Parts Washer Solvent:

[Rob]

You guys that work in truck shops; What kind of solvent is used these days? I'm using "Stoddard Solvent" and have for years. This stuff is getting unaffordable as it is over $9.00 per gallon and my washer uses 53 gallons. Most places around here use Safety Kleen and are on some kind of contract but I'm not interested in that as it isn't used very much. I've used naptha, and xylol in the past and it works well, but the evaporation rate is unacceptable even with the lid closed.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Rob

[Packer]

Good old #2 and "GOOD" rubber gloves??????

The new 'critus' (sp) water based isn't bad and is ECO proof.

Not as good as stoddard but the tree huggers will love you!!!!

Packer

[GreenGiant2]

You guys that work in truck shops; What kind of solvent is used these days? I'm using "Stoddard Solvent" and have for years. This stuff is getting unaffordable as it is over $9.00 per gallon and my washer uses 53 gallons. Most places around here use Safety Kleen and are on some kind of contract but I'm not interested in that as it isn't used very much. I've used naptha, and xylol in the past and it works well, but the evaporation rate is unacceptable even with the lid closed.

Suggestions?

Thanks,

Rob

i found that mineral spirits works just as good ,went to the local paint store and bought 10 gallons and dumped it in my cleaner, when it gets dirty i just dump it in my used oil drum, when i did the cam in my truck it dried film free and cut the grim real well...

Green Giant 2

[Rob]

Good old #2 and "GOOD" rubber gloves??????

The new 'critus' (sp) water based isn't bad and is ECO proof.

Not as good as stoddard but the tree huggers will love you!!!!

Packer

Hi Garth, I'd tried that once and it really doesn't work that well at cutting oil oil and such. Gasoline is much better.

Tree huggers can kiss my ass.

Rob

[Rob]

i found that mineral spirits works just as good ,went to the local paint store and bought 10 gallons and dumped it in my cleaner, when it gets dirty i just dump it in my used oil drum, when i did the cam in my truck it dried film free and cut the grim real well...

Green Giant 2

I agree that mineral spirits does work well but it is not as good as "Stoddard". It is however about $2.50 a gallon less expensive and does not evaporate nearly as fast as naptha does. In reality that is probably what I'll go back to as it does not swell rubber parts nearly as fast as some other solvents.

Both naptha, and mineral spirits do evaporate fairly quickly and film free.

Thanks,

Rob

[ThaddeusW]

Pointless but Trichloroethylene does a dam fine job in a vapor degreaser. At work we have one and it cleans off just about anyhting and leaves nothing behind, evaporates very very fast as well. BUT its toxic and disposal is controlled, usually you reclaim it with a special machine or recycle it. We also use Acetone and it too dries clean and is far less toxic than trichlor. But I am not sure if acetone is cheap, I believe its about $450-550 for a 55 gallon drum. You can reclain it using a reclaiming machine, we have a smaller reclaimer on site that recycles the acetone for less sensitive uses.

[Rob]

Pointless but Trichloroethylene does a dam fine job in a vapor degreaser. At work we have one and it cleans off just about anyhting and leaves nothing behind, evaporates very very fast as well. BUT its toxic and disposal is controlled, usually you reclaim it with a special machine or recycle it. We also use Acetone and it too dries clean and is far less toxic than trichlor. But I am not sure if acetone is cheap, I believe its about $450-550 for a 55 gallon drum. You can reclain it using a reclaiming machine, we have a smaller reclaimer on site that recycles the acetone for less sensitive uses.

Through the 80's we used trich for a lot of cleaning chores. It is very good but will literally suck the air out of your lungs if working over it, or in a confined space. While I was in the military there was a marine killed when he was cleaning the engine bay of a Harrier jump jet while the engine was out. It was banned shortly afterward. When I first went to work in the federal service we could still get it to clean circuit cards and clean up after repairs, but not anymore. Been banned for us for almost 20 years now.

Acetone is too harsh to use in a parts washer where your hands will touch the parts. Your soft tissues will split from lack of oil in the skin after about 10 minutes of exposure. My hyde is as tough as an aligator in most places but acetone, mek, and various other solvents used in the body shop will put the pains to an old man like me. Acetone evaporates pretty quickly without leaving a film also, and would be great except on rubber parts. You'll get one hell of a buzz sniffing acetone too if working above it.

My parts washer has an air powered agitator and heater, neither of which is hooked up. When the heater went bad I used the circulator pump for other purposes but with these old trucks, I'm thinking of getting it going again. I would like to have a nice aqueous washer but don't have the room right now.

Rob

[Packer]

The Wyoming Game and Fish just opened a new sub-office in Cheyenne.

The next time a tree hugger wants to see a wolf, the Game and Fish will send them one all expenses paid.

