Picked up a small parts cleaner and the instructions are pretty vague on what to use. They advise against strong solvant and talk about biodegradable cleaners.

I am guessing they mean stuff like Simple Green. What works well for you?

Purple Power works awesome! You can even strip paint with it.

Use mineral spirits, then wash later with Purple. Mineral spirits will really cut the grease. Purple will wash the film off.

HF sells a couple different gallong jugs of solvent for the parts washers, they work ok in my experience.

i just pick up carb cleaner in gallon buckets at autozone.

works great. cuts grease. strips paint. eats plastic and rubber. and burns like hell(eats through my latex gloves if i dont change them frequently).

-jim

I use mineral spirits and let stuff soak for months at a time. My HF unit said not to use solvent, but then it also has a thermal dealie in the lid that closes it if it exceeds a certain temperature (catches fire). Methinks they designed it for solvent knowing everyone uses solvent, and they reccomend against using solvent to help cover thier asses.

Mine has been going for a couple years now with no troubles. With the lid closed it doesn't even stink up the garage.

I found that simple green stinks. I used a lot of it once. Now I can't stand being near it. Mineral spirits or Naptha works. If using water based cleaners, I like to use pressure washer concentrate. I like the pink stuff. I use this with a spray bottle only. probably not best in your tank. I use in my tank solvent fron "Safety Clean". It works O.K. They recycle it on an annual basis.

Greg, I bought a similar unit from Eastwood Company, including a gallon of their biodegradible cleaner. Check them out.

I also have some Simple Green aviation grade cleaner that work's great 50/50. I use it from a spray bottle to clean lots of stuff. Bought that from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty. I can get you the exact name tonight (after work).

i have a 20 gallon cleaner and i used a big jug of purple power plus about 3 jugs of water. it has stripped the paint off of the inside of the bin and has done a fine job of eating off the baked on crud that was on all my tin. HOWEVER it built up a nice calcium sort of deposit on my aluminium parts that had to be scrubbed off with a wire brush.

I think bondo probably has it hit right on the head. My thoughts were however that i didnt want the risk of fire at all in my house/garage and i didnt want the entire garage stinking of carb cleaner etc...

The purple power stuff is mostly lye. There's some aromatic hydrocarbons too, but I think the lye is what does most of the work. I used to use it, but I'm not a big fan any more.

I bet the theory about solvents is true. Have you noticed that Q-Tip containers specifically say they are NOT to be used in the ear ? Gimme a break.

I have found that bio-diesel is a pretty good solvent. don't know how it compares to the others. that Purple power stuff sounds pretty strong, like carb cleaner.