Dishwasher in Workshop

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Right - maybe I am barking but

I have looked into the costs of the Hot washer cleaner units er "NON"

Then I thought "What about a dishwasher in the workshop ?"

Joined via hoses in and out to drain / water in etc, heats itsself, would fit under bench

and would be great as a dedicated unit to clean stuff.

A Trawl on e-bay shows they go for slightly more than F All, so my question is

on the hotest setting they are quite good I hear ??? Thoughts ?

but as a Dedicated unit what could I / should I shove it it to help clean oil / steel / ali etc ?

And is it a simple and good idea, or is there a big drawback ?

Disucss

Nige

PS HUrry up I am 'watching' 6 in a 10 mile zone of me house

[landmannnn]

Why, isn't there one in the kitchen?

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Yes

But I don't want to die horribly screaming in agony

Nige

[nickwilliams]

Nothing wrong with this idea at all. These guys know all about it:

http://www.mecwash.co.uk/

But probably best not to tell your local sewerage company unless you decide to invest in a water re-cycling plant!

Nick.

[M&S]

What would you do with the drain?

[Guest]

Considered that option a few times myself but don't have water in the garage although I could use a 12v pump and a tank to get fluid into it. I buy about 3 dish washers a year from ebay for my brewery, we tend to pay between £0.99 and £5.00 and get them localy, the best ones to get are where people have moved house or just getting their kitchen fitted, otherwise you end up just paying to take it to the dump for them!!!!!!

we use them every day for cleaning glasses and fittings etc, bosch seem to be about the best out there, they get a pretty hard life on 5 times a day so don't last long but a lot cheaper than a £800 stainless unit.

Jason.

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

Mmmmmmmm nice brutal chemicals

Thanks - looks promising

Nige

[heath robinson]

Back a while, I was known to sneak the odd part into the dishwasher while mum was out... and the results were worth the risk. I don't know how long it would last mind, but I used to just use an excessive amount of detergent and bung one of those sink-plughole-strainers over the filter hole.

I seem to remember that it's fat build-up and limescale that kill the things, so if you can keep all the grease/oil solvent, it should last relatively well (Unless you run a diseasel on veg oil ).

If they're sweet FA to buy, it's got to be worth a shot.

Also, I'd imagine it'll have a lower duty cycle in the garage than in the kitchen.

Edited April 1, 2010 by heath robinson

[landroversforever]

Free cycle would be a good place to try for one... people giving them away when they upgrade to a more efficient one

Thats where our old one went!

[zoltan]

We have a Rotajet parts washer at work which has what can best be described as a low foaming type of washing powder in it. It runs at 70 degrees c so you'd probably be right in the ball park with a 60 degree domestic dishwasher on cheapo tesco tablets.

Our parts washer is ok, it doesn't produce miracles but we've not had it long and haven't tried any other miracle blends of powder aside from what Rotajet supply. Vixabright is supposed to be very good. Whether it would kill a domestic dishwasher you'd need to find out

[ThreeSheds]

But I don't want to die horribly screaming in agony

Nige

OffTopic:

Reminds me of an old joke:

When I die I want to go like my grandfather - peacefully in his sleep - not screaming in terror like his passengers...

Back OnTopic:

Great idea, but don't use any caustic cleaners if you are doing alloy. I have never tried myself, but have been warned of dire dissolving consequences! Also I think that dishwasher tabs use salt, so be prepared for flash rusting on bare steel parts...

Roger

[TheRecklessEngineer]

So what would happen if rather than plumbing it into water, you plumbed it into a big tank of diesel?

Would the diesel clean better than water based chemicals?

Would it expire leaving a smoking crater where your workshop was?

[Guest]

Great idea, but don't use any caustic cleaners if you are doing alloy. I have never tried myself, but have been warned of dire dissolving consequences! Also I think that dishwasher tabs use salt, so be prepared for flash rusting on bare steel parts...

