It works surprisingly well. The water gets very hot and I use fairly
aggressive detergents. There's always a spot or two that doesn't get
cleaned, but at least you can handle the parts without getting slimed. I
removed the upper basket so I could get bigger parts in.
Bill Babcock
Babcock & Jenkins
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net [mailto:owner-fot@Autox.Team.Net] On Behalf
Of Scott Janzen
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 1:01 PM
To: fot@Autox.Team.Net
Subject: Re: Parts Washers & Cleaning Solutions AND irritating the spouse by
borrowing tools
Wow - a dishwasher. Who would have thunk it? Does this clean off the heavy
gunk on suspension parts, 40 year old oil pans, etc, on restoration projects
or is it only good enough for "clean" race cars?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Babcock" <BillB@bnj.com>
To: <fot@Autox.Team.Net>
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2005 3:43 PM
Subject: RE: Parts Washers & Cleaning Solutions AND irritating the spouse by
borrowing tools
> A timely and interesting congruence of threads. I've found a dishwasher
with
> a shot of TSP and some dish soap cleans parts extremely well. And
naturally
> a washing machine and dryer is great for shop rags and shop clothes. But
> using them has the potential to be extremely expensive--as much as 50% of
my
> net worth.
>
> The solution--buy my own at garage sales and install them in the garage. I
> have a washing machine, dryer and dishwasher installed in my shop now. I
> actually planned ahead for this and installed the appropriate power, hoses
> and drains in the machine shop section when I built the house. The washer
> and dryer were languishing up in my storage shed until recently, but I
> transferred a bunch of junk to the storage room and moved the washer/dryer
> down. Then I built a bench over the top of them. The dishwasher is a
recent
> addition. I haven't done anything smart yet to filter the water as it
> circulates, but that's next. I haven't used it much yet because I figure
> it's not ready for prime time. But last night I popped my flywheel, all my
> clutch parts, my carb bodies and a screen box full of carb bits into the
> dishwasher and they came out sparkling.
>
> I paid $50 for the dishwasher and nothing for the washer/dryer. I'm also
> looking around for a really big toaster oven to cure powder coat. I feel
> like a happy little homemaker sometimes.
>
> I also have a little bench top parts washer that I bought for $69 at the
> Napa store.
>
> I've got a completely unused kiln taking up a lot of space in my wife's
> "hobby" room in the shop. She hasn't set foot in it since the pottery
> equipment was installed four years ago. I'm either going to get rid of all
> that stuff on eBay or hook up the kiln and use it for heat treating
metals.
>
> Incidentally, carter centrifugal fuel pumps make dandy parts washer pumps.
> They have a screen to take out the big chunks, but the sliding steel
> impellers will pump anything short of peanut butter and last forever even
> with a bunch of abrasive crap in the solution.
>
>
> Bill Babcock
> Babcock & Jenkins
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