In the Trans shop we used what might be described as a dishwashing machine on steroids. Darn thang was as tall as me, had rotating racks inside, high pressure jets, your choice of hot, warm cold etc.
All we did was load the case, drums, small parts in a latched basket then close and lock the door, hit the switch and in about 45 minutes ALL of the parts were sparkling clean and HOT. They could air dry on their own but we always blew them off because we had to blow out all of the hydraulic circuits anyway.
We used a water based detergent, plus the machine had a trap and skimmer to separate the grease and oil. The wash water was continuously recirculated and we changed it only when it got nasty.
[EDIT]
I meant to mention that one time we ran out of the 'detergent' for the machine and used instead regular every day dishwasher powder. It worked really good and got the parts just as clean. We wanted to continue using it because it was cheaper, but the owner wouldn't let us because the machine was still in warranty and he was concerned about 'factory authorized' cleansers.
[END EDIT]
So, if you've made it this far past, all of my blathering...
You can see one these in action at any Trans shop, mainly you would want to get Brand Names so that you see if that company makes something smaller. The monster we had was $7,000 and HUGE.
As an off thought, I've always wanted to try a medium sized, restaurant style commercial dishwasher, I wonder if that would fit the bill in your case?
Depending on the materials used I'd go along with Mike. The baked on grease is a swine to remove.
As an experiment I'd try heating parts in a stainless steel pan with
1: biological washing powder
2: dishwasher detergent
3: washing soda (Sodium carbonate)
4: Caustic soda solution. (DONT BOIL!)
When you find something that works - ideally at a lower temperature like 40-50C you could use it in a dishwasher or parts washer.
Look at some sort of a steam cleaner...
large vapor degreaser
One of those hand held sand blasters, only use baking soda not sand. Or you could use a regular sand blaster converted to a soda blaster.
They actually do use soda blast to clean restaurant kitchens, cleans real good.
I cleaned some aluminum parts under hood of car, did not mask or cover anything and never damaged anything, just cleaned really good.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p...
Hi all,
So as a side job, I refurbish electric motors that are used by fast food restaurants to pump oil out of their deep fryers.
After a while, the oil finds it;s way into the motor and just coats everything with caked up grease. This is when I take them, strip them down and refurbish them.
The problem is that I don't have an efficient way of cleaning the grease and old pain off them. So far I've relied on a pressure washer and a wire wheel but it's vary labor / time consuming and IT MAKES A MESS!
I'm hoping someone has a better idea? Would a parts washer help? Are there chemicals out there that could take the elbow grease out of it? If i can find a way to make the cleaning easier it would eliminate about 90% of the labor out of the deal.
