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Parts Washer


 
Joe Anshien

Joe Anshien

TVWBB Honor Circle
Since we have so many restorers / flippers here, and we all deal with very dirty greasy parts, I was wondering if anyone uses a parts washer? I have been wanting one for quite some time as it is very tiring to get parts clean on the grill or sitting on the ground outside my garage. I was thinking with a dedicated washer I could leave parts soaking over night and it would be so much easier to cleanup the next day after soaking. I have been temped by the Harbor Freight one below but have to check the dimensions to make sure that the longest tubes and flavorizers and grates would hopefully fit. Please let me know your thoughts and or experience on this.

Harbor Freight | Whatever You Do, Do It For Less

Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
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Interesting...I looked at some of the "3" reviews that are usually the most honest. One suggested a YouTube video about how to customize this into a much better tool. Most of the complaints were typical of what you would expect for a low-cost entry. I think looking into what it would cost to upgrade might be a good plan.
 
Joe Anshien said:
Since we have so many restorers / flippers here, and we all deal with very dirty greasy parts, I was wondering if anyone uses a parts washer? I have been wanting one for quite some time as it is very tiring to get parts clean on the grill or sitting on the ground outside my garage. I was thinking with a dedicated washer I could leave parts soaking over night and it would be so much easier to cleanup the next day after soaking. I have been temped by the Harbor Freight one below but have to check the dimensions to make sure that the longest tubes and flavorizers and grates would hopefully fit. Please let me know your thoughts and or experience on this.

Harbor Freight | Whatever You Do, Do It For Less

Harbor Freight buys their top quality tools from the same factories that supply our competitors. We cut out the middleman and pass the savings to you!
www.harborfreight.com www.harborfreight.com
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I've used parts washers as part of my job duties for 45 years. The downside is that the water-based cleaners work best when they are heated, and if it gets cold where your at, well, think about putting your hands in cold water in the morning. The water-based cleaners don't work nearly as well as a good solvent but it is more environmentally friendly. And there is always the time when you have to clean the sludge out of it...a messy job and how do you dispose of the gunk? Be sure to use rubber (nitrile) gloves, too... the cleaners will take the oil out of your skin.

Funny story...back in the early 70s there were fewer environmental regulations and as an apprentice it was my job duty to clean the solvent tank. We used to dump the used oil and solvent sludge behind the railroad tracks in the back of the building. From years and years of doing that, the ground softened and we had a locomotive that derailed behind the building. I thought for sure they would have to get a crane or some heavy equipment back there to get it back on the tracks, but lo and behold one guy shows up with a jack and got it back on the tracks in an hour or two. Amazing. Then the plant manager got all in a sweat about the dumping so he had one of the guys buy some gravel to spread over the area. The guy comes back with some white gravel and spread it around like he was told...kind of obvious where the ground pollution was at that point...of course, now businesses contract with services to do this duty and there is a manifest involved. Cradle to grave environmental responsibility for businesses.
 
Use an old portable dishwasher. You can get them for free or cheap on Craigslist. Good for small parts
 
Unless you can run Sams Club grill cleaner through that thing, I don't think anything water based will do a lot. And you would probably need to clean them up pretty good before you put them in or it would gunk up pretty fast.
 
I have read about water vs oil based solvents and apparently the oil based ones do quite a bit better. Since I use simple green now in a spray bottle I thought I would try a few gallons mixed up with water to start. I am thinking that being able to soak parts in a solution over night will lead to a lot less scrubbing? I am guessing that with either there will be the days where the gunk cleanout is necessary, but was hoping you could filter a lot out and reuse it unlike what I am doing now.
 
