I finally got around to replacing the drum for my parts washer. The old one rusted out and was too bad to be re-welded. I'm looking for some recommendations for aluminum friendly parts washer cleaning solution. I've noticed there are some water-based products out there. I would prefer something like this so I can dispose of it easily, but I'd also like to it to work. Thanks,
Take a look at Simple Green Crystal. My first introduction was that it was recommended by an oxygen supplier to degrease about 1500 ft of 1-1/2" SS pipe installed for an industrial oxygen system. I installed two systems. The first system installed 30 years ago was degreased with a nasty chemical that was an environmental nightmare to dispose of. It was something like trichlorethylene that was eventually taken by an aircraft engine rebuilder for a degreaser. The second system was installed a few years later and I was gun shy of the first chemical cleaner. The oxygen supplier's engineer recommended the Simple Green Crystal as they had used it many systems. The Simple Green crystal leaves the pipe clean with no residue as any residue in an oxygen line is a hazard. I built a built an Bearhawk airplane that is all aluminum wings and aluminum doors & forward. . We degreased all the aluminum with the Simple Green Crystal, scuffed the aluminum, cleaned again with Crystal, etched, rinsed with demin water then applied an epoxy primer. We diluted the SGC about 10:1 and it worked great for our purposes. It is easy to tell if a surface is clean as the water sheets on the surface. If the water beads up then it is not clean. There is a range of dilutions depending on the severity of the grease. SGC will not be as aggressive as some chemicals but it is safe to handle & has no unhealthy fumes. http://simplegreen.com/downloads/Chart_EN_SimpleGreenIndustrialUsesAndDilutions.pdf
I use a 50/50 mix of super clean and water in mine... works great.... Just make sure you rinse aluminum parts off with water before air drying or it will turn them black......Also wear gloves as the super clean removes all the oil from your skin and it will start cracking and feel like sand paper.....
Oil Eater is not cheap ($15/gal) but so very effective on greasy/oily metal parts. I use it 100% but it can be diluted.. Wash parts and brush thick deposits if needed or let them soak overnight then rinse with water...amazing and it's not hard on the hands altho I like to use vinyl gloves anyway. Can be found a O'Reillys.
Some of the local shops have gone to Oil Eater (can be found at parts houses or Costco) in their hot tanks instead of caustic powder. I use it at home to squirt on and scrub parts one a time but haven't mixed any up with water to use like a solvent tank. It does tend to dry/slightly irritate your skin a bit though. The good part is that it is biodegradable and a lot of people use it to clean cement driveways. Zep has a couple of good cleaners that might work too along with the best handcleaner around. Their Big Orange cleaner cleans great but will take spray can paint off surfaces. I found that out when I cleaned the front of a cabinet at work 20 years ago and it developed a real interesting patina.
I'd be careful with Simple Green... most of their products aren't safe to use on aluminum (the FAA has specifically banned all but their aircraft-rated cleaner) unless thoroughly rinsed, and some cast parts have enough porosity that it gets into the metal and can't be rinsed well enough if you let the parts soak. The FAA traced at least one plane crash to it's use, and the Army had to scrap several helicopters after the crews used simple green for 'housekeeping' cleaning and it damaged the airframes beyond repair. The aircraft-rated stuff is commonly available, only a bit more expensive, and is rated for use with alloys and automotive.
I was looking at that Oil Eater stuff. Home Depot has it for $48 shipped for 5 gallons. It seems to be a 3:1 ratio so it would actually work out well in a the 30 gallon barrel. I'm going to give it a go. Thanks all!
Dang it. It listed aluminum part safe on the label. It seems like every time I find a product, there is a catch. Does anyone know of an absolutely known aluminum safe water-based parts washer cleaner? Is it that Simple Green Aero-version?
The Simple Green Aircraft cleaner is approved by the FAA, so I would have to assume it's safe on aluminum. The thing I'm curious about is all these bio-degradable cleaners, what's their tank life? And under what conditions? I've used bio-degradable tooling coolant (for my lathe and mill) and that stuff can get pretty nasty as well as losing effectiveness after some time. While solvent isn't exactly ecologically friendly or easy on your skin, I haven't found anything growing or living in it yet and as long as it's still liquid it'll still work...
Interesting and good point. Oil Eater said you can "skim" the top to get the funky stuff out. I'm not sure how Simple Green Aero works. I had Saf-T-Kleens own brand cleaner in my barrel before moving. Movers would not take it so I had no choice but to dump it. That stuff, whatever it was, was incredible. Cleaned aluminum and ate grease like I eat a Western omelet and home fries after a night of boozin'. Issue is, I couldn't go back to Saf-T-Kleen for their cleaner if you catch my drift. Barrel sat around and rusted the bottom out. New barrel is in route and I need to fill it ASAP so I can get back to work degreasing some old Ford parts for my build this winter.
My sales rep for Pallmann wood floor finish suggested their “Clean Strong” product for parts degreasing. I use it on a number of different cleaning projects from soot on fireplaces to cleaning oils and waxes, Murphy’s oil soap, off wood floors. He said they toyed with the idea of doing another line with the cleaner for automotive but haven’t made much ground on it. It dilutes 10:1 but I usually use it 5:1 and have good luck with it. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
There's various sellers online, including Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon. It's not as cheap as the 'common' products; about $25 per gallon w/shipping, or less if you buy in bulk.
for smaller parts, you could use a hydrasonic parts cleaner. pretty much like what the ladies use to clean their jewelry. i have a couple 3.5 qt. models that i use for cleaning firearms and brass, but they also work on greasy car parts. black-powder guns just need water and a few drops of dish detergent; brass comes clean with equal parts water and vinegar, plus some detergent. different cleaning solutions that are diluted with water are available, too. i've seen these things at harbor freight for less than a c-note.
In Canada, the “aero” Simple Green seems to be called “Extreme” Aircraft and Precision Cleaner, available at ULINE or Aircraft Spruce.
How about Krud Kutter? I used that under my Ford to de-grease it and it was good stuff. I've used regular Simple Green to get coolant off machined parts, just a quick rinse with that diluted in hot water followed by a clear-water rinse.
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