I got the same one, the sprayer feels flimsy, and the pressure makes it slash, as it sprays onto something, I ended up zip tieing a rag over the end and just letting the fluid pour straight down onto the part and use a separate brush. I like the one Arron has that would be alot easier!

 

Aaron, what do you use in you parts washer?

 

I use "Dunk" degreaser. Sold in a 4L metal can and smells a lot like kerosene. However I don't think it's available anymore. The last time I changed out the parts washer fluid was probably 5 years ago and I just noticed it is starting to get low again. So I went to Canadian Tire to get the stuff and it wasn't on the shelf. Anywhere. That kind of sucks because it works well and lasts forever.

Probably off the market now due to environmental/VOC reasons. But there are plenty of concentrated eco-friendly cleaners on the market that mix with water and are presumably easier on the skin as well.

Super Clean cut 50/50 with water will likely do a great job but will be more prone to evaporation and you have to remember to avoid letting it sit on aluminium parts.

 

I made a concoction a few years ago to degrease parts during my engine rebuild and to clean out the engine bay.

1) A can of non ethanol gasoline. In Texas you can buy it for small 2 stroke engines
2) I just eyeballed it, but it was like 2.5 ounces of good 2 stroke oil
3) Lantern fuel, also known as Coleman fuel

I mixed it up in a plastic tub (my tub was fine, but be careful, certain plastics do NOT like distilled petroleum and will melt!).

I let the parts sit for a few hours before I came back and scrubbed the persistent stuff off. It was very little work, the solution pretty much dissolved everything. Keep in mind that it is extremely flammable. I added the 2 stroke oil to help prevent flash rust.

 

More specific to my question before, how about with an air tool spinning the scotch bright pads very fast on the housings and irons, would that be of a concern to eat away more material than necessary ? I think that is what the Bruce Turrentine video shows or inclines towards using if you have access to air tools, to use the scotch bright pads and shows a pic of an air tool.. Also, on the staining from sitting, wouldn't that just rubb itself off as the engine is first started or would it take a while, and would it do damage to the side seals ?

 

It goes without saying that something like this should never be used in a parts washer.

The Scotch Brite pads aren't really aggressive enough to do much damage. That's why they are so nice to use. Powerful enough to scrub off all the nasty but not strong enough to damage unless you do something silly like sit in one area for minutes on end without lubricant. I don't know if the colour codes are standard but I use the red pads almost exclusively, and only go to the more aggressive grey if necessary on the irons (only red on aluminium).

I personally try to remove all the staining. With the pads it takes very little time. Though if it is just stained and not any sort of surface contamination then it's probably fine.

Bruce uses an air tool, but a cordless drill on low speed works fine as well if you don't have a big enough compressor to run the tool. I like the drill since I don't have to listen to the compressor cycling nor deal with the air line.

 

Woops, left that part out. Yeah dont use my concoction in a parts washer. I used that solution to MANUALLY clean stuff in a tub.