They find that that is much cheaper that following the Federal guide lines for 'Managing'

the wolf population in Wyoming, and also lowers the number of tree huggers that get these ideas and jam them down 'Our'

necks.

Wyoming coyote problem

The Sierra Club and the U.S.. Forest Service were presenting an alternative to the Wyoming ranchers for controlling the coyote population.

It seems that after years of the ranchers using the tried and true method of shooting or trapping the predators, the Sierra Club had a "more humane" solution to this issue.

What they were proposing was for the animals to be captured alive. The males would then be castrated and let loose again.

Therefore the population would be controlled by this method. This was ACTUALLY proposed by the Sierra Club and by the U. S. Forest Service. All of the ranchers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes.

Finally, an old fellow in the back of the conference room stood up, tipped his hat back and said; "Son, I don't think you understand our problem here", "These coyotes ain't f-----' our sheep - they're eatin' 'em!"

You should have been there to hear the roar of laughter in that room. The meeting never really got back on track.

Packer

[other dog]

The Wyoming Game and Fish just opened a new sub-office in Cheyenne.

The next time a tree hugger wants to see a wolf, the Game and Fish will send them one all expenses paid.

They find that that is much cheaper that following the Federal guide lines for 'Managing'

the wolf population in Wyoming, and also lowers the number of tree huggers that get these ideas and jam them down 'Our'

necks.

Wyoming coyote problem

The Sierra Club and the U.S.. Forest Service were presenting an alternative to the Wyoming ranchers for controlling the coyote population.

It seems that after years of the ranchers using the tried and true method of shooting or trapping the predators, the Sierra Club had a "more humane" solution to this issue.

What they were proposing was for the animals to be captured alive. The males would then be castrated and let loose again.

Therefore the population would be controlled by this method. This was ACTUALLY proposed by the Sierra Club and by the U. S. Forest Service. All of the ranchers thought about this amazing idea for a couple of minutes.

Finally, an old fellow in the back of the conference room stood up, tipped his hat back and said; "Son, I don't think you understand our problem here", "These coyotes ain't f-----' our sheep - they're eatin' 'em!"

You should have been there to hear the roar of laughter in that room. The meeting never really got back on track.

Packer

now there's so many coyotes some counties around here (in Virginia!) were paying a bounty for dead coyotes. Don't know if they still are because all you hear now is budget cuts, but they used to. Until a few years ago the only coyote I saw was on roadrunner cartoons.

[HK Trucking]

Mornin' Rob.

In my own shop I used to use Diesel fuel to wash parts, then after washing with fuel I'd spray the parts with Brake Cleaner (either the chlorinated or non chlorinated type) to eliminate the fuel residue on the parts. When the diesel fuel got dirty, I'd dump it in with my waste oil, which was then donated to various shops around the area which used it in their waste oil furnaces.

Where I work now we have our own parts washer which is serviced & refilled by "Crystal Clean" or something like that (much cheaper than safety clean). They empty and refill it about once a month, the solvent seems to have the same properties as Safety Clean.

Maybe you could visit some of your friends that have a Safety Clean or similar parts washer and draw off a few gallons occasionally, then take it to your shop and dump it in your parts washer. After a few such occasions, you'd have a machine full of good solvent.

On a side note, back in the old days, out east, where I worked then, we had a Safety Clean parts washer. After hours the guys would hang around the shop and indulge in a few adult beverages. Turned out someone was using the parts washer for a piss pot, so after that there was a sign posted on it:

"I don't wash parts in your toilet, so don't piss in my parts washer".

.

[Rob]

Mornin' Rob.

In my own shop I used to use Diesel fuel to wash parts, then after washing with fuel I'd spray the parts with Brake Cleaner (either the chlorinated or non chlorinated type) to eliminate the fuel residue on the parts. When the diesel fuel got dirty, I'd dump it in with my waste oil, which was then donated to various shops around the area which used it in their waste oil furnaces.

Where I work now we have our own parts washer which is serviced & refilled by "Crystal Clean" or something like that (much cheaper than safety clean). They empty and refill it about once a month, the solvent seems to have the same properties as Safety Clean.

Maybe you could visit some of your friends that have a Safety Clean or similar parts washer and draw off a few gallons occasionally, then take it to your shop and dump it in your parts washer. After a few such occasions, you'd have a machine full of good solvent.

On a side note, back in the old days, out east, where I worked then, we had a Safety Clean parts washer. After hours the guys would hang around the shop and indulge in a few adult beverages. Turned out someone was using the parts washer for a piss pot, so after that there was a sign posted on it:

"I don't wash parts in your toilet, so don't piss in my parts washer".

.

