Dishwasher as a Parts Degreaser
Discussion
So I'm out here thinking about how to get that final layer of grease off before powder coating or re-assembly.
I've got a parts washer, very effective but I was wondering how to give the final de-grease. Second hand dishwashers are cheap as chips on Fleabay so I was wondering whether to buy one of those and use a non-foaming degreaser instead of dishwasher tablets.
Has anybody used their dishwasher for de-greasing and if so, got any tips? Pete
I've got a parts washer, very effective but I was wondering how to give the final de-grease. Second hand dishwashers are cheap as chips on Fleabay so I was wondering whether to buy one of those and use a non-foaming degreaser instead of dishwasher tablets.
Has anybody used their dishwasher for de-greasing and if so, got any tips? Pete
Steve_D said:
.... beware this is a very dangerous practice if you have a wife....
Steve
I have a wife. She's actually quite tolerant of me (and so are my two daughters) however using the kitchen dishwasher may not be viewed very tolerantly, hence buying one from Fleabay.Steve
It's really about a constant jet of hot (60C) degreasing fluid being aimed at the component and keeping that fluid contained. I could use a jetwash but you know what a mess that makes.... Pete
My greatest 'fail' in the kitchen was when I put two spotlamp shells, which I had repaired with Araldite, in the oven. I had read that warming Araldite makes it set quicker and harder. I got distracted, forgot they were there and left them to heat all morning. My wife eventually opened the oven door to find the entire oven coated in thick black soot! The chrome spotlamp shells weren't light alloy as I thought but plastic and, apart from a lot of soot, not a trace of them was left.
My chances of using the dishwasher are now zero.
My chances of using the dishwasher are now zero.
Hedgehopper said:
My chances of using the dishwasher are now zero.
And quite right too, you only have yourself to blame.......This is why I bought a Fleabay 900mm oven as I didn't think Mrs M. would be too keen on me baking my powder coated components in the kitchen and neither would it have made her cooking taste too good either.
Women have their limits you know and in my experience those limits are not high...
Anyway I am going off the subject. I think I will give it a go and I will report my findings back to this illustrious group as well as keeping PeteGriff happy by keeping the threads coming. Has anybody got an old dishwasher they want to get rid of?
By the way Pete, you seem to be the font of all knowledge, can you give any guidance on low foam degreaser? Pete
Years ago I was allowed to used the dishwasher to clean out a gearbox casing, as the inside had a layer of casting sand(!) still attached to the inside; I'd already had a go at it with a bucket of hot water and soap powder, but two goes in the dishwasher shifted the stubborn bits and it didn't make the dishes taste of gear oil.
bluezeeland said:
...and avoiding breaking the machine with solvent degreaser.....
Not sure why this would happen to be honest. My plan was to clean the parts in my solvent tank first and then use a water soluble degreaser in the dishwasher (at 60C or whatever the dishwasher runs at) to remove all traces of degreaser and other remaining crud ready for powder coating or re-assembly. To be honest it should improve the old dishwasher by clearing all the old ste it had in the system.
Pete
Pete Mac said:
bluezeeland said:
...and avoiding breaking the machine with solvent degreaser.....
Not sure why this would happen to be honest. My plan was to clean the parts in my solvent tank first and then use a water soluble degreaser in the dishwasher (at 60C or whatever the dishwasher runs at) to remove all traces of degreaser and other remaining crud ready for powder coating or re-assembly. To be honest it should improve the old dishwasher by clearing all the old ste it had in the system.
Pete
Frank
Just remember guys, that oily/carcinogenic water doesn't just disappear when it goes down the sewer. It goes through a sewage treatment plant, which are often not able to remove serious contaminants/oils and general all round nasties. This then will either be treated and go straight back to your tap, or into a river, where it will be re-abstracted, treated (above applies) then straight to your tap. Ask yourself if you or your family would ever want to drink very diluted concentrations of old engine oil, antifreeze etc.? I know I certainly wouldn't.
Pete Mac said:
Not sure why this would happen to be honest. My plan was to clean the parts in my solvent tank first and then use a water soluble degreaser in the dishwasher (at 60C or whatever the dishwasher runs at) to remove all traces of degreaser and other remaining crud ready for powder coating or re-assembly.
To be honest it should improve the old dishwasher by clearing all the old ste it had in the system.
Pete
Though a dishwasher on the highest temperature with a good strong 'tab' would degrease metal parts, you would need to get them out and dry them quickly as the water and salt would soon start to cause corrosion on raw steel. Also remember that steel will start to corrode quite quickly, so parts should be protected as soon as possible before painting. I do like the concept though, if you went for a slimline type it should do most of what you want whilst not taking up as much room! Regards, PeteTo be honest it should improve the old dishwasher by clearing all the old ste it had in the system.
Pete
PeteGriff said:
Though a dishwasher on the highest temperature with a good strong 'tab' would degrease metal parts, you would need to get them out and dry them quickly as the water and salt would soon start to cause corrosion on raw steel. Also remember that steel will start to corrode quite quickly, so parts should be protected as soon as possible before painting. I do like the concept though, if you went for a slimline type it should do most of what you want whilst not taking up as much room! Regards, Pete
Thanks Pete, always good advice. The plan would be to put it through the dishwasher and then blow it down very quickly with the airline and either get some oil on it or else powder coat it immediately.Just to be clear, I was not planning to use any dishwasher related detergents as they are likely to corrode aluminium. I was planning to wash using a good, concentrated water based degreaser such as these:
http://www.avmor.co.uk/portfolio-item/extra-4x4lit...
http://www.mykal.co.uk/industrial/pages/degreasing...
or even this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-CLEANER-AND-E...
