Posted by Lyle Van Wert on Sunday, December 02, 2001 at 10:09AM :
In Reply to: Parts Washer Solvent Suggestions? posted by Ed Trethewey on Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 11:32AM :
Some of the messages below are good advice. There are many brand names at different prices but if you are buying solvent generically, petroleum naphtha with a flash point of 105 degrees and 140 degrees is most common. 105 is drier, not as oily as 140 but the higher the flash the better for safety. 140 is simmilar in flash and safety to diesel fuel but not as oily. Gasolene flashes at about -100 degrees to give you a comparison. The 105 will cut grease quicker than 140 and evaporate a little faster especially when it's hot out. So you you loose it faster but also it dries off your parts faster. I prefer to use the 105. Safety-Kleen used that for years and only in the last 10 years or so offered up 140 as an option. OSHA laws brought most of the demand for that. With either one you want to have a lid working with a fusable link to close it in the event of a fire. The old Coke machine mentioned below wouldn't offer you that. Most petroleum dealers offer these two solvents in 55 gal drums. Some will sell it to you if you bring in your own 5 gallon cans. This will save you money over buying the brand names from the parts store or farm store (1.50 to 2.50 per gal vs $35. to $60. per 5 gal can). By law any material like this requires the seller to furnish you with a material safety specification sheet. This will tell you exactly what is in it along with the flash point so you can make a real comparison with a brand name solvent. Most often the smell is the only difference. You can also buy low odor or no odor material of the same specs but this will be harder to find than regular. your wife will be happier with that but it will cost more. You might only find that at an industrial chemical suppler like Chem Central or others. All of these materials are classified as hazardous waste by law when you are done using them. The best way to solve that problem is to use Safety-Kleen or one of thier many competitors to handle it for you. Safety Kleen and others recyle it over and over. They all have services to service your own unit and using that enables you to get it changed as little as you need. If they only offer a "schedualed service" which is a good way to go for pro shops but you don't need it that often simply take that service and cancell it before or at the first schedualled one and then call them again when you need it. The bricks or water in the bottom does you no good. Rather than simply displacing the solvent just use a smaller container, same difference. Some commercial services used that as a gimmick to try to sell if over the competition. They said the water filtered out the dirt better but that was just marketing bull. One tip is that the dirt will settle out while it sets so keep your pump off the bottom out of the sludge. As it evaporates you can keep adding to it. It does get oilier as you use it but that only slows the drying time. It will still work quite well. Chlorinated solvents are a whole other story. They are better solvents but the health risks are a trade off. Trichlor 111 is very common industrial wise but by far the most common is perchlorethelene which is what most of your friendly dry cleaners use on your cloths. That's what you smell when you hit thier front door. Spray brake cleaner is usually a combination of these. Historically carbon tetrchloride was the best cleaner (the old timers swear by it) but was so bad health wise that it is against the law just to manufacture it these days.
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