Hot tank

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bighammer

bighammer

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Locally we have no one here that has a chemical tank to 'boil' stuff clean, like engine blocks, intakes, etc. I wondered if this is something that can be done 'on the cheap' in my shop, small scale.

I don't know if it is possible, but any one here done it? How?

Thanks

Mark
 
My understanding is that few outfits use "hot tanks" anymore, having gone somewhat greener. Is it possible you asked using the wrong terminology?
 
67Dart273 said:
My understanding is that few outfits use "hot tanks" anymore, having gone somewhat greener. Is it possible you asked using the wrong terminology?
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Lol, yes! I rember the machine shop used to use a method that I recall being called hot tank or boiling, or? They would use this method to totally clean a bare block down to raw iron, IIRC.

So likely my terminology is outdated, there must be somewhat of a greener method(?) any ideas?
 
Sorry, other than calling some rebuild shops and ask, "what do you do to clean blocks" and "do you do work for outside customers?"
 
Worked in a small shop many years ago in NJ. EPA had just stepped in and said no more caustic solution. If we had chosen to still use it we would have had to pay all kinds of fees....as well have an EPA certified company clean our machine and haul away the chemicals. Steve ended up using some sort of soap. Water temperature was just under boiling. Goofiest part of it all was the approved disposal method was right down the drain....
 
Degreaser and pressure washer worked for me. Bit of work and quite messy.... First scrape and heavy gunk off. Then spray with engined egreaser. Brush it in good Scrub and rinse till nothing left. But as you mention boiling -I think hot water is key to doing a good cleaning job. I don't have hot water hookup outside, so layed long coil of garden hose in the sun (back in mid-summer) feeding the pressure washer. Got about 1 minutes worth of really hot water every 10 minutes or so LOL
I guess small stuff could be done in a dishwasher, but not sure what you might use to handle a block to do it 'automatically"
 
55 gallon drum, STRONG solution of Dawn dishwashing soap and water. Electric drum heater. Works way good.
 
RustyRatRod said:
55 gallon drum, STRONG solution of Dawn dishwashing soap and water. Electric drum heater. Works way good.
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Neat idea. And I just learned of another use for Dawn, that stuff is crazy good soap.

BTW, Rusty, please put on sun glasses, I am going to have nightmares tonight. :)
 
I use a heavy duty degreaser...cold....it will take your skin off....but it works well.
It's called Motogard....it's pink in colour....you's may have something similar over there.
 

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55 gallon barrel or something of the sort, red devil lye and something else, cant remember what and probably a good thing as ya had to watch what you were doing (mixing chemicals). We used a wood fire to heat it to a good rolling boil, just make sure ya rinse your parts down well after "cooking". It will clean the hell out of things... including your lungs and body part soo be safe..
 
Only problem with using caustics like lye is, sooner or later you are going to have to drain and clean the tank. It's against the law to run caustics down a drain now, it has to be properly disposed of. Even out here in the county, we can pretty much do what we want, but I still wouldn't dump caustics because we are all on wells out here. The Dawn detergent is completely non toxic, biodegradable and dilutes almost immediately. Not only that, but it works just as caustic when it's hot and it does not attack aluminum like caustic.
 
My little brother works for a local ford dealer and they have "HOT TANK" of sorts not sure what it uses but anyways he ran my Eddy intake through it and it came out better but definitely not NEW looking. You might be able to ask a local car dealer ship.
 
I use a hot tank and a jet washer in my machine shop. The chemicals I use in both tanks are from Safety Kleen it's called Alumiclean it's non caustic and works great on all types of metals. If you have real thick grease and crap all over the part you do still need to scrape it off some but I don't like filling the machine with thick sludge. The chemicals die after awhile and both machines need to be drained & clean about every 4 weeks. I should mention both machine run 12 hours a day 5 days a week. They also heat the water to 185 degrees if it's to cold they foam up a lot and make a mess on the floor. If you just wanted to do a little cleaning you could use a 55 gallon drum and put a band heater around it put the parts in and just let them soak a day or two and rinse them off with cold water it should work good with out a lot of investment. Or Safety Kleen will sell you a very expensive machine and service it for you but then it's a business not just something to help you clean some stuff now and again. I do charge to clean parts for other shops & walk in customers but it depends on how dirty the parts are and how big, an intake is 15-20 but a block is 75-125. Good Luck no matter what you do
 
barbee6043 said:
i havn't tried it yet, but read while back where a member here stated using pinesol and water , half and half.
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Lestoil cuts grease better.


For hot water, why not hook a long hose up to your utility sink/tub in your basement/laundry room??? Just wear a good pair of insulated gloves as the hose spray fitting will get too hot to touch after a while.
 
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