Parts washer idea, input please.

[AthlonAJ]

I've got a 40 gallon parts washer that I used to use a water based cleaner in...sucked balllz and made a mess after time. Emptied it out and haven't used it since, miss having it. Thought I remember seeing a setup on here that fit a lot of the needs I'd have of going to solvent. Which are....

HAS to be SAFE around sparks, lotsa sparks. This is in my shop which I use for my business, can't afford to burn the place down and I've managed to light furnace filters on fire before just with sparks. (grinding/welding...)

Isn't used on a daily basis so keep evaporation to a minimum.

So here's what I'm thinking. Plumb the drain at the bottom with copper pipe and use a 15-20 gallon steel drum to store the solvent in. I can close that first ball valve and route the solvent through a filter for when I want to clean it up a bit. For normal use it would just bypass that filter and run straight into the drum. Also I could close all the ballvalves, fill the tank and let something soak. The pickup tube inside the tank would sit about 2" off the bottom so sediment and gunk could have a chance to settle while it wasn't in use and hopefully this would keep it there.

I'd rather use an external pump vs. a submergible just to it being easier to service and plumb. But I'm pump stupid. Ideas? Obviously need something that is rated for solvents. I was even thinking of running a small copper line around the inside perimeter of the tank, putting small orifices (nozzles) every 5-6" so I could throw a bunch of stuff in there and just let it work on it's own.

Ideas on the pump and filter to use? Improvements or possible problems?

[traxman25]

You'll need to put the filter either on the pump pick up or pump output. Gravity feed will not be enough for the solvant to flow fast enough while the machine is running. It needs to be forced through the filter to get flows high enough. Even with 15 gallons you'll run out in a matter of minutes.

Other than that it sounds good to me. Beats the hell out of my hardly used double 5 gallon bucket/farm pump solvent set up. We don't do anything but clean when we use it... The gravity drain with 1.5 inch tubing works well though and it's great to have one bucket for solvent storage. Just toss it on the shelf when done and no more worries.

[nissancrawler]

my auto tech teacher installed one of the inline radiator hose heaters on a tank like that...really worked great when you let parts sit and cook for a while.

[PTSchram]

Submersible pumps are much easier to work with. Plumb power and discharge and pitch it in the tank. I think I paid about $60 for my replacement pump (I didn't really need it, discharge hose plugged).

You most definitely will need pressure to push the fluid through a filter as the pressure drop will be too great for gravity.

Plumb everything real well, ground it well, close it and use a high flashpoint solvent and you'll be good to go. I use diesel fuel (flame suit on) and in spite of having a fire-friendly shop, about the only thing I haven't set on fire is my parts washer.

PT

[PhantomEB]

Cause the pumps dont suck very well, how about puttin a fitting on the drum coming out the side to run your tubing right from that fitting into the pump then on up??? I been thinking this way as well to get more pressure thru the nozzle by using a fairly decent pump like a lower PSI electric fuel pump?

[AthlonAJ]

That's about the only thing holding me back right now is the pump. Been looking on ebay for chemical pumps and found quite a bit, cheaper than new at least. I'd have no problem with submersible but they don't have the pressure needed to force through a filter. The filter I'm looking at isn't as fine as an oil filter though, quite a bit coarser.

I'm gonna just go ahead and order up the drum, pick up all the pipe and ball valves for now.