Parts Washer Solvent

Diesel in the parts washer to get the heavy crud, quick blast with brake clean for a final wash.

Thought I would toss this in. I use this stuff with really good results. Strait up from the bottle for really nasty stuff to diluted down for home cleaning (replaces 409 and fantastic type cleaners)

Heating or adding hot water makes it even better but not necessary.

who retails this ?

In reply to wbjones:

Amazon

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: My as-yet-unpurchased parts washer is going to be in an attached garage. I do not want to burn the house down or have an explosion. I also do not want giblet cancers. Is there something that does none of these things that can clean really greasy parts? Simple Green and Super Purple are not getting the job done and I am sick of using a plastic bucket full of gasoline out in the yard (which works excellent fwiw).

I'm in the same boat. My parts washer is in the basement, so I don't want anything that stinks or will burn the place down.

bravenrace wrote: Whatever you guys use, wear gloves. Back in the day I worked for a division of Dow Chemical. We had parts cleaner that was VERY effective, and we routinely washed our hands in it. Then one day they suddenly came and took it away. Someone said it was so dangerous that it was outlawed. Did I mention that I have all kinds of nervous system problems?

Same here. From pre-teen until it hit the fan when I was 50 I used mineral spirits, acetone, gasoline, laquer thinner, it didn't matter, it was quick and got the job done. Then, 14 years ago it caught up with me and I have really paid the price for my foolishness. Read the labels, it clearly states "prolonged exposure to the skin and vapors WILL cause brain damage". I'm a believer.

BTW, I went to WM last fall to get some deck paint and it's NLA in oil based form. I called Lowes, same story. I looked on-line and couldn't find it. I ended up getting water based paint and even though it takes much more of it, it seems to be adequate. Slowly the most dangerous of the products I have used in my lifetime are disappearing.

MoRocco wrote: hi, mr mazda. my name is josh brown, and i think you shoulde use Autozone brand DEXIII in your part's washer. i read on a foroum once, that that is, the correct solouvent to use in said situatione. Personally I prefer the Advance Autozone Brand, but i heard that they dont put the same addeteves ine they're products. i hope that my advise has been help ful to you.

This is exactly not what I wanted to see when I first get into work.

I have faced similar situations, but I found a DIY post about welding a 1-1/4" pipe nipple on the bottom of the tub, drilling a bunch of 1/8" holes inside the nipple, putting a ball valve on it, a sewer wye and then another, and into a 5 gallon bucket. Put the pump in the bucket, on a stand, several inches off the bottom. This allows the crud to build up quite a bit before it clogs the pump. and it doesn't stir up too bad. This system allows the tub to work great without as much solvent, and makes for easier changes, you just pull out the bucket.

Time to drag this up again. I have an old washer I got from my uncle, currently in the basement, being used as a stand for my blast cabinet. I'm trying to balance between freezing water based solutions in the garage, and fumes in the basement (also don't want to tilt my wife by dragging greasy engine parts thru the kitchen on a regular basis)

I found TSC Parts Washer Fluid which is $40 for 5 gal. Says it's 'petroleum distillates' which I assume translates to 'won't freeze solid'. I have a few fish tank warmers to try for starters to get the fluid a bit warmer than ambient.

Anyone used this stuff before?

XLR99 wrote: Time to drag this up again. I have an old washer I got from my uncle, currently in the basement, being used as a stand for my blast cabinet. I'm trying to balance between freezing water based solutions in the garage, and fumes in the basement (also don't want to tilt my wife by dragging greasy engine parts thru the kitchen on a regular basis) I found TSC Parts Washer Fluid which is $40 for 5 gal. Says it's 'petroleum distillates' which I assume translates to 'won't freeze solid'. I have a few fish tank warmers to try for starters to get the fluid a bit warmer than ambient. Anyone used this stuff before?

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79210&highlight=tsc+parts+washer

Thanks! once again my Google-fu was weak. I actually searched on GJ as well. I'll report back after I pick some up.

Just realized that I haven't updated as promised. Shame... So, here's a 'before' shot of a timing cover:

And after about 20 minutes of work with the aforementioned TSC solvent:

I also got a 150W stick-on heater element from Amazon. I was hoping for a 300W, but had a bit of sticker shock. The 150W was only $22. I wire-wheeled the bottom of the tank, and stuck it in place:

I didn't really try it until this weekend, when it was 30-35 in the garage. It's definitely not a quick warm-up; after maybe 3 hours the solvent was lukewarm.

Regarding the subject of gloves, I found that the supposedly 'chemical resistant heavy duty' gloves from Home Depot are crap, and tear apart quickly. I ended up getting a box of the 9mil nitrile HF gloves, which work well for solvent as well as pulling apart suspension, CV joints, and other heavy duty type work.

Thought I'd throw in a few idea's and things I've seen.

On water based parts washers they have the heating element right in the tank with the solvent. They use just a standard element from a H/W tank. Easy to retro the fitting onto a washer if wanting to.

As far as using the old stand by kleeners I've had a idea floating around that would work. You would have to make a outer shell with the heating element in it and have the water in there with some antifreeze. So the bottom of the solvent washer is incased in heated water which would heat the solvent. You could run two elements and get the water temp close to boiling if needed.

Just my .02 on the subject. I have a small parts cleaner I'm looking at doing the later to even thou I use water based cleaner. I do know it works a whole lot better when heated to almost boiling.