What If? Dishwasher Turned Parts Washer

[oliver2-44 9,756]

My current parts washer is a 5 gallon bucket with a couple of gallons of diesel and if needed a large metal wash tub.

I currently reuse the diesel to help spray or burn mesquite brush at the farm. 

So my son replaced his dishwasher. The old one works, just wasn't cleaning good anymore. I had cleaned the filter on it, but she who rules his house was ready for a new one.   It is 8 years old, so it might die tomorrow, or run for years. 

Parts washers today are using water based cleaners and I think I have enough misc. parts to make it pump out into a tank. I think I also have some heavy gravel shaker screen that could be a bottom shelf. Google says an average dish washer uses 6 gallons of water and a new one uses less that 4 gallons of water. 

 

So give me your thoughts. 

 

What water based solvent do you use in your parts washer?

Maybe build a wood frame to put dishwasher on top of a tank, then a parts washer type pump to resupply resettled solvent/water back to dishwasher

How could I set up a tank for the crud to settle and reuse the solvent/water off the top or cheaply filter it for reuse

How do you keep metal parts from rusting when using a water based solvent?  Does the solvent have something in it that prevents rust.

Am I just being lazy or crazy?

[wallfish 17,009]

Simple Green

Filter before it goes into the tank plus a filter on the intake of the pump. Something easy to change

[ri702bill 8,327]

Don't know if the seals are going to like the fluid or the grease. Probably as bad as 5 Alarm chili.

You are missing thr heater portion - the dishwasher uses hot water to get the cooking grease film off the dishes.

There are a few good YT videos showing adding an electric tank heating pad to the underside of a HF parts cleaner to get improved grease removal.

Bill

Edited January 19, 2023 by ri702bill

[ebinmaine 67,562]

1 hour ago, wallfish said:

Simple Green

Filter before it goes into the tank plus a filter on the intake of the pump. Something easy to change

 

Agree with above and also I would say you could use Incredible Pink. That's a great cleaner available up here in Maine.

 

9 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

Am I just being lazy or crazy?

 

Maybe one. Maybe both. But I like the idea.

[953 nut 55,284]

9 hours ago, oliver2-44 said:

Am I just being lazy or crazy?

Definitely not lazy, that would be an ambitious project. I'm inclined to think the results wouldn't be worth the effort and expense.

Most dish washers do a better job of sanitizing dished than they do washing. The heated drying cycle that is great for dishes might bake on anything the wash cycle didn't remove. Probably need a twenty gallon tank to allow some settling of solids that are discharged from the washer.

The liquid transfer pump that fills the dishwasher should be filtered on the inlet and outlet to protect the pump. The dishwasher discharge could be directed to a removable filter basket that could be cleaned out after every use.

This is not something I would do but if you decide to do it I will follow along.

[ebinmaine 67,562]

9 minutes ago, 953 nut said:

The heated drying cycle that is great for dishes might bake on

 

The dishwasher we have at the house has the option of not using the heated dry. Ours is always off.

 

But along that same line of thinking...

My household cohabitator and I installed a new electric hot water heater a few years ago.

The hottest water that we needed on a regular basis is for people showers or washing hands so we set the thermostat on that new heater at 105°.

Our particular dishwasher feeds strictly off the hot water pipe as per the instructions and then heats the water more internally. I don't know what the settings are for temperatures there inside the machine.

 

Whatever that water is, if the food is not completely off the dishes by the time the washing cycle is done it has been known to solidify and stick just as you've stated above about the air dryer system.

 

 

I say all that, to tell you this...

I would have some concerns that the caked on debris could have potential to solidify in place on the parts being washed whether the heat cycle is used or not and that's something to keep in mind.

 

 

[squonk 41,137]

The hot water is what cleans as well as a good detergent. Dishwasher companies recommend water at 120 deg. The heater in the washer will raise it more plus sanitize and dry. Commercial units I work on use 140 deg water from a dedicated heater and have electric or steam boosters to bring it to 180-195 deg final rinse. If you're not using your heat function, your just wasting time and detergent.

[ebinmaine 67,562]

4 minutes ago, squonk said:

have electric or steam boosters to bring it to 180-195 deg final rinse. If you're not using your heat function, your just wasting time and detergent

 

I can see the logic in that.

