Parts Washer

A parts washer is a piece of equipment used to remove contaminants or debris, such as dirt, grime, carbon, oil, grease, metal chips, cutting fluids, mold release agents, ink, paint, and corrosion from workpieces. Parts washers are one of the last steps in the parts manufacturing process; they are designed to clean, degrease and dry bulk loads of small or large parts in preparation for surface treatment, packaging and distribution. Newly machined, molded and fabricated products are coated in oils, chemicals, burrs, abrasive dust, paint and other residue left over from the fabrication process of metal, plastic and rubber components, and finishing coatings are not effective if they are applied on a dirty surface. Parts cleaners may be as simple as a stand-alone basket immersion washer, or they may be as complex as a five-step deburring, aqueous tumbling, rinsing, drying and paint coating machine. Parts washers are essential in maintenance, repair and remanufacturing operations as well, from cleaning fasteners, nuts, bolts and screws to engine parts and automotive assemblies.

A parts washer is distinctly different from a pressure washer in that parts washers typically clean parts automatically in an enclosed cabinet, while pressure washers typically have a single spray jet mounted at the end of a manually operated wand. Modern industrial technology makes it possible to combine many parts of the finishing process into one. As an integrated part of the manufacturing process, automatic parts washers are able to load, wash, rinse, dry and unload parts based on a preset computer-controlled program and the help of a conveyor belt to save time, money and man-power and ensure a quality product; innovations are being made to ensure parts washers are water and energy saving.

Traditionally, chemical solvents have been used to strip parts of grease and dirt during the cleaning process, but recent environmental concerns and regulations have encouraged the innovation of natural, non-chemically based solvents. Ultrasonic cleaning is the latest technology in environmentally safe precision surface cleaning.