Roger

We have to be careful in the brewery when using caustic to clean if you leave any fittings in it overnight it will eat any chrome coverings it can also pit stainless, therefore I don’t think the inside of a dishwasher would take kindly to sitting in caustic so you would have to wash out with water after use.

On another note caustic can often cause an exothermic reaction so you have to be very careful when you add it to hot water, I once added caustic crystals to the wrong bucket when cleaning a tank (thought it was the cold bucket) it exploded showering me in caustic, luckily I had a bucket of PAA next to it and was able to counteract it quickly although it did burn a hole the size of a 5p in my knee, although scars enhance the war stories and act as a good reminder not to do that again!!!

Jason.

[Pwyll]

So what would happen if rather than plumbing it into water, you plumbed it into a big tank of diesel?

Would the diesel clean better than water based chemicals?

Would it expire leaving a smoking crater where your workshop was?

Hmmmmm, I seem to recall a, somewhat inept, erstwhile employer of my father trying something similar with a washing machine. Basically he decided that washing powder was not getting his overalls clean enough. So, he decided to put some of that new fangled parts washer stuff in the detergent drawer. Lets just say that the local fire brigade were not best pleased at being called out to the resultant workshop fire.

[Orange]

As it's 'only LR parts' you could connect the water supply from a large water butt/IBC/other rainwater collection device. This removes the need to connect water from the house into the garage... And, if you are on a water meter, reduces the cost of running it!!

[Daan]

Works really well; used to do it occasionally when I lived in a shared house. Make sure you put the parts in and switch it on late at night, and be the first out in the morning to unload. Or else a female housemate wont speak to you for days.

Daan

[Dengie Boy]

Dont bother using domestic dishwasher tablets as they didnt clean my parts very well at all

So i covered them in "Jizer" cleaning fluid and washed them again. When heated it stunk the whole house out and the dishwasher for days

Wife didnt speak to me for weeks!

[Gazzar]

Dont bother using domestic dishwasher tablets as they didnt clean my parts very well at all

So i covered them in "Jizer" cleaning fluid and washed them again. When heated it stunk the whole house out and the dishwasher for days

Wife didnt speak to me for weeks!

But, most importantly, did it work?

G.

[iomlt]

Do we get a after shot too?

[Milemarker Type S]

Dishwashers are marvellous at cleaning the bits but as has been said any steel parts come out rusty... Oh and the missus WILL shout at you quite a lot if you use the one in the kitchen...Not as much as if you put freshly painted landrover doors in the newly decorated nursery (it was not like she had even given birth by then so it was just a room... or so I thought!!!)

[simonr]

I've used our washer a few times. Brilliant on chains & bearings.

If I were going to install one, I'd use diesel (as suggested above) with a reservoir / settlement tank that the machine empties in to and a small pump to fill the machine. Take the filters etc out of the machine so all the dirt ends up in the tank.

It only heats to 70 degrees which is unlikely to cause diesel to flash. It'll be a bit smelly though!

Another option is water soluble oil (machining coolant / lube). It works surprisingly well as a de-greaser.

Si

[nicks90]

i've used ours (wife doesnt read this forum so i'm safe i think)

on a 40C wash and normal tablets it was barely adequate,

on a 70C wash using 'Finish' dishwasher cleaner bottle. Came out IMMACULATE! Although using this is probably quite expensive, think the cleaner bottles are a couple of quid each.

as others have said, soon as its finished get the stuff straight out and spray it with a good penetrating oil to stop it rusting. And i wouldnt use a resevoir of diesel either, although overall the liquid may only get to 70C, the heating elements in the bottom of the washer get substantially hotter than that! I would be extremely worried about localised hotspots etc.

[simonr]

I guess it depends on the type of heater. Mine has a 1.8kw element wrapped round a 38mm tube with the thermostat soldered to the outside of the tube. The tube is normally full of water and the heater only on when the pump is running - so it has no more chance of 'localised hotspots' than any other type of heater. Each to their own.