 

We don't use heated dry but I don't think our machine has the option of non-heated wash.

 

You got me curious now so I'll have to check...... 

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

5 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

we set the thermostat on that new heater at 105°.

 

Just sayin'...  ask Mrs. Google about Legionnaire's Disease.

[ebinmaine 67,562]

11 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

Just sayin'...  ask Mrs. Google about Legionnaire's Disease.

What would I be looking for?

[formariz 11,987]

4 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

What would I be looking for?

Correlation of water temperature in heater to the  development of the Legionary disease bacteria. Nothing to fool with. 

Edited January 19, 2023 by formariz

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

9 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

What would I be looking for?

 

What Cas said.

 

If you do run it that low, at least once a month kick it up to 140° to sanitize, then turn it back down if you must.

I think you're on non-chlorinated well water?  More important if so.

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,562]

1 minute ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

What Cas said.

 

If you do run it that low, at least once a month kick it up to 140° to sanitize, then turn it back down if you must.

I think you're on non-chlorinated well water?  More important if so.

 

 

Yes sir that's correct. Well water. I'll check that this evening. Thank you.

 

9 minutes ago, formariz said:

Correlation of water temperature in heater to the  development of the Legionary disease bacteria. Nothing to fool with. 

 

Absolutely agreed.

[squonk 41,137]

Dishes come out so much cleaner if you use heat and dry option. Dry dishes sitting in machine have a better chance of not picking up cooties!

[ebinmaine 67,562]

3 minutes ago, squonk said:

cooties

One of the selling points of the dishwasher detergent pods that I use is that they clean dishes really well and are also cootie resistant.  

[squonk 41,137]

26 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

One of the selling points of the dishwasher detergent pods that I use is that they clean dishes really well and are also cootie resistant.  

That's why young kids were so attracted to pods when they first came out. The cootie repellent factor!

[SylvanLakeWH 25,596]

I don't think this is a good idea... I'd stick with your current 5 gallon approach or get parts washer...

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

8 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

hot water heater

Never seen one of those, not called a boiler.  Maybe you guys got hot water in your well?    Sorry, pet peeve after working at a water heater manufacturing establishment for a good portion of my life 

[ebinmaine 67,562]

5 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

Never seen one of those, not called a boiler.  Maybe you guys got hot water in your well?    Sorry, pet peeve after working at a water heater manufacturing establishment for a good portion of my life 

Interesting you bring that up. I've talked about that in real life with folks before too.

Dethawed. That's a favorite of mine. So are you freezing it?

 

[Pullstart 62,905]

Must be!

[Yossarian 208]

When mil-surp guns were plentiful and cheap, I cleaned a lot of cosmoline off of wooden stocks and handguards with the dishwasher and regular detergent. I was on city sewer then, so I didn't have to worry about my septic tank.  Mean Green was mentioned above, I don't remember if it's that one or the purple one, but one of the popular super degreaser cleaners is bad juju for aluminum.

[ebinmaine 67,562]

@Jeff-C175 @formariz @squonk

 

You mens will be happy to know the Trina person put our faucet water at the farthest point from the heater to the temperature test.  

 

It's 120⁰ at the faucet. 

 

According to the interwebs that never lie that's acceptable temp to disallow any growth of many viruses but not eliminate them. 

We'll discuss the periodic temp increases for sanitation.  

 

 

[squonk 41,137]

Don't raise your domestic water temp over 125°. You could burn some skin! 

[formariz 11,987]

17 minutes ago, squonk said:

Don't raise your domestic water temp over 125°. You could burn some skin! 

You can keep it high in the tank so it does not grow anything. At the faucet mix it with some cold water to suit you. 

 

[squonk 41,137]

14 minutes ago, formariz said:

You can keep it high in the tank so it does not grow anything. At the faucet mix it with some cold water to suit you. 

 

But there is always the chance someone turns the faucet to hot and  lets it run to get it hot and forgets to turn on the cold. Running your domestic water over 120 in a commercial  building will get you in trouble. Per DOH you have to have a mixing valve at the tank outlet. We run the tank up to 140 at work for the dish machine on a dedicated line and everything else has too go through the mixer.