What's new
By:
Filters

Parts washer fluid options - and a possibly cheap 20 gal unit

kf4zht

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
561
Messages
1,074
So if anyone is looking for a parts washer check you local TSC for this one - https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...-tank-capacity\\nI got mine from the local store for $22.99 (price only shows when you pick a store that has one in stock)

Now I need fluid for it. Mostly will use it to clean up machine parts, guns, the occasional engine parts. Don\\\'t want to go with mineral spirits/kero. So far the cheap part of me wants to go with just purple power but the possible effects on aluminum concern me. The local napa has this https://chemfree.com/portfolio-items...rtfolioCats=47 on sale right now.


I know these all work better heated. Thinking about ordering these and converting it before I ever fill it:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...91812054244-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...91812054244-20
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...91812054244-20


So what are yall using? Pros, cons, it ate my fingers off, etc.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the heating parts links but you reminded me that I still need to replace the pump in my HF parts washer.
 
That's wild that the price is that much different. I just checked an a local store has the parts washer you linked for 85 bucks which is cheaper than you can get a used harbor freight unit around here and I like the design a bit better too with the wheels and the drying rack. Got one set up for contactless curbside pickup. :rolleyes:
The harbor freight style unit was like $55 at the same store.


Is there any way to filter out stuff that has a cheaper price for curbside pickup at TSC?


Reminds me of the time I was looking for a 220v hobart welder and TSC had them listed for $299.00 I put it in the cart and pulled the trigger fast but they sent me an email cancelling the order saying it was a mistake. I tried to act pissy to see if they would honor the price but no dice:grinpimp:

Update: TSC cancelled my order with no explanation. Either they did not actually have one or they caught on.

Ordered another from a store a little further south for the same price, we shall see.
 
Last edited:
Lists for 149.99 but still 90.09 when added to cart. It's a good thing I don't really need one :lmao:
 
MigGunslinger said:
Update: TSC cancelled my order with no explanation. Either they did not actually have one or they caught on.

Ordered another from a store a little further south for the same price, we shall see.
Click to expand...

That sucks. It doesn't help that my store routinely looks like a trailer park after a tornado and at least once I can remember waiting outside at opening time due to the manager oversleeping. So they certainly aren't going to catch it at the store level.

They also have a dewalt 20v 6.5 circ saw for 60-70 on clearance. As much as I would prefer at 7.25 to match the blades I already have a cordless would be really handy
 
I'd use red diesel in mine if I had to start over
red because it don't got any of that disgusting bio-shit mixed in

the water based things need to be dumped fairly often or they smell like a septic tank in short order with slimy shit growing in the sump
well, you can get away with not changing them as often if you get it up above 140f fairly often, but that requires a lot of electric and petro-solvent is just cheaper than that

ETA: I've got some 10 year old stoddard solvent in a bucket that I've been using. lid ain't even sealed, just tossed on there. The vapor pressure is fairly low and it doesn't really evaporate off too bad so long as you keep it covered so that the vapor doesn't get blown out of the bucket.
I've been meaning to toss together a still to distill out all the oil and grease, but haven't gotten around to it. There's about an inch of nearly solid goop at the bottom of the bucket.
 
Last edited:
kf4zht said:
That sucks. It doesn't help that my store routinely looks like a trailer park after a tornado and at least once I can remember waiting outside at opening time due to the manager oversleeping. So they certainly aren't going to catch it at the store level.
Click to expand...

Good news is the 2nd store had the parts washer and I got it for $85 + tax,

Bad news is my Jeep blew it's heater core on the way home. Driving with steam clouds billowing out of the defrost vent is interesting.

In other good news: If I cracked the head by overheating it I now have a fucking parts washer for cleaning parts during the rebuild. :lmao:

[486 said:
;n363678]the water based things need to be dumped fairly often or they smell like a septic tank in short order with slimy shit growing in the sump
well, you can get away with not changing them as often if you get it up above 140f fairly often, but that requires a lot of electric and petro-solvent is just cheaper than that
Click to expand...

Since it seems like you have gone the heated water based route, do the stock pumps survive with the heat?
 
MigGunslinger said:
That's wild that the price is that much different. I just checked an a local store has the parts washer you linked for 85 bucks which is cheaper than you can get a used harbor freight unit around here and I like the design a bit better too with the wheels and the drying rack. Got one set up for contactless curbside pickup. :rolleyes:
The harbor freight style unit was like $55 at the same store.


