Parts washers

[RebelMoby]

If anyone has a nice parts washer and is using varsol, kerosene or diesel as a washing fluid you can keep the fluid cleaner longer is you raise the pickup screen in the reservoir to about 1/2 way up and replace 1/4 of your solvent with water. The oil based solvent will float on top of the water but the particles washed off your parts will sink into the water. As long as you are using good old oil based solvent the water will separate out a lot of the dirt from the solvent and not allow it to mix back in.
For obvious reasons the trick will not work with the fancy new 'green / water soluble' cleaners. I am thinking that keeping your solvent on the job longer is better for the environment anyhow.

[larry]

Interesting.... I use the old-fashioned one-gallon Gunk concentrate which is mixed with nine gallons of kerosene. Gunk claims that even a few ounces of water will neutralize the effectiveness of the solution. I never tried to find out because properly disposing of ten gallons of hazardous material is time consuming and costly. If it has worked for you then that's great news. Thanks.

[RebelMoby]

I do not know if the water will bother the Gunk in the kerosene. I have used kerosene as a cleaner for the longest time - diesel smells a bit too much for some folks. Still have to dispose of the water portion as dangerous goods, it gets quite fouled with junk from washing parts, but it is not the same quantity of liquid as if it was changing out the whole reservoir.