Parts washer question

What is everyone using for their parts washer solution? I was using diesel fuel and it would swell and ruine the pump about every 3 or 4 years but the new one lasted less than a year. I don't use it much but when I need it I use it a lot. I am ordering a new pump and will ditch the diesel fuel if I can come up with a better solution.

dont use diesel! worst thing for hands.i use varsol with a bit of atf added. or u can buy parts washer fluid by the 5 gal. pails. diesel is not even a good parts washer,... its for burning. there is all kinds of environmentally frendly stuff out there.

I get solvent from NAPA

Paint thinner, also known as Varsol and solvent. Naptha is the same stuff.

It's what they use in a commercial shop...

David what is the name of the solvent you get from Napa???

The stuff I get from NAPA is called "Stoddard Solvent". Works good, doesn't eat up the nitrile gloves. Mark.

Tractor supply sells solvent in 5 gal. cans or you can use varsol mixed with some Gunk concentrate parts cleaner.

The best I have found is mineral spirits. It is a good solvent, and it is not flammable. Not much odor from fumes. This is basically the stuff that Safety-Kleen uses in their rental units.
Naphtha is highly combustible, and diesel has strong fumes. Water based solvents are ok for some things, but are a bit weak on dissolving hard grease.

Isn't "Naptha" a little more high-powered solvent than the others you mention?

I use agitene .

Don't use paint thinner. I did it and learned the hard way. It doesn't dry well and it stinks. The problem is my parts washer holds 25 or 30 gallons so it's kind of expensive to refill it. Next time it will be parts solvent.

i use off road diesel and gasoline mixed

(quoted from post at 21:35:47 07/20/17) What is everyone using for their parts washer solution? I was using diesel fuel and it would swell and ruine the pump about every 3 or 4 years but the new one lasted less than a year. I don't use it much but when I need it I use it a lot. I am ordering a new pump and will ditch the diesel fuel if I can come up with a better solution.

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Where do you get your new pump from. Mine died last year and I've not seen where to get one from

Stan

I use kerosene in our parts washer.Re-done the pump assembly using oil furnace pump and motor.Have pictures,and I posted them-sometime back on YT. if interested will re-post.
Regards LOU.

Power steering pump is a cheap pump that will last.

(quoted from post at 09:53:07 07/21/17) The best I have found is mineral spirits. It is a good solvent, and it is not flammable. Not much odor from fumes. This is basically the stuff that Safety-Kleen uses in their rental units.
Naphtha is highly combustible, and diesel has strong fumes. Water based solvents are ok for some things, but are a bit weak on dissolving hard grease.

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Real old fashioned mineral spirits is definitely flammable. There is some other stuff they label as mineral spirits today that probably is some water based solvent that isn't supposed to be flammable. The real stuff, we used that in the gun shop to soak the grease out of guns to clean them. When it got real dirty, we'd use it to start brush piles on fire.

(quoted from post at 01:11:50 07/21/17) The stuff I get from NAPA is called "Stoddard Solvent". Works good, doesn't eat up the nitrile gloves. Mark.

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Stoddard Solvent used to be dry cleaning fluid. Not sure if that's changed.

I use diesel with some old gas and probably some acetone and kero mixed in. Cheap TSC parts washer, pump still works 10 years later.

(quoted from post at 18:30:57 07/21/17)

(quoted from post at 01:11:50 07/21/17) The stuff I get from NAPA is called "Stoddard Solvent". Works good, doesn't eat up the nitrile gloves. Mark.

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Stoddard Solvent used to be dry cleaning fluid. Not sure if that's changed.

I use diesel with some old gas and probably some acetone and kero mixed in. Cheap TSC parts washer, pump still works 10 years later.

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Yessir, it was. Here's a couple of Wikipedia cut/pastes.

" Stoddard solvent is a specific mixture of hydrocarbons, typically > 65% C10 or higher hydrocarbons,[7] developed in 1924 by Atlanta dry cleaner W. J. Stoddard and Lloyd E. Jackson of the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research as a less volatile petroleum-based dry cleaning solvent than the petroleum solvents then in use."

"White spirit (UK)[note 1] or mineral spirits (US, Canada),[1][2][3] also known as mineral turpentine (AU/NZ), turpentine substitute, petroleum spirits, solvent naphtha (petroleum), Varsol, Stoddard solvent,[4][5] or, generically, "paint thinner", is a petroleum-derived clear liquid used as a common organic solvent in painting and decorating.

A mixture of aliphatic and alicyclic C7 to C12 hydrocarbons, white spirit is used as an extraction solvent, as a cleaning solvent, as a degreasing solvent and as a solvent in aerosols, paints, wood preservatives, lacquers, varnishes, and asphalt products. In western Europe about 60% of the total white spirit consumption is used in paints, lacquers and varnishes. White spirit is the most widely used solvent in the paint industry. In households, white spirit is commonly used to clean paint brushes after use, to clean auto parts and tools, as a starter fluid for charcoal grills, to remove adhesive residue from non-porous surfaces, and many other common tasks."

Heres an idea to get by with less solvent. The Safety-Kleen rental units we used to use at the commercial garage I worked at 15 plus years ago set on a 15 gallon drum. In the drum would be a heavy plastic bag liner and then they would put in about five gallons of water in the bottom. Then fill solvent to the acceptable level and hang at the submersible pump so It would be pulling from near the bottom of the solvent layer which obviously floated on the water. The idea was to settle the dirt and such to drop out in the water and make the solvent useful longer. I think it did work.

my washer is a Clark I think? I got the replacement pump from eBay. Part number AP2000. I think it is supposed to be used in water fountains. Not a good setup but I bought it used at a decent price.