Recommendations for parts cleaner fluid...

The best parts-washing move I ever made was to pick up the phone and call Safety Kleen. I was skeptical, thinking a large chain store would blow me off... I was completely wrong. They have provided excellent and prompt service, going the extra mile when I needed help.

I described what I needed and they made excellent recommendations. They even sourced some hard-to-find parts for my old Graymills parts washing cabinet. Now they aren't the cheapest, but they are extremely knowledgeable and prompt. They recommended a low flash-point solvent for my needs that allows me to do some welding in my shop without risking fire/explosion hazards.

Environmental Products & Services | Used Oil

Safety-Kleen offers environmental products and services. Safety-Kleen provides waste management, used oil recycling and re-refining and more.
www.safety-kleen.com www.safety-kleen.com
 
dirty tools said:
Depends on what I am working on
simple green for heavy work
soap and water plastic and glass
brake glean for hydraulic
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Just an adder to my entry about trichloroethane 1,1,1 tech. The last time I was prowling in "O'Reilly's", I spotted some "Brake Kleen" with trichloroethane as a component. This has been a few years back, before my last stroke. Things may have changed since.

I was looking for a particular brand of carburator cleaner that allows use on aluminium and "ZAMAK" like materials, as well as plastics used in my models. The primary solvent used for that is "Isopropyl Alcohol, IPA(?). Since I cannot get around like I used to, I use mail order sources for many of my needs.

IPA is now used almost exclusively as a solvent for the small gear trains I run into. The big issue was finding a high concentration during the COVID scare. I prefer 99% IPA and if pushed can use 95% or 92%. Anything lower is just passed by. Most of my work takes place now at my desk, with a cheap toothbrush. I purchased a 100 lot from Amazon. . . IPA is flammable, but my small usage is comfortable, even though I am a smoker.

I realize that this entry is a little out of place, being so small. But on reflection decided to throw it into the conversation.

.
 
One of the shops I look after at work has a safety-kleen contract. I reviewed all of their literature and SDS, and I have to say that safety-kleen is a top-shelf product. Since it is a petrochemical, they are tight-lipped about constituent ingredients (because freedom?) but the physical data indicates it is stoddard. It is on the low end of published vapor pressure for the distillation fraction. The reason I like them is they come in prepared to do the dirty work that the shop personnel don't have any business doing. It effectively exports the hazard.

The 1,1,1-trich is the stuff that was banned. Every molecule of trichloroethane that enters your bloodstream, by inhalation, dermal absorption, whatever, splits in two. One half goes out your kidneys, the other half gets caught by the liver, destroying a cell in the process. It'll get you on the short list for a David Crosby transplant. Oops, he's the recipient, it's actually called a liver transplant. You don't want one of those for your birthday.

The good brake cleaner is 1,1,2-trichloroethylene. Different chemical from 1,1,1-trichloroethane. 1,1,2-trichloroethylene is pretty harmless to humans. It's also fire retardant. The reason it's disappearing right now is something else- it's a persistent groundwater pollutant. I'm observing some abandoned military landfills that are chock full of the stuff. The fascinating part is how the decomposition byproducts accumulate, and flux within the water table but never escape, so the gas lives in solution with the groundwater. All of us drink some amount of the stuff every time we drink liquid. It's detectable in almost all water supplies on the planet now. Better living through modern chemistry, they said. Best to let it evaporate and the sun will break it down. This is the stuff that a hv photon can break, and one recombination of the products is phosgene, which is way up there on the list of nasty crap we've invented for the purpose of killing others easily. So you already know not weld while using it.
 
I have used kerosene for years in my parts washer. It’s mainly used to remove cosmoline that’s been sitting on the items since the end of WW2. I let them soak until I’m ready to rebuild. I normally use lacquer thinner right before welding to make sure the metal is clean.
 
davidpbest said:
Zep Purple Industrial in 5 gallon jug available from Home Depot:

www.homedepot.com

ZEP 5 Gal. Industrial Purple Degreaser R45815 - The Home Depot

Customer signature required upon delivery. Industrial settings create industrial levels of grease on machinery and surfaces. Pros know that the powerful solvents in Industrial Purple Degreaser and Cleaner
www.homedepot.com
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Not recommended for aluminum surfaces though. I was planning to use it in my ultrasonic until I read that on the label.....
 
Whenever I see "not recommended for aluminum", I read "excellent for aluminum, but watch it!"

For example, sodium hydroxide reacts with aluminum aggressively. It's the best cleaner I know for stripping an aluminum surface. It leaves alloy looking as-cast. Just don't boil it in the stuff and walk away overnight.
 
pontiac428 said:
Whenever I see "not recommended for aluminum", I read "excellent for aluminum, but watch it!"

For example, sodium hydroxide reacts with aluminum aggressively. It's the best cleaner I know for stripping an aluminum surface. It leaves alloy looking as-cast. Just don't boil it in the stuff and walk away overnight.
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Sodium hydroxide reacts differently with different aluminum alloys. With 6061 it cleans and etches. With 7075 it no doubt cleans and etches but also gives it a definite gunmetal gray surface color. The longer it’s in the darker it gets. Must be reacting with some alloy metal.

Edit. Here is a Al 7075 fishing rod ferrule left in a 0.5% sodium hydroxide solution for 20 minutes. The dark band in the center is plastic, not aluminum
1672517508602.png
 
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This has been a great read. Pontiac 428 I really appreciate your input.

I have Stoddard solvent in my tank with a couple 5 gal cans in reserve. Probably more than I will ever use. Back in the day we always put some ATF in with the thought it would help keep it from evaporating???
 
fcs said:
Sodium hydroxide reacts differently with different aluminum alloys. With 6061 it cleans and etches. With 7075 it no doubt cleans and etches but also gives it a definite gunmetal gray surface color. The longer it’s in the darker it gets. Must be reacting with some alloy metal.

Edit. Here is a Al 7075 fishing rod ferrule left in a 0.5% sodium hydroxide solution for 20 minutes. The dark band in the center is plastic, not aluminum
View attachment 431636
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7075 has a lot of zinc in it. 5 to 6 percent.
 
Gnpenning said:
This has been a great read. Pontiac 428 I really appreciate your input.

I have Stoddard solvent in my tank with a couple 5 gal cans in reserve. Probably more than I will ever use. Back in the day we always put some ATF in with the thought it would help keep it from evaporating???
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It won't hurt the solvent much, but if you ever want to paint anything you wash without washing it twice to get the ATF off, leave it out of the tank.

The direct answer about ATF preventing evaporation is no, it won't make a difference, but as someone who every once in a while has to calculate the fugacity of chemical components in mixtures using Henry's law or Raoult's law, there is indeed a difference, but it's negligible for us in this context.

I like geeking out over chemicals.
 
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