Parts Washer

[webba]

I know this has been covered before but I had an idea, and people please help me if this is wrong or right!

Been after a parts washer for a while and intend to make my own (i know they are cheap but i want a custom one and cheap as poss!)

Ive been looking at making an air powered one as I have a huge compressor.

Once I have the actual thing built, instead of using a pump, could I not just use an air powered parrafin gun, with the bottle removed and just a pipe connected to the bottom of the tank with a filter in place?

This type of gun

What do you think? I know pumps have a continuous output but tbh im not bothered by that as i soak most parts anyway. The gun would just be handy for a final clean.

 

[brightspark]

yes it would work as long as u dont mind been covered in parafin and filth from the spray as its a suction type gun .whereas the parts washer
uses a hollow paintbrush conected to a hose then the pump cleaning fluid is pumped to the brush . no compressed air no overspray

 

[webba]

ah right didnt realise this!, could always turn pressure down?

 

[brightspark]

ah right didnt realise this!, could always turn pressure down?

if u turn presure down the gun wont lift the fluid as it works on suction

 

[webba]

ah right, i suppose a second hand dishwasher for the shed may be a better idea, or an air powered pump instead?

or i have a spare drill? could get one of those drill pumps?

or moving away from air power just an old car leccy fuel pump?

 

[jontawn]

i'd have thought a fuel pump would be too high, approx 40psi I believe? windscreen washer pump maybe? but I don't know how that would react to parafin?

dishwasher would be a great idea, but suspect you'd have to carry out an initial wash to remove any heavy filth, so may as well was it all in the parts washer?!

 

[rtbcomp]

Power steering pump, run it slowly.

A washer pump wouldn't last long and may be attacked by oils & solvents.

 

[webba]

Just been testing a parafin gun to see for myself

TBH at about 6.5 bar the spray back isnt too bad, even only an inch from item being sprayed.

Think it might be ok, maybe put a couple of side splash back panels on it.

 

[naughtyboy]

i regularly use a washer pump for emptying fuel tanks as often buy old cars to re-use steel and make some pocket money.
just had to empty a discovery tank today and washer pump shifted 4 full jerry cans of diesel.
so parafin shouldnt worry one to much

 

[shenion]

I used a washer pump for a smoke setup on an R/C plane. it used kerosene and lamp oil (paraffin based). Worked fine. Was dirt cheap compared to a commercial smoke setup.

 

[webba]

i have a washer motor off an old mini, will give it a quick try to see what the pump rate is like.

 

[WEEGAZ22]

One thing to also consider is that if you are wanting to use the compressor you are going to be atomizing the parrafin with the spray gun and breathing it in which isnt really all that healthy, just use an old fuel injection pump with a filter on it, have a t junction on outlet pipe with an adjustable valve so you can bleed off the excess pressure back into the barrel then find a suitible brush to attach to the hose, hey presto.

 

[Dr pepper]

Youd have to be really carefull but you might be able to arrange something that pressurises at a low air pressure the cleaning agent container and forces the cleaning stuff out, it would howvever mean that the container would be a pressure vessel...full of flammable stuff...better forget that one.

 

[stormin]

You could always feed the output from the paraffin gun through a brush like this one.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product....rts+washer+brush&user_search=1&sfile=1&jump=0

Bought three of these years ago to use on my parts washer and the first one is still going strong. Thought they'd not be much good as they were so cheap compared with the £16 Sealey ones but I was wrong. The Sealey ones are a Rip-off.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Use a simple steering pump off a car , drive it with a 12 , 24 , 110 or 240 volt motor , make your tank so that the washed off stuff has to run into a sediment tank with a few baffles before running down to the sump so that most of the muck stays in the seperator.

prior to the sediment tank have a big perforated plate that you can remove to collect the really big bits.


I'd suggest staying away from any form of atomised light oil due to the well documented dangerous effects to your own safety and that of other people .

I think the stuff we used in our plant repair unit was called KeroKlenz , my boys were amazed at the long term damage it had on plastics .

For the brush use some oil resistant tube, paraffin affects most plastics and makes then go hard and eventually to breaking down over a couple of months or more.

Drill right down through the heavy bristled oil acceptable paint brush shaft and slip a metal tube into part of the hole to give a strong point to attach your oil feed tube. I think at one time we had a " round conservative flaming torch " type creosote brush type that was drilled out for the tube and it worked well for a couple of years being used heavily most days .

 

[MrFluffy]

I just use a air powered pump on mine. You vary the opening of a inline tap to control the pump speed, and it ends up in a bit of flexy tubing with a nozzle on the end. Pickup is a small weighted filter on the end of a bit of tubing which drops in the drum through the small hole and attaches the pump. Has worked fine for years.
Id be lary about a 240v motor driving a pump or any other solution involving the mains. What you have is a big barrel of combustible material which you want to keep clear of any ignition sources at all costs. Keeping it air driven and away from the compressor gives you good isolation.

Real parts washers have a fuseable link holding the lid up, so in the event of fire the link melts and it shuts putting itself out.

 

[rtbcomp]

I just use a air powered pump on mine. .........

Could be a good use for those horrible syphon blast guns

 

[MrFluffy]

When I say air powered, it doesnt use the air to drive the liquid, it actually uses the compressed air to spin a little motor which does the pumping.
Hence its a "air motor".

 

[rtbcomp]

I was thinking venturis.

Another option would be to use something like those pressurised garden sprays.

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

I just use a air powered pump on mine. You vary the opening of a inline tap to control the pump speed, and it ends up in a bit of flexy tubing with a nozzle on the end. Pickup is a small weighted filter on the end of a bit of tubing which drops in the drum through the small hole and attaches the pump. Has worked fine for years.
Id be lary about a 240v motor driving a pump or any other solution involving the mains. What you have is a big barrel of combustible material which you want to keep clear of any ignition sources at all costs. Keeping it air driven and away from the compressor gives you good isolation.

Real parts washers have a fuseable link holding the lid up, so in the event of fire the link melts and it shuts putting itself out.

I seem to recall 1980 ( ish ) that the pump was 240 volt stepped down to a 24volt motor and a belt ??? driven pump situated on the rear of the unit in a sealed steel box, there was also an overhead rough duty light bulb in a cage on a flexi tube arrangement.

I don't recall any lid on it or near it though ,more like a 2 foot wide 4 foot long 6 inch deep tray that sat in /on top of a barrel which had some sort kerosene derrivative in it . The barrel was changed every three of four weeks by a contractor who left it all ready to go with a newly charged barrel.

It pumped the same sort of volume of juice as some one gently pouring a kettle.

I like the air pump idea, I'd never heard of that brilliant idea before. Is that now an industry /safety standard thing?