A Brief History of Parts Washers

Workpieces can get covered with contaminants such as carbon, metal chips, dirt, grime, oil, ink, paint, etc. It is important to keep them free of these things. To do that, you can make use of parts washer. You can use a parts washer to clean items such as disk drives, plastics molds, carburetors, etc. Parts washer are employed in remanufacturing and new manufacturing processes for cleaning and drying.

They are used by electronic, industrial, medical, and automotive industries. These industries use it for preparation for finishing, surface cleaning, spreading of components and items such as diesel engine blocks, bolts, nuts, screws, rail bearings, automotive assemblies, etc. It would be difficult to do finishing processes on contaminated parts; parts washer help resolve that issue. There are heavy-duty industrial parts washers for sale available online.

They were known as soak tanks at one point in time, with vats filled with water and detergent. In this, the mechanics used to submerge parts for a good amount of time. There came a time when mechanics got tired and frustrated with this ineffective way of cleaning parts. It was around the mid-1900s that they resolved to create a better way and through that determination, they introduced industrial parts washing.

The initial parts washers comprised of a drum, a pump, and solvents. The solvents used at that were made up of organic trichloroethylene, benzene, xylenes, and mineral spirits. Parts were cleaned by placing them in a drum washer where they were cleaned with the help of an electric liquid pump.

Processes and techniques which were used earlier than soak tanks were considered better and more effective but they were not good for the environment. As people slowly got aware of the impacts that certain methods have on the plant and its people, they began to come up with products and techniques that were safer and less harmful to the environment. A switch was made from petroleum solvents such as gasoline, diesel, kerosene to better removal agents such as chlorinated solvents and vapor degreaser. The government then started prohibiting the use of chlorinated solvents in the 1980s as they saw it as something which could harm the environment and poses many safety endangerments. Aqueous made cleaning solutions were adopted in place of chlorinated solvents. Although aqueous solutions were made around 10 years before the ban, they became a standard for the industries after the ban. These solutions showed positive results and led to several innovations in the industries where parts cleaning was concerned.

Author’s Bio: The author is a blogger. This article is about parts washers.