Parts Washer Tank

[davidh]

David,5gals of LPS-----259.00 which is in line with some of the other products for parts washer

the last time i bought a 5 gal container it was about the same price. . . . i filtered it constantly using a large 10 mil (i think) replacement unit as in hydraulics filter. it still needed to be de-gooped about every year, drain it out slowly or thru the filter and scoop the goop from the low spots in the tank. . .

 

[Kroll]

I pick up 5gal container for 46.00,they did not have it in stock but had it at their distribution center.Took couple days,but while the startup cost is kinda high by my standards,with motorsport filtering system hoping it will last a good while.I did price check mineral spirits and it was bout the same cost as varsol.Varsol and mineral spirits I think is bout the same thing so really don't know what the difference is.What I was after is parts that come out of the tank let dry then ready for paint without having to do anything extra to the part.Why varsol???Well the previous owner had three of these tanks,owner of some kind of hot rod shop and it was what he used.He said he had tried other products but went back to the varsol.
In the past(I will still use) Purple Power degreaser,and it works great and will remove paint.But would rinse the part off very well,dry the part using air hose put in the sun but I would still get flash rust.

 

[Tony Wells]

Also, if memory serves, there is a popular solvent for this called "Stoddard" solvent. High flash point and not too harsh. I think generically it was called safety solvent. Might have a look at that also.

 

[toolman_ar]

I will second the Tractor Supply fluid.

Cleans very well and last time I purchased it was about $40 for 5 gal.

toolman_ar

 

[zmotorsports]

zmotorsport do you have any picks of your filtering system?I sure would like to add that to my tank.

Kroll, sorry for the delay, been busy as hell at work and at the shop lately and forgot about this until last night when I was using the solvent tank.

Here is an overview of the ZEP recycling solvent tank. The barrell is a 30-gallon drum that the tank sits on. There is also a large filter that ZEP calls a "combo filter" that resides in the drum and the pump sits just outside of it. As the solvent is drained from the washing tank to the drum it enters the middle of the "combo filter" and then moves to the outside, between the drum and the filter, where the pump is located.


Inside of the washing tank. The horsehair mat and expanded metal I installed, again as another filtering media to prevent the large stuff from entering the drum. There is another filter under the square metal cover to the right.


ZEP calls this the "sandbag filter". It is merely a bag of sand type media to filter the solvent. Originally it was designed to disconnect the brush from the hose and just connect the hose to the fitting at the top of the sandbag filter. I chose to put a ball-valve at the point where the solvent enters the washing tank to switch from the hose/brush to the sandbag filter(can be seen in above picture). I will generally run this filtering system once a month for a full-day while I am in the shop working such as a Saturday. This is the only filter that you actually have to "activate", all others are filtered as the solvent is flowing normally. One "sandbag filter" will last about a year in my tank.


Here is the last filter on the tank. It is part #5110 and that is all I know it by and reference it by. It is a yarn style that resides inside the housing. The solvent flows from the pump in the drum through this filter and then up to the backside of the washing tank where it enters and can then go either through the hose or through the "sandbag filter". There is also a gate valve on the exit port of the filter housing to control flow through the hose. This is how I know when my filter (5110) is starting to get restrictive, when I have to open the valve all the way up and the flow is decreasing I know it is time to change the 5110 filter. I generally change about two of these a year.


Not filter related but I fabricated a small shelf that hangs on the side of the tank to set my parts on once cleaned. I put an absorbent pad down and change it out as it gets gross looking.


I also want to mention that I am anal about what goes into my solvent tank. At work it bugs the living crap out of me to see what the guys throw into the solvent tank. They will drop a gearbox coated with a half an inch of grease/dirt right into the tank to clean it.

I do NOT do that at my home shop. I always scrape the heavy coated stuff off prior to putting the part into the solvent tank for cleaning. This is probably why I only have to change my solvent out every several years or so.

I hope that helps you visualize the ZEP filtering sytem.

Also for reference I have added a link to the ZEP Dyna Clean tank/basin.
http://www.zepequipment.com/products/category/parts_washers/solvent_pw#!prettyPhoto

I also use the ZEP Dyna 143 solvent as I get a pretty good deal on it as it is the same stuff we use at work and they sell it to me at the same cost.

 

[Kroll]

AWESOME Mike,thank you for taking the time to post pics and give a discription.I went to the link and pick the manual found the parts numbers for the inline filters.So tomorrow I will call ZEP and see what that will cost me.Seeing the system maybe a fuel filter or diesel/water seperator will work just as well.With the cost of cleaner it will pay off to pre clean like you do then run it through the filter system.-----kroll