Morning Herb, I went down and got a fresh 55 of red diesel this morning and dumped it in. I pumped the washer dry of the Stoddard Solvent into a barrel and will drop it by a guy's place that has a distiller. A 55 gallon drum will yield about 46-48 gallons in return clean product. I didn't totally clean out the sludge in the bottom but there was at least three inches buildup. Did find a long lost scaper too.

While the tank was empty I removed the manifold and piping to rebuild it for the agitation. This is nothing more than a manifold with three pipes with little holes for air to blast through. The bubbles did do a good job of cleaning and breaking up dirt/grease on parts and they flowed over the immersed parts. I also have a little explosion proof Dayton gearmotor that I used for raising and lowering a dip basket that worked well too. When the immersion heater ceased to function several years ago, I started changing solvents to find something that worked acceptably well and settled on Stoddard. I always liked it because of no film. I would typically wash parts on a follow up with the steam cleaner if they were to be painted.

Rob

[fifth wheel]

I started with paint thinner , a little #1 and#2 fuel and what ever else ends up in there. Doesn't have the offensive odor of the commercial solvents. This is a shop built unit about 30 gals. and the pump is a foot from the bottom, never changed the solvent in 20 years, cleaned the sludge out once.

My .02

[Rob]

I started with paint thinner , a little #1 and#2 fuel and what ever else ends up in there. Doesn't have the offensive odor of the commercial solvents. This is a shop built unit about 30 gals. and the pump is a foot from the bottom, never changed the solvent in 20 years, cleaned the sludge out once.

My .02

Hi Neil, I'm not really sure what was in mine either. Funny how much stuff gets washed in those......

Rob

[ThaddeusW]

Through the 80's we used trich for a lot of cleaning chores. It is very good but will literally suck the air out of your lungs if working over it, or in a confined space. While I was in the military there was a marine killed when he was cleaning the engine bay of a Harrier jump jet while the engine was out. It was banned shortly afterward. When I first went to work in the federal service we could still get it to clean circuit cards and clean up after repairs, but not anymore. Been banned for us for almost 20 years now.

Acetone is too harsh to use in a parts washer where your hands will touch the parts. Your soft tissues will split from lack of oil in the skin after about 10 minutes of exposure. My hyde is as tough as an aligator in most places but acetone, mek, and various other solvents used in the body shop will put the pains to an old man like me. Acetone evaporates pretty quickly without leaving a film also, and would be great except on rubber parts. You'll get one hell of a buzz sniffing acetone too if working above it.

My parts washer has an air powered agitator and heater, neither of which is hooked up. When the heater went bad I used the circulator pump for other purposes but with these old trucks, I'm thinking of getting it going again. I would like to have a nice aqueous washer but don't have the room right now.

Rob

Trichlor is real nasty, not surprised someone died from it. In the early half of last century it was used as a volatile anesthetic and even in the food industry. You can still get it as they have a 55 gallon drum they use replenish the vapor degreaser. Once I got a good whiff of the stuff and I had to sit down for a few seconds. I now hold my breath as I open the top of the machine to move the baskets around. Got a drop of it on my forehead and it burned like a bastard, felt like someone was pressing a hot soldering iron to my skin. I dabbed it off and rinsed the spot with cold water and it helped but that spot remained sore for a day.

Acetone is actually pretty safe and although it will burn your skin after prolonged contact, wearing gloves solves that problem. Personally I prefer to wear gloves when handling solvents anyway so its a non issue. The less hazardous stuff I come in direct contact with the better.

[Rob]

Trichlor is real nasty, not surprised someone died from it. In the early half of last century it was used as a volatile anesthetic and even in the food industry. You can still get it as they have a 55 gallon drum they use replenish the vapor degreaser. Once I got a good whiff of the stuff and I had to sit down for a few seconds. I now hold my breath as I open the top of the machine to move the baskets around. Got a drop of it on my forehead and it burned like a bastard, felt like someone was pressing a hot soldering iron to my skin. I dabbed it off and rinsed the spot with cold water and it helped but that spot remained sore for a day.

Acetone is actually pretty safe and although it will burn your skin after prolonged contact, wearing gloves solves that problem. Personally I prefer to wear gloves when handling solvents anyway so its a non issue. The less hazardous stuff I come in direct contact with the better.

We can still get it also if we have the proper equipment, (we don't). I liked it in the gallon jugs cause a spray bottle was great. I never had any problems with skin contact other than drawing the oil right out of you. I typically sprayed electronic parts, scrubbed with an acid brush, then flooded the surface to remove soldering, or copper sulfate sludge when repairing multi layer circuit cards cause it washed clean with out trails.

I typically use gloves also along with a stick mounted circulator fan to push fresh air into the area and fumes away.

Rob