Has anybody built a parts washer? I plan on using an electric fuel pump to pump the cleaner but am particularly interested in how others have built the filter system and what kind of cleaner they use.

Regards
Martin

I don't have any input for you, but I'm also interested in this...

i have made one that works well i started with a center sump oil pan from a 3208cat (worked for a cat dealer for30yrs}then a fuel transfer pump driven by a small elc motor of a dish washer. the filter from a diesel engine(the primary one wich is a fine screen)so it can be washed, welded some legs on the pan and made a lid workes great. the center sump allows instalation of a heavey skreen to put stuff on above the varsol. a center sump pan of a 302 truck engine would work, but if you live near a cat dealer and smile at the servicr maneger you will likely get some freebees when he knows what you are up to ,a fuel pump off a oil furnace would work also. have fun. i also have a old dish washe in my shop for final cleaning works well, v8 heads fit. soap and hotwatter is very good for final cleaning engine or trans parts. be sure to sray lube the parts after wash as rust will develop fast. have fun cliff

I made one from a kitchen sink. I used a pump out of an old side by side washing machine. The filter was from an oil fired furnace. I sat the ssembly on a 20 gallon drum.

Thanks so far for the input. There is something worrying me at the moment: I inquired about industry cleaners that are offered for such parts washers and found that these are TREMENDOUSLY expensive where I live.

What did you do? It's possible that such cleaners are cheaper in the USA, but probably not. These cleaners usually contain kerosene, is it possible to use normal kerosene which is probably cheaper, or does anybody have a special receipe for a cleaning mixture?

Regards
Martin

Solvents are expensive. I have in the past used varasol with mixed results. It's about 3 bucks a gallon.

Yup they are very expensive but then since they are constantly recycled in the parts washer it may not be as much of an issue as is generally thought. for a homemade washer I woudl like to use 1/2 of a 55 gal drum so I can put a complete tranny or engine block on the washer. Now one will need to do a secondary cleaning before painting to make sure no solvents are left to interfere with painting. Might be best to just bite the bullet and get a replacement washer pump from your parts supplier as some of the jury rig deals wind up costing as much or more as doing it right in the first place.

OMT

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I would rather make it work than make it popular..And if it does not work it will not be popular..

go to finning in naniamo they sell varsol in a 5gal can reasonable price, varsol is more suitable than kerosine. cliff

my jeery riged washer is 10 years old and all i ever do is clean the filter, the made in china ones ar small and short lived

I just use plain diesel fuel in mine. Works well and when you leave it sit for a while all the heavy solids sink to the bottom and the remaining diesel is fairly clean.
I've found it works well at getting rid of the large amount of crap that accumulates and then I just give whatever I'm cleaning a quick degrease and hose. Job done.

BTW, my parts cleaner is a 60 litre drum on it's side and cut in half. It's welded to a frame with wheels and has a large(ish) pump underneath it.
Don't know what the pump was originally for, but it was cheap at a junk sale.

Yes.

Go to www.homier.com. Buy Homier item #04725. You cannot find a better pump for the price.

Get a drum. I had a friend at a dealership save me a 55 gal that had windshield washer fluid in it. Ideally I would rather have had a smaller one. Ask around and you might get one for free like I did.

I used an old steel kitchen sink. Use the drain too. I took a piece of screen wire over the bottom in case any small parts were to find their way to the drain. All free.

I added a flash lid. Just a piece of sheet metal hinged.

Get about 4 ft of 3/8" vinyl tubing.

The rest you can figure out. Mounting of the sink, rigging a spout.

Diesel is at $3.15 a gallon down here in Texas.
I wonder if my powerstroke will run on Varsol?

Do you really want to build one when you can get one of these?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ct...itemnumber=7340
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ct...temnumber=42817
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ct...temnumber=41108
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ct...temnumber=35740

Roger, I don't own one of the HF washers but I know of a couple of guys that do and it seems they are one of the items from HF that work really well. One of the fellows rebuilds transmissions and the other runs a small engine/lawn mower shop and both use these things a lot, seems like it would make more sense than trying to build one.

Just a thought

build your own for spare change and use the $79.99 for....

-a dyno session
-tools you can't build
-speed parts
-taking the wife/girlfriend/whatever out on a nice date