Anyone own cheap parts washer?

[greenbeast]

Looking to buy one of the $100-$150 dollar parts washers. Anyone have one they would recommend. I have to replace the knuckle seals in my 80 when the fj40 is done.
This is just the start of my mechanic ventures, hopefully will tackle HG job on my other 80 after knuckles complete

 

[camcruiser13]

i use a roll of paper towels bout as cheap as it gets, now if your talking about a parts washer thats different

 

[greenbeast]

crap just realized what I wrote, got tools on the brain, Thanks for pointing that out!

 

[theoii]

I got a gallon of Purple Power, and a dip basket from O'Reillys and a 5 gallon bucket and lid from Home Depot. Lots of cheap paper towels and rubber gloves (PP drys your skin bad). PP will even take the paint off if you leave it too long and corrode metal if you forget it.

 

[misupratwin]

I have one in my shop from tractor supply, Has worked great for 4 years, was under 200 $. Harbor freight also sells them. I always see one for sale on craigslist. Try to find a 40 gallon tank. I use home heating oil for the solvent.

 

[Straightsixmiller]

I also have the one sold at tractor supply. Having a parts washer in the shop has been great. Money well spent.

 

[greenbeast]

Was looking at 20 gallon cleaner from harbor freight for $100 dollars, seems pretty reasonable and very well could save lots of time. I'm using kerosene to clean for now until I find something better

 

[Coolerman]

I built one from an old stainless steel chicken cleaner. No... really!

I got a parts washer pump from Northern tools (Northern Industrial Universal Parts Washer Pump | Parts Washers Accessories | Northern Tool + Equipment)
and filled it with 10 gallons of kerosene. Works great and I spent about $60 building it.

The big blue thing on the bottom of the tank is an air pump. I put a large greasy part in the tank, place a pipe with holes drilled in it in the bottom of the tank and connect it to the air pump. When turned on , the air pump agitates the kerosene which cleans the part. A couple of hours of that and there is not much scrubbing to do.

 

[greenbeast]

That is awesome, nice work.

 

[Plowboy]

I use a 5 gal bucket, 50/50 solution of simple green, plus an old vibrating sander strapped to the side of the bucket. Make sure the parts are covered, turn on the sander. Vibrating motion cleans off all kinds of crud

 

[greenbeast]

Well just got back from Tractor supply store where I found 20 gallon washer for 79 bucks, also got 15 gallon of kerosene to use.
As soon as snow cleared around house I will put together and play some more.

 

[natvet]

cleaner

I use a 5 gal bucket, 50/50 solution of simple green, plus an old vibrating sander strapped to the side of the bucket. Make sure the parts are covered, turn on the sander. Vibrating motion cleans off all kinds of crud

That is way too funny. Kinda wish i had thought of that Great example of the power of ingenuity Did you duct tape that sander to the bucket? pics?

 

[Slickdog]

I use an old dishwasher, its cleans everything really well and it all comes out dry too! Especially good for bike engine cases as it also drops the bearing out too!

 

[nuclearlemon]

i've used the harbor freight ones for years. i'm on my second one now. firsts motor puked about 6 hard years and i found another one used for the less than the pump. i used to use solvent, but it got absurdly priced. using diesel fuel now because that's what's the cheapest at the moment.

 

[Walton]

I have a Harbor Freight washer I like. My neighbor makes sweet parts washers out of the fuel oil tanks you see next to houses.

 

[alia176]

I suggest buying a cheap parts washer from harbor freight then buying a high quality pump from somewhere else. Of if you find a cheap tub from craigslist, invest in a high quality pump that'll last years.

 

[KLF]

I had one from Northern, I only got a couple of years out of it. I used 50/50 mix of water & SuperClean. First the switch on the pump fell apart, then the pump died. The little inlet screen/filter for the pump disintegrated after about the first month. All the paint fell off it. It was a POS, I ended up giving it away.

 

[Icantdive55]

I suggest buying a cheap parts washer from harbor freight then buying a high quality pump from somewhere else. Of if you find a cheap tub from craigslist, invest in a high quality pump that'll last years.

Any ideas where?

 

[alia176]

Any ideas where?

Look at places where the pro mechanics shop for tools. Just Google parts washer and you should get some decent hits.

 

[Icantdive55]

Look at places where the pro mechanics shop for tools. Just Google parts washer and you should get some decent hits.

Ya i did that but i only got 2,750,000 hits. Was hoping you had been there and done that.Looks like maybe a little giant although they are more than a cheep parts washer.