Is there any way to filter out stuff that has a cheaper price for curbside pickup at TSC?


Reminds me of the time I was looking for a 220v hobart welder and TSC had them listed for $299.00 I put it in the cart and pulled the trigger fast but they sent me an email cancelling the order saying it was a mistake. I tried to act pissy to see if they would honor the price but no dice:grinpimp:

Update: TSC cancelled my order with no explanation. Either they did not actually have one or they caught on.

Ordered another from a store a little further south for the same price, we shall see.
Click to expand...

What model? I tried grabbing one of the closeout 220V welders for $279 and they were sold out nation wide. Discontinued welder. :/
 
Pony_Driver said:
What model? I tried grabbing one of the closeout 220V welders for $279 and they were sold out nation wide. Discontinued welder. :/
Click to expand...

This was way back. I think It was a Handler 187 before they switched to the 190. Ended up with a reconditioned 210 from an online vendor.

[486 said:
;n364689]no idea
work's got a three phase 1hp pump on their parts washer, the pumpy bit is big and iron
Click to expand...

I see, well if I kill it with heat I will plumb in an RV water supply pump.
 
MigGunslinger said:
I see, well if I kill it with heat I will plumb in an RV water supply pump.
Click to expand...

or just get an old dishwasher that the baskets in it are getting rusty but otherwise it works
wire up the drying heater element to a chinese thermostat to get your 150+ degree water to really cut the greasy shit off
 
[486 said:
;n363678]I'd use red diesel in mine if I had to start over
red because it don't got any of that disgusting bio-shit mixed in

the water based things need to be dumped fairly often or they smell like a septic tank in short order with slimy shit growing in the sump
well, you can get away with not changing them as often if you get it up above 140f fairly often, but that requires a lot of electric and petro-solvent is just cheaper than that
Click to expand...

So the CRC stuff claims to fix that - but you have to let it run through their filter and then add the remediation additive every so often. Sounds good and reviews claim it works, but not sure if its not overkill for a home shop.

I need to run by napa and see what they stock. Reading more I dont want to deal with simple green or purple power due to possible issues with aluminum. If I can get some stoddard locally that would work, but I dont want to run just kero.
 
Fwiw.

I use used hydraulic/ automatic trans fluid in my HF washer.

Its loaded with detergents, and it was free. ( serviced my Allison... )
Works titz, and does not burn if you have a cut.

A bit messy to clean up, but my parts do not immediately rust.

I also have 3 gallons of simple green in a 5 gallon bucket if I need to strip rust or corrosion.
 
I run a 75% diesel, 25% kero mix in my washer. Works great, easy to get a hold of, and makes it easy for me to get rid of tainted fuel. Just add it to the washer.
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
I run a 75% diesel, 25% kero mix in my washer. Works great, easy to get a hold of, and makes it easy for me to get rid of tainted fuel. Just add it to the washer.
Click to expand...

I ran kerosene and diesel mix, but it's hot in my side building and the two fuels were getting a bit more aerosol than I liked.
Was concerned about me starting a flash fire if I weld or flap disk. Diesel is not supposed to flash..
But ATF is safer.
I do keep some diesel for rinsing the ATF if i don't want to water scrub the simple green off.


Btw, i guess it depents what I'm washing.

Pistons or anything with carbon go in simple green. Greasy parts goes into the ATF.

calipers and master cylinder go into simple green, then soapy wash and a denatured alcohol wash.
 
I'm partial to mineral spirits, just make sure the cleaner has a fusible link for closing the lid in the event of a fire.
 
[486 said:
;n363678]I'd use red diesel in mine if I had to start over
red because it don't got any of that disgusting bio-shit mixed in

the water based things need to be dumped fairly often or they smell like a septic tank in short order with slimy shit growing in the sump
well, you can get away with not changing them as often if you get it up above 140f fairly often, but that requires a lot of electric and petro-solvent is just cheaper than that

ETA: I've got some 10 year old stoddard solvent in a bucket that I've been using. lid ain't even sealed, just tossed on there. The vapor pressure is fairly low and it doesn't really evaporate off too bad so long as you keep it covered so that the vapor doesn't get blown out of the bucket.
I've been meaning to toss together a still to distill out all the oil and grease, but haven't gotten around to it. There's about an inch of nearly solid goop at the bottom of the bucket.
Click to expand...