Any recommendations?
The dishwasher would provide the continuous jets of degreaser at 60C or so. Seems like a no-brainer to me, providing I can get a dishwasher at a reasonable price.
First candidate was going to be my stripped down gearbox; bell-housing, casing etc. Closely followd by all the engine components. Pete
Edited by Pete Mac on Wednesday 19th November 03:07
Pete Mac said:
Thanks Pete, always good advice. The plan would be to put it through the dishwasher and then blow it down very quickly with the airline and either get some oil on it or else powder coat it immediately.
Just to be clear, I was not planning to use any dishwasher related detergents as they are likely to corrode aluminium. I was planning to wash using a good, concentrated water based degreaser such as these:
http://www.avmor.co.uk/portfolio-item/extra-4x4lit...
http://www.mykal.co.uk/industrial/pages/degreasing...
or even this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-CLEANER-AND-E...
Any recommendations?
The dishwasher would provide the continuous jets of degreaser at 60C or so. Seems like a no-brainer to me, providing I can get a dishwasher at a reasonable price.
First candidate was going to be my stripped down gearbox; bell-housing, casing etc. Closely followd by all the engine components. Pete
Hi Pete, pondering on what you suggest above got me thinking about the cycle and process of a dishwasher (why do I do this!!). Firstly it will go through an intake of water from the mains feed, then give a prewash. It then releases the 'tab' or detergent and the water is heated, then the wash cycle at whatever temperature set is carried out. All the 'dirty' water is drained and a refill takes place and is heated, this along with any 'rinse aid' takes everything through a rinse cycle, finally finishing in it being drained and the contents of the washer standing through a dry cycle.Just to be clear, I was not planning to use any dishwasher related detergents as they are likely to corrode aluminium. I was planning to wash using a good, concentrated water based degreaser such as these:
http://www.avmor.co.uk/portfolio-item/extra-4x4lit...
http://www.mykal.co.uk/industrial/pages/degreasing...
or even this one:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-CLEANER-AND-E...
Any recommendations?
The dishwasher would provide the continuous jets of degreaser at 60C or so. Seems like a no-brainer to me, providing I can get a dishwasher at a reasonable price.
First candidate was going to be my stripped down gearbox; bell-housing, casing etc. Closely followd by all the engine components. Pete
Edited by Pete Mac on Wednesday 19th November 03:07
So, questions to be considered in respect of using 'other' cleansing chemicals instead of water:
1. what volume of fluid does the washer need
2. Fluid would have to be pumped under some pressure to simulate water mains pressure as the normal water fill is not pumped! It relies on water mains pressure!
3. A collection tank would be required for the pumped waste from the washer
4. Depending on what chemicals are used a check would need to be made of the seals within washer to ascertain they would not deteriorate.
Should you go down the path of using a dishwasher, I would consider water based degreasing materials! I use an excellent citrus based water degreaser, no solvents, no environmental issues etc.
Just a few things to ponder Pete whilst in the outbacks of 'Whereveryouarestan'.
All the best, Pete
So I thought I would give it a go. In the end I thought I would try it using the kitchen dishwasher (amazingly Mrs M didn't blink an eyelid when I told her). I didn't use a dishwasher tablet as I was concerned on what it would do to aluminium parts, I used an industrial degreaser instead.
To be fair I had already used a parts washer to degrease the diff housing and I blasted it on the outside but nevertheless it did a good job of final degreasing inside and out.
I then powder coated it with a silver metallic powder.
Unfortunately, although I put the diff housing in the oven as it warmed up to dry it, nevertheless I got some small blisters on the powder coating, due, I presume to some water being absorbed into the housing. I may have to blast the powder coating off and do it again. In conclusion, a good method of degreasing but make sure the part is fully dried before powder coating. Pete
To be fair I had already used a parts washer to degrease the diff housing and I blasted it on the outside but nevertheless it did a good job of final degreasing inside and out.
I then powder coated it with a silver metallic powder.
Unfortunately, although I put the diff housing in the oven as it warmed up to dry it, nevertheless I got some small blisters on the powder coating, due, I presume to some water being absorbed into the housing. I may have to blast the powder coating off and do it again. In conclusion, a good method of degreasing but make sure the part is fully dried before powder coating. Pete
Edited by Pete Mac on Thursday 18th December 16:24
The gearbox housing I did was Al alloy, it suffered no ill-effects from a couple of cycles with ordinary dishwasher detergent; all I did at the end was rinse it off with fresh water then dry it with an airline and leave it somewhere warm to finish off. There was no visible corrosion after that and machined surfaces were nice and shiny, although there was the odd bit of white blooming on very rough bits of the raw cast finish(the casting was particularly crappy quality, some of the 'dirt' turned out to be compacted casting sand).
To be fair I had already used a parts washer and then blasted the outside. I wanted to use the dishwasher to remove any oily sheen and blasting dust remaining before powder coating. My mistake was underestimating how much water the aluminium housing must have absorbed, hence the pinprick bubbles in the powder coating. Pete
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