Parts Washer advice

I want a parts washer. I don't want to pay a fortune, but I want something more useful than a bucket of simple green. I think I want something rated for solvents rather than water based degreasers, but I could be convinced otherwise. Suggestions, or at least what to look for?

 

Try TSC

 

Harbor freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/6-1-2-half ... 96952.html for a small one

or they have a 20 gallon option on sale http://www.harborfreight.com/20-gallon- ... 94702.html

I think their stuff is great if you're not using it every day as a professional and even then it's sometimes ok.

 

Harbor Freight is hit or miss. You either find a diamond in the rough. or it's garbage out of the gate.

If it doesn't work the first (few) times, just return it.

 

I've looked at a Harbor Freight parts washer, and the one I saw said it was for water-based cleaners only. Do they have one that will work with solvents?

 

I think the 20 gallon one is. The smaller plastic one I don't know. They had barrels of solvent next to the big one last time I was in there.

Last I bought tools there the lady said the hand tools are now life time warranty. We'll see next time I break one. I keep HF tools in the truck and craftsman tools at home. Craftsman has been on the downslide for sure.

 

I got both of my parts washers for free. One is an big old Grey-sumpin'-or-other heavy, rolling, red unit. The other is a smaller barrel-top kind. Both were from companies that were upgrading theirs, and I simply asked what the were gonna do with the old one. their replies were.....gonna get rid of it cuz no one wants old equipment. I said, 'except me, what would you want for it?". Both replies were, 'you want it, take it. All we want is for it to be out of here.

Moral of the story........look around, ask around. Hey, ya never know......(oh, wait.........that's the lottery phrase, sorry)

Dave F

 

We were rebuilding an automatic transmission a few months ago and thought a parts washer would be a great idea. Water based cleaner was total garbage and left the dirt suspended in a goopy film. It had an odor to it as well. You would not want to leave that in your basement or attached garage. We wound up using good old fashion gasoline in a metal pan and it got all the parts CLEAN! For the main housing, engine degreaser in the can and blow out with compressed air. We now have something new to trip over in the basement....the useless parts washer.

 

If you have an especially busy shop, ... with two or three Line Techs that have Tool Boxes that need a Switching Locomotive to move around, ... you might have a Parts Washer.

One guy and one or two bikes ...
Don't need one.

A Big heavy-duty plastic or fiberglass bin.
Wire Brush, Stiff Bristled Brush, Med Paint Brush, 1-Inch Paint Brush
Couple of Coffee Cans (Plastic)
And a couple of gallons of Regular.

You just clean the Parts.
No need for romance.

 

WB Rick.
Gotta agree. A five gallon plastic pail with a lid $5-$10 at lowes, home depot etc... It has worked for me for years. Any parts to big for the pail get a free trip to the car wash.

Ghost

 

As President of "Grey-sumpin'-or-other" , if you ever need spares, let me know. I typically have stuff lying around I can send out free to fellow gearheads (I have a G650GS and like to work on old cars). And anyone in Chicago is welcome to come use our big ultrasonic and pressure cleaners for free.

cshields AT graymills DOT com

Cheers;
Craig

 

Hi Craig, Wow! I really appreciate that. The reality is that while I have two cleaners, neither of them are currently working. The one from your company is the first on that I got, as the school I work for was going to throw it out. So, I figured I'd be able to find the parts to repair it but to date have not been able to. I'll start cleaning it up and see what I need again....it's had a board over top of it and been a 'shelf' for about 10 yrs now. The other one is a little one and needs a new pump, or a pump rebuild.....not sure of the make or model, though.

FWIW, I only typed in 'grey-sumpin'-or-other' because I couldn't remember the name, I could picture most of the logo, but had not been out to the shop to take a close look at the time of typing.

If you like working on old cars, you gotta get an old Yamaha XJ to add to your list of things to work on! What cars do you have? I have a 69 Torino GT, and a 73 Gran Torino sportsroof.


I'll email you directly soon, too! Just have to dig down to the washer again.
Thank you SO much for joining and replying!

Dave Fox

 

Had my Greymills "Handykleen" for 30 years. Bet you don't have to give too many parts away. Good to see you guys are still around.

 

I have this little benchtop model from Northern Tool (probably the same as the harbor freight model) : http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200381752
I used to have a bigger freestanding unit but found I didn't use it enough to justify the amount of space it took. I just use water based degreaser in this benchtop model but find it very useful. True you can do the same with a 5 gallon bucket because you'll still need to use brushes and elbow grease to get your items clean but it's nice to keep having filtered cleaner flowing over the part you're working on than to keep dunking it in the dirty mess in the bucket and having some of that gunk reattach to the part. For stuff that needs tougher solvent, I try to soak in a separate container of solvent and then use the parts washer to finish cleaning and to get the solvent cleaned off as well. Having it is worth the $50 to me but maybe not to everyone.

 

Look on Craigslist for a used portable dishwasher. They are the best parts washer you'll ever buy.