Stoddard solvent here. My parts washer was my dads and it has the same solvent from when I was a kid. It gets drained every now and again through a filter and the sludge cleaned out of the tank and the solvent dumped right back in. When I get everything moved from his house I will probably get new solvent for it.
 
Ok, ordered 5 gallons of the Simple Green Aircraft stuff, on sale at Zoro. Obviously aluminum safe and they recommend 1:3 mix in parts washers. Also ordered the heater parts from amazon, going to install those before the first fill to make sure it works. From the data sheet it looks like around 105-110 is a good temp.

While stoddard is popular you have to remember I'm not doing much auto stuff and very little greasy old shit like some of yall. This is going to see a ton of firearms parts full of carbon, probably some 2 stroke parts now and then, random chip flush from machined parts. Probably the worst will be cosmoline removal and I'm going to wipe off as much as possible before putting it in there.
 
kf4zht said:
Ok, ordered 5 gallons of the Simple Green Aircraft stuff, on sale at Zoro. Obviously aluminum safe and they recommend 1:3 mix in parts washers. Also ordered the heater parts from amazon, going to install those before the first fill to make sure it works. From the data sheet it looks like around 105-110 is a good temp.

While stoddard is popular you have to remember I'm not doing much auto stuff and very little greasy old shit like some of yall. This is going to see a ton of firearms parts full of carbon, probably some 2 stroke parts now and then, random chip flush from machined parts. Probably the worst will be cosmoline removal and I'm going to wipe off as much as possible before putting it in there.
Click to expand...

I will be following along because I bought all of the heater parts as well. Good find on the special simple green stuff, didn't know that existed.

One thing I was thinking about was circulation of the fluid in the parts washer, when I built my still with a water heater element it seems like the mash will boil around and above the element but without circulation it takes a while to heat up all of the fluid under the element. The issue being you can basically get inconsistent heating. I would make sure you get the element as close to the bottom as possible

This will all even out eventually with the pump running but it would not take much to get some of the fluid way hotter than intended. Have you thought about diverting a small amount of the stream to swirl the fluid in the tank? I guess you could just have it running for a certain period before you use it, probably overthinking it.
 
MigGunslinger said:
I will be following along because I bought all of the heater parts as well. Good find on the special simple green stuff, didn't know that existed.

One thing I was thinking about was circulation of the fluid in the parts washer, when I built my still with a water heater element it seems like the mash will boil around and above the element but without circulation it takes a while to heat up all of the fluid under the element. The issue being you can basically get inconsistent heating. I would make sure you get the element as close to the bottom as possible

This will all even out eventually with the pump running but it would not take much to get some of the fluid way hotter than intended. Have you thought about diverting a small amount of the stream to swirl the fluid in the tank? I guess you could just have it running for a certain period before you use it, probably overthinking it.
Click to expand...

I ran a calculator on some website - with 1000w of heating power, ~12 gallons of liquid (roughly what reviews said this will hold) it will take about 60-70 minutes to go from 60-105* to heat up. Honestly that should work for the times I really need it warmed up. Plan is to put the heater as near to the intake as I can and just plan on running the pump as part of the warmup.

Really knowing me I will just toss the first parts in, fire it up and let it warm up while it sprays the part off, its still cleaning while cold.
 
[486 said:
;n371236]

don't toss the old stuff, just put together a simple little still and clean out all the stuff that ain't solvent.
Click to expand...

How long is it good for? Its been in there over 30 years. I was planning a mix of diesel or kero and ATF. Ill just filter the old shit and use it to clean all the rust preventitive off of the Bport and lathe when I set them back up. Theyve been sitting in storage for a few years coated in oil and marine corrosion preventer. Shits like cosmoline.
 
Last edited:
[486 said:
;n371371]

it is a fraction of petroleum
it's about a zillion years old
Click to expand...

I know what it is. Its a type of mi eral spirits or white spirit. I just wasnt sure if it would break down or lose its effectiveness or not.
 
Stuck said:
I just wasnt sure if it would break down or lose its effectiveness or not.
Click to expand...

this right here is why I'm adamantly against all the new-age enviro-friendly water based solutions for home use
they can't sit infrequently used in a bucket for decades without getting wierd

that and when they gotta be changed out, you're dumping them right into your well water
 
I hopped up my cheap shit solvent tank with a filter, a bypass, a new pump, and a heater/ temp gauge. what is everyone using as a heater, I did an oil pan heater with a remote temp switch.

20210406_181938.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh