Parts cleaner

[benchracer1]

Anybody got any recommendations for a water based parts cleaner. I have the tub style parts washer and I was looking for some type of soap to add to a couple gallons of water to. All I use it for is final cleaning. Things such as final flushing of pushrod or oil galleys.

[jeffrey8164]

ZEP has a line of Citrus Degreasers. Works OK for most things but won’t work well against wheel bearing grease or brake fluid.

I’m of the belief that there is no one product that can clean anything. At some point you’ll need some acetone.
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[Vanapplebomb]

I know it isn’t what you want to hear, but I haven’t had much luck with water based cleaners. I gave up and went to petroleum based solvents and haven’t looked back.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

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[benchracer1]

What kind of petroleum cleaner do you use?

[mcmscott]

[Vanapplebomb]

I have used Kerosene, Diesel, and Crown PSC1000. Currently I have Crown PSC1000 in the parts cleaner. Not nearly as smelly as Kerosene or Diesel. It also doesn’t leave as much of a oil residue when it dries. Most of it will flash off in a few minutes. A blast of compressed air makes quick work of it. I wouldn’t say it cleans as well as Kerosene or Diesel, but it is easier to clean up for painting. A quick wipe with a damp acetone rag cleans up any residue, or a quick shot of break cleaner. To me, the reduced cleanup time is worth spending a little more time at the parts washer.

Diesel is great for cutting through thick crud, but it’s a pain to clean up. Doesn’t flash off and is quite oily. Takes a lot of acetone to clean it off before you can paint.
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1800 Type 4 Berrien 295

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=487021

[Clatter]

I clean parts in a pan of gas.
Works a treat.

To dispose, i leave the pan in the sun until it evaporates off to an oily goo.
Then i wipe the oily goo up with a rag and throw it in the trash.

Not exactly enviro,
But gets oily parts clean clean.
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[Bonesberg55]

Half kerosene and half water has always worked for me. Easy rinsing and I've had some for over 5 years in a bucket with a lid.

[madmike]

Mineral Spirits
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[busman78]

Super Clean, use it anywhere from 50/50 with water all the way to full strength. Like laquer thinner to, depends on what is getting cleaned. Also for really dried out grease/crud you can use Oven cleaner, on steel only.

[VW_Jimbo]

I use full strength Simple Green. Works great, rinses easily and smells nice. Wear gloves, as it is at full strength and can etch your skin a bit (small rash). Just don’t let parts soak more than a day or so. Magnesium comes out a darker color, as well as Aluminum.

I buy mine at Home Depot in the gallon jugs. I have had the same 4 gallons for about a year. Some of it has evaporated off. Also, I use cheese cloth to filter the oil that accumulates at the top surface area. Do this first thing in the morning. Will help to keep the liquid soap clean for months!!!
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[rayjay]

I use the psc1000 ( iirc) available at Tractor Supply in 5 gallon cans.

[Dauz]

Not the answer you're looking for. But I use CRC Brakleen to clean just about everything in the garage. If it's good enough for brakes and flywhieels which can't have oil and shit, it's good enough for everything else. Getting expensive though

[raygreenwood]

I quit using any kind of "water based" (nothing is actually water based really) solvents for parts a few years back when we found too many issues with them...in more industrial environments. But the same issues we found have the same issues with engine parts...especially machined parts.

The problem with 100% of those that are "water based"....or more realistically...detergent/surfactant based.... is that they MUST...MUST...MUST be rinsed with water to get the surfactant off of them.

These surfactants...if they are DESIGNED to dissolve heavy duty greases (especially bearing greases which are surfactant based suspensions of oil and metals)......will contaminate greases and oils if they are not washed off. We found that they defeat a lot of assembly lubes and oils.

The best pseudo solvent based parts washer solvent I found ...going back a number of years....was Kerosene mixed with the original "Gunk" concentrate.

The concentrate was a surfactant "package". A detergent/degreaser. It increased the dissolving power of the kerosene and even better if lightly heated. It also STABILIZED the kerosene (more on this in a minute).

It caused the kerosene to be "self emulsifying"......meaning it could be rinsed off with water and it would foam away...just like old school brake parts cleaner.
The difference is that it leaves (by design) a fine film of kerosene that is an excellent rust preventative.

Currently the product that Gunk has that STILL works like this is called Gunk "S-C" ...super concentrated degreaser.

https://solvewithb.com/tds/SC3.pdf

You can still buy it at Grainger and a few places. When I was in Iowa...they could not sell it locally. I thought they had quit manufacturing it.
A lot of places like California will not allow you to buy this strictly because it USES water as the final stage.

When I could not get it....I consulted my companies "bench chemist"...mans a genius.

He noted that he made a version of it at home that works quite well...by taking Kerosene and simply adding a portion of very biodegradable detergent like Palmolive....which is miscible with kerosene to a high degree.

Simple Green is NOT a biodegradable "green" degreaser. It has one ingredient that is bio-accumulative and kills aquatic life. That is simple Greens dirty little secret.

But you have to use the super concentrated version of whatever dishwashing soap because it cannot have appreciable amounts of water in it or it will not mix with the kerosene completely.

He also added a small amount of 99% ethanol (methanol would be better). This completely blends with both kerosene and the detergent.

So you wash your parts in the kerosene mixture then rinse them with high pressure water. When the soap hits water....it foams off and breaks down the kerosene. It still leaves a fine film of Kerosene but not as good as the original Gunk S-C. You still need to spritz with WD40.....but it worked pretty good.

I will find my notes and post the recipe.

Back to the kerosene stability. Kerosene has the same issues as diesel. If you do not change it out it has a fungus that starts to grow and breaks it down. This fungus....KILLS...machined surfaces because it generates a significant PH change on surfaces. I found this out the hard way because I left a transmission section submerged in Kerosene in my parts washer while I was out of town for a while...figuring it would be fine.

It wrecked parts of it as the fungus converted the kerosene to an acidic sludge.

You can prevent that with an anti-microbial additive like you use for diesel.

https://www.biobor.com/products/biobor-jf-diesel/?...ZFEALw_wcB

Ray

[TXHCBeetle]

I use WD40 for initial case grime cleaning, followed by odorless mineral spirits, rinse with water, blow off with shop air, put out in the sun to dry
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[vwracerdave]

I guess I'm lucky. Local place sell mineral spirits solvent out of a pump just like gas.
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[nsracing]

I did the water-based cleaner before in my hand washer....was not impressed. So changed to the petro-based one. STunk up the garage - did not like it either on my hands-very harsh. And the fire-hazard too.

So i finally got my jetwasher...several actually. I sold one - Nothing like a hot jetwasher... i use soap alkaline based and mixed w/ water. Perfect for non-ferrous. Just rinse w/ fresh water after and let dry.

Nothing to clean other draining the tank and getting all the mud out. Then toss the liquid back in there. YOu just keep adding fresh water from the rinse.

Thermostat and timer controlled. I love it!

I can probably let go one..if anyone is interested.

[modok]

For many years I have wanted to make a parts washing and rinsing blasting cabinet, tho I forgot about it until just now.
Like a bead blasting cabinet but with a pressure washer, so you could blast with soap, pressure wash with fresh water, and then blow dry with compressed air INSIDE a sealed (vented to outside?) chamber.

But for final cleaning the ideal process is the same, just, outside with a rain suit. the soap used for final clean isn't really that important, the pressure wash with clean heated water is the most important, and quick dry with compressed air is nice too, tho less important.

the new guys often think that blowing compressed air at it is the key, and that does help..... but the fact is that water is far heavier than air, and thus better at removing grit, and if the water is CLEAN and hot then it will evaporate quick and leave no residue, unless the humidity is very high, but here it isn't.

[Dusty1]

[67rustavenger]

How about a reverse osmosis system with a final resin bed to achieve DI water?

We use DI water to clean semiconductor wafers and parts during maintenance.

DI water has no minerals or positive and negative Ions, it's stripped down to basic H2o.
DI water is referred as "Hungry." It wants to return to it's original state.

Get it on your bare hands and it has a very weird and hard to describe feeling.
It feels like it's drawing the fat out of your skin.

Heat it, and it gets even more aggressive as a cleaning agent.

Problem is, once exposed to atmosphere. The mega ohm reading drops to 2 mega ohms, when in an enclosed environment, it is at 16 mega ohms.

Me? I use carb cleaner on wiped down greasy parts and sometimes the dishwasher to get a grungy case clean.
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