages
2,099
Location
Michigan
I use #2 fuel oil. Only because I have access to plenty of it from the fuel tank for the oil burner furnace I had in the house. Now I have an LP furnace and the tank still has probably 150 gallons of oil in it. When I run out of oil I'll find some other fluid to use.
 

supertooljunkie

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Oct 12, 2009
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962
Location
Lilburn, GA
I use Purple Power also, only full strength. I works great. The only problem is it tends to foam real bad from cavatation if the fluid level gets low.
 

chevelle67

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Apr 7, 2009
Messages
418
Location
Campbellsport, WI
Tetrachloroethylene, otherwise known as dry cleaning solvent. Excellent degreaser, has a sweeter smelling odor and its nonflamable. I`ve been using it for years, I also still have a couple drums of R11 refrigerant from a centrifugal chiller retrofit that I use on really stubborn stuff.
 

stinkythings.com

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Joined
Oct 25, 2008
Messages
84
Location
Long Island, NY
From WIKI:
Mineral Spirits, also called Stoddard solvent [CAS 8052-41-3][1], is a petroleum distillate commonly used as a paint thinner and mild solvent. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is referred to as white spirit. In industry, mineral spirits is used for cleaning and degreasing machine tools and parts. According to Wesco, a supplier of solvents and cleaning equipment, mineral spirits "are especially effective in removing oils, greases, carbon, and other material from metal." Mineral spirits may also be used in conjunction with cutting oil as a thread cutting and reaming lubricant.

Artists use mineral spirits as an alternative to turpentine, one that is both less flammable and less toxic. Because of interactions with pigments, artists require a higher grade of mineral spirits than many industrial users, including the complete absence of residual sulfur. Odorless Mineral Spirits are mineral spirits that have been further refined to remove the more toxic aromatic compounds, and are recommended for applications such as oil painting, where humans have close contact with the solvent.

In screen printing (also referred to as silk-screening), mineral spirits are often used to clean and unclog screens after printing with oil-based textile and plastisol inks.

A typical composition for mineral spirits is the following: aliphatic solvent hexane having a maximum aromatic hydrocarbon content of 0.1% by volume, a kauri-butanol value of 29, an initial boiling point of 149 °F (65 °C), a dry point of approximately 156 °F (69 °C), and a specific mass of 0.7 g/cc. In the European Community, the composition of mineral spirits comes from Article 11(2) of Directive 2002/96/EC (WEEE).
 

NUTTSGT

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Sep 14, 2009
Messages
51,043
Location
Northern Central Ohio
I tried to use Simple Green in mine, but it ate the paint off the inside of the tank. It's been empty ever since, I guess I'll start buying some mineral spirits.
 

ColoradoBob

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
16
Simple Green here also. Cleans great but it also ate the paint off the tank. I just kept using it and haven't had any issues.
 

DANCBQ

New member
Joined
Oct 5, 2009
Messages
1
Tetrachloroethylene, otherwise known as dry cleaning solvent. Excellent degreaser, has a sweeter smelling odor and its nonflamable. I`ve been using it for years, I also still have a couple drums of R11 refrigerant from a centrifugal chiller retrofit that I use on really stubborn stuff.
One thing to remember about both r-11 and the tetra is they displace oxygen and second they will decompose if exposed to open flames or alollowed to overheat thus becoming phosgene a poisonious gas. Trust me on this I have experience with both instantces from previous employement. For those looking for a alternative may I suggest tyrene made by stevens chemical in chicago will take grease oil and if you let something soak long enough even old paint it works like a dream as far as i m concerned afterall if it will clean old screw machines that hadn t been cleaned in 20 yearsdown to the paint it will clean just about anything. Including the oil and grease stains on your floors just pour some on straight from the bottle scrub with a push broom and throw down some kittylitter wait 20 mins and scoop up the litter and the stain
 

chevelle67

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Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
418
Location
Campbellsport, WI
Halide torches for Refrigerant leak testing produce Phosgene also. I guess the good part is if your making Phosgene you will know it. Got a smell all its own. If its burning I`m leaving anyway!
 
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