Could you throw some small parts in a 5 gallon bucket with your cleaner and let it soak overnight to try it out? I have soaked grates in a closed Sterilite container sitting in the sun for a week and still had to scrub. That baked on crud is a whole 'nother level.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
Could you throw some small parts in a 5 gallon bucket with your cleaner and let it soak overnight to try it out? I have soaked grates in a closed Sterilite container sitting in the sun for a week and still had to scrub. That baked on crud is a whole 'nother level.
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My thoughts are:
My back: Having a elevated parts washer will make it easier to scrub parts.
Time: As soon as I get the grill I can strip it and just load all the parts in the washer to soak
Weather: I can scrub parts inside my garage instead of outside
Environment: Everything just goes into my ally now and who knows where at future home.
Solvent re-use. Can use the same solvent (water or oil) over and over until I have to dispose of it.
 
Joe Anshien said:
My thoughts are:
My back: Having a elevated parts washer will make it easier to scrub parts.
Time: As soon as I get the grill I can strip it and just load all the parts in the washer to soak
Weather: I can scrub parts inside my garage instead of outside
Environment: Everything just goes into my ally now and who knows where at future home.
Solvent re-use. Can use the same solvent (water or oil) over and over until I have to dispose of it.
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All excellent points, Joe! Make sure the washer is a comfortable height for you, or maybe you could sit down...the back is #1 in my view (I've had 3 back surgeries, last one 30 years ago...)

EDIT: Oh, and if you use an oil-based solvent, be careful about the flammability and vapors in a closed area. The solvent we used to use was toluene/xylene based and you could get high as a kite (like sniffing glue) from it vaporizing as you used it.
 
Tony-Chicago said:
I mayyyy be going in for back surgery soon. Tell me more.
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Oh, man, I'll tell you what...the first one, in '76, I was out of work for 3 months...the second one, in '79, was 5 months, because I pushed it too hard...and the third, in '90, 3 months. But I worked with a guy that had the same surgery, maybe 4 or 5 years ago, same surgery, and he was out for two weeks! He was out of work longer waiting for his insurance to get straightened out than for his recovery. It's amazing how far the surgical techniques have advanced.
 
Ed Pinnell said:
All excellent points, Joe! Make sure the washer is a comfortable height for you, or maybe you could sit down...the back is #1 in my view (I've had 3 back surgeries, last one 30 years ago...)

EDIT: Oh, and if you use an oil-based solvent, be careful about the flammability and vapors in a closed area. The solvent we used to use was toluene/xylene based and you could get high as a kite (like sniffing glue) from it vaporizing as you used it.
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ANOTHER funny story...we used to use solvent sprayers to clean the machinery, and one time a few guys came in on a Saturday to do some cleaning. One of the guys, a short slender guy, had crawled into the machine and nobody knew it...until one of them said, "Hey, where's Reuben?" They found him, passed out, inside the machine, so they took him outside to let him air out a little bit. He was delirious when he came to.
 
Back problems are not good. Surgery is another issue, but without that 20 years ago, I would not be walking today. In fact, I would either be hooked on pain killers or dead.
 
I've certainly spent $130 on worse things. Joe, check out youtube. There are a few good reviews
on there and some quality hacks as well.
 
Get a parts cart, a couple of containers, a plug in coffee cup heater in a cup, warm the cleaner. A multi purpose bench/cart makes a lot more sense to me. That thing is an environment issue waiting to happen, if you’re using something that’s that aggressive, you might have other other things to consider.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Get a parts cart, a couple of containers, a plug in coffee cup heater in a cup, warm the cleaner. A multi purpose bench/cart makes a lot more sense to me. That thing is an environment issue waiting to happen, if you’re using something that’s that aggressive, you might have other other things to consider.
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The nice things about the washer is you can use what ever cleaner you want so it doesn't have to be that aggressive. There is a elevated liner in the bottom to separate the crap from the stuff you are cleaning. I believe you can put filters on it. They have pumps so you get a sprayer. I am looking at a used one not too too far.
 
Just thought of something, Joe...like any time that you combine water and electricity, make sure that you have a working GFCI. The reason I just thought of this is because the last place I worked, the GFCI kept tripping so they bypassed it.
 
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