Old Dishwasher = Partswasher

[drfjr1976]

Has anyone turned on old dish washer into a parts washer. It seems like it might work. Would like some input.
Thanks

[Blademan]

I gave thought to using a dishwasher but I got to wondering how the chemicals would re-act to all the plastics in one so I sorta shelved the idea...

[drfjr1976]

Well as far as the chemicals go, I use Simple Green in a heated tub right now to clean parts. I wouldn't think that simple green would hurt the plastic. Maybe if I was to use an actual parts cleaning chemical it might.

[Noob2PC]

I have washed parts in a dw before... I used Dawn DW liquid and it worked real well on a pair of valve covers. If you use DW soap it will not hurt plastics.

[Blademan]

I hadn't given thought to using simple green, always used some form of chemical for cleaning parts, guess I will have to give the green a try..

[Carcher7878]

Oh the memories of simple green. i say the army thinks simple green can clean anything. Hell im suprised they dont shower with it. lol Simple green cleans well anything I have come in contact with. we even used it while we were in Iraq. go figure. lol

[customandsound]

the name say's it all simple ...... it works better when heated up ...

[drfjr1976]

Since I post this thread I have came across a used but good working dishwasher to be used as a test subject. Now once I have some extra time I will set it up in the shop and run some test. I will update the thread as soon as I find something out.

[upncoming]

so how good did the dish washer work for ya

[drfjr1976]

Well to be honest with you, it is still setting in the corner of the shop waiting to be hooked up. I have to run a drain and water line for it and have been way to busy to even think about it. But it is on the list of "to do's".

[POCOTETON]

I have put some thought into the following alternate dishwasher idea primarily to avoid running a dedicated drain (not happening in my garage!!)
Why not try to run the machine in a "closed loop" to avoid the need for both the fresh water supply and the dedicated drain. This system would reuse a "batch" of solvent/soap mix until no it no longer cleans parts, just like a solvent "parts washer" that has 30 gal drum underneath the basin.
This WOULD NOT be the hot set up for cleaning really nasty (greasy) stuff, but that's what SOLVENT parts washers are for!!
Hear me out on this;
Dishwasher (DW) on floor with a (recycled) 30 gal oil drum next to or above/below.
DW discharge hose connected to through the lid of drum to pump the drain water/soap/grime into drum where it will flow through some type of screen/filter to catch the big chunks (maybe through a generic 'whole house filter' first). The sludge waste would collect in the bottom of drum.
Connect the DW 'water inlet' to a hose with a 'pick-up' inside the drum rather than to cold water plumbing like normal. This would recycle the solvent/soap mix.(The pick up must be mounted above the floor of the drum to avoid sucking in the sludge of course!)

I'm confident the DW pump will be able to pump the 'discharge' uphill into the lid of the drum (most kitchen sink setups have dishwasher pumping uphill to drain anyway), BUT, I'm not sure if DW pump will be able 'lift' or 'draw' water from the barrel on it's own.
This design would obviously take hours to set up and tune, but what do you guys think anyway? Am I nuts?

[bzer1]

Well...I don't know if you're nuts but it sounds like it might work. You can use a 3 or 5 psi pump to feed the dishwasher. When draining back into the barrel you might want to run it along the inside creating a whirlpool effect to keep the foaming down but it might just work. On the outlet of the drain hose you could use a sock type paint filter which would be zip tied to the end of the discharge hose. Just replace it every so often. You can get them a Home Depot for about $1 each.

[WAORacing]

Yes that is a pretty awsome idea to add to the whole dishwasher thing, for both of you bzer1 and POCOTETON.