Heavy duty degreasing

[StevenK]

I'm looking for suggestions for products/machines that can degrease heavily oily car parts - not necessarily engine parts but often engine bay parts, ECU's, fuse boxes etc etc.

I've tried isopropyl and brake cleaner, which is, as far as I can tell, pretty much just petrol, and they get fairly good results. But if someone knows something better, easier, cheaper, anything worth having a try with, basically, I'm all ears.

 

[voltronbadass]

Parts cleaners are cheap, basically a bin/sink and a electric pump that flow degreaser over the part while you scrub.

Why didnt you try an actual spray on degreaser product? Before you posted on the internet? There has to be at least a dozen specific degreasing products at any auto parts store by me.

 

[voltronbadass]

you mention ecu’s and fuse boxes. On an ecu you are going to want to yank the pcb out of the casing first. The contacts of a fuse box will need a quick scrubing with alcohol after degreasing for fuses to make good contact.

 

[Takumaji]

Acetone (dimethylketone) is the best solvent for oils and fats. If you can get it in your neck of the woods (it's restricted/controlled substance in many countries), try it and never look back.

Use in well-ventilated areas and wear gloves.

 

[StevenK]

Parts cleaners are cheap, basically a bin/sink and a electric pump that flow degreaser over the part while you scrub.

Why didnt you try an actual spray on degreaser product? Before you posted on the internet? There has to be at least a dozen specific degreasing products at any auto parts store by me.

To be honest I have a mistrust for a lot of products sold in auto parts stores - there's an insane amount of snake oil on those shelves, so I usually skip entirely. But you're right, I should give them a try before discounting, and will do.

 

[StevenK]

Acetone (dimethylketone) is the best solvent for oils and fats. If you can get it in your neck of the woods (it's restricted/controlled substance in many countries), try it and never look back.

Use in well-ventilated areas and wear gloves.

Won't acetone melt the plastics?

 

[Takumaji]

Won't acetone melt the plastics?

Acetone won't melt materials made of HDPE and PP, others will get deformed/dissolved, for them you could use ethanol, isopropanol, soap-based detergents or Terpanol, which is a grafitti remover but also works very well for degreasing plastics and it won't damage them. May be a bit on the expensive side, tho.

 

[Heinz]

Chemtech here sells their CT14 degreaser, magic stuff. Surely there are equivalents in the UK.

 

[The Chief]

We’ve got a product stateside called Simple Green that comes as a concentrate and can be cut to suit the task. It’s listed as a degreaser and is all natural. Used to use it cut to 50/50 with water to clean up nasty, crusty old video game consoles found at flea markets and such. For your application you’d want to use less water or perhaps even straight.

 

[StevenK]

Thanks for the suggestions gents, will be giving them a try.

Further to the original question, I'm wondering what the best tools for the job are. I currently use a combination an old toothbrush (yes, we do actually have toothbrushes in Britain) and cotton buds (q tips?). The cotton buds are better, but they disintegrate in seconds, any genius suggestions for something that would be precise, but hold up against some strong chemicals and abrasion? A power tool of some kind would be great, like a dremel?

 

[Takumaji]

Buy a toilet brush, trim the brush to shape and mount it on a drill.

 

[terry.330]

Find a place that does soda washing, it's basically a baking soda pressure wash.

Or light sand blasting.

There's no harsh chemicals involved in either so it's safe for plastics as long as the pressure isn't too high.

 

[NeoSneth]

I know some shops that just use an old dishwashing machine with Simple Green.
I would agree that Acetone will melt anyhting that is is ABS. Not sure what plastics you will encounter.

 

[channelmaniac]

Zep Purple Degreaser is insanely good, but very harsh on the hands. Wear gloves.