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Parts cleaner fluid

V30crewcab

V30crewcab

Well-known member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
123
Messages
278
Loc
TN
I have an old parts cleaner in the shop with a bad pump. I have another one with a good pump I'm gonna replace it with soon. what are you guys using for fluid in your parts washer? the stuff I used before was berryman, but its $200 now. no idea what it actually is. the stuff in stock at the parts store now is mineral spirits. I thought that was paint thinner? just looking for ideas.
 
mineral spirits/stoddard is really nice though expensive

diesel used to be good, but now with mandated bio your shit's gonna STINK like the rottenest fryer because fucking government
Kerosene is about the best balance of cheap and clean.
 
I’m using jet fuel on mine because it was free. I’m not sure. I’m all that impressed with it though.
 
Perfect timing. I just pulled my parts washer out of storage to clean up some engine parts and was wondering what I should put in it. I'm not buying the fancy chemicals they sell at the parts store so I'm thinking either diesel with a bit of gas mixed in or kerosene will do the trick.

We use Naptha in the one at work but that stuff isn't cheap either...
 
Paint thinner is the best but it will destroy your pump LOL

Mineral spirits is cheap and doesn't work as well but the evaporation rate is also just about the lowest of anything else listed here.
 
[486] said:
"Naptha" is just Polski for "gasoline"
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Actually close. LOL is actually covers a wide variety of petroleum products.

Naptha can be paint thinner, can be mineral spirits, can be diesel fuel. They all fall under that category.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
:confused:

Drum says naptha....
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Yep, I work for a chemical company and the majority of the petroleum products or blends we sell are called "something" Naphtha because we don't want the customer to know exactly what is in it.

We will call it like A1003 naphtha spirits and it is actually just paint thinner.
Or 142 naphtha solvent is just mineral spirits.
 
Tiha said:
Yep, I work for a chemical company and the majority of the petroleum products or blends we sell are called "something" Naphtha because we don't want the customer to know exactly what is in it.

We will call it like A1003 naphtha spirits and it is actually just paint thinner.
Or 142 naphtha solvent is just mineral spirits.
Click to expand...

I'll have to look at what it exactly says next time I'm in the shop.
 
SLOWPOKE693 said:
I'll have to look at what it exactly says next time I'm in the shop.
Click to expand...
If you look on the SDS or what used to be called the MSDS it should have the exact percentages of each product in there.

Unless it is a patented trade secret, then the world will never know. LOL
 
you can usually get a pretty good guess at the chain length by the flash point and the vapor pressure

like how VMNP naptha is lighter than mineral spirits which is lighter than low-odor minderal spirits (or stoddard solvent) which is lighter than kerosene
then going the other way, the vm&p will be heavier than white gasoline coleman fuel, which is heavier than summer gasoline which is heavier than winter gasoline

boiling point, flash point, vapor pressure... they're the important datapoints
 
I was just in the book for something else so I took some pics for fun.

This is the emergency response guide book, this is updated every year. It is what first responders use and what every hazmat truck is supposed to have in it to help drivers figure what placards and paperwork and segregation they need. (basically so drivers can know if they will glow in the dark or not)

In the Hazardous material table there is no such product as Naphtha.

When we look at petroleum distillates, again. Pretty generic.

From an emergency response standpoint it is good enough to know how to extinguish a fire or render first aid, but honestly it is a bunch of vague crap and double talk.

It used to be the practice that companies like Dow, Dupont, Citgo, Exxon. They had to tell the EPA if the product was hazardous or not and if it was hazardous then they also had to provide all of the health data, like exposure rates, risks ect.
Not sure if they still self report or if EPA does it for them now.

20240802_164657.jpg
20240802_164749.jpg
20240802_164856.jpg
 
Stoddard.

My parts washer cleans it so cost doesn't really matter. I just top off whatever it gets low.. I take some out to fill the Sure Shot plus evaporation.
 
Tiha said:
I was just in the book for something else so I took some pics for fun.

This is the emergency response guide book, this is updated every year. It is what first responders use and what every hazmat truck is supposed to have in it to help drivers figure what placards and paperwork and segregation they need. (basically so drivers can know if they will glow in the dark or not)

In the Hazardous material table there is no such product as Naphtha.

When we look at petroleum distillates, again. Pretty generic.

From an emergency response standpoint it is good enough to know how to extinguish a fire or render first aid, but honestly it is a bunch of vague crap and double talk.

It used to be the practice that companies like Dow, Dupont, Citgo, Exxon. They had to tell the EPA if the product was hazardous or not and if it was hazardous then they also had to provide all of the health data, like exposure rates, risks ect.
Not sure if they still self report or if EPA does it for them now.

20240802_164657.jpg
20240802_164749.jpg
20240802_164856.jpg
Click to expand...
I haul HAZMAT, never seen that book.
 
[486] said:
we got us a petroleum engineer here
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If there a better way to measure how likely "shop activities" are to set off your parts washer than how close or far the upper and lower explosive limits are?
 
arse_sidewards said:
If there a better way to measure how likely "shop activities" are to set off your parts washer than how close or far the upper and lower explosive limits are?
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Close the lid and don't weld 5ft from the parts washer
 
AKnate said:
Close the lid and don't weld 5ft from the parts washer
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Sure, but over the years the small risk adds up. If the washer is still warm you've got a decent amount of vapors creeping out that lid regardless.
 
well I ordered the stuff from tractor supply. I guess we'll see when it comes in next week.
 
AKnate said:
I haul HAZMAT, never seen that book.
Click to expand...
Lol

Cfr 49 172.602, which states that hazardous materials shipments must be accompanied by emergency response information

Maybe nobody enforces it in your area. I see that a lot amongst our branches, dot enforces some but not other rules.

Maybe Alaska has local exemptions too.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Sure, but over the years the small risk adds up. If the washer is still warm you've got a decent amount of vapors creeping out that lid regardless.
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If the lid is closed there should not be oxygen in the parts washer. Vapors are heavier and push air out.

The vapors that escape the lid are too diluted with oxygen to ignite.

So that is another reason the fluid selected is important.

I consider it safe, I have ground steel on top of a closed lid parts washer but I sure wouldn't torch or weld on it.

Your nose tells you a lot. If you can smell vapors, get some fresh air in there.

Vapors are typically never more than 14 inches off the ground.
 
and if you have something with low enough vapor pressure, with a lid to keep a breeze from blowing the vapors out of the basin you'll have no significant solvent evaporation
Thus the sink atop an open top drum, the solvent 2' down from the lip of the drum just can't make enough vapor pressure to escape.
 
Rugby said:
I use the Crown PSC 1000 parts cleaner from tractor supply. Works well.
Click to expand...


This is what is in mine. Cheapest "decent" washer solvent I could find. Picked up from my local TSC.
 
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