IQS Newsroom Articles on Aqueous Parts Washers
Aqueous Parts Washers
Parts washers are a type of automated or semi-automated equipment which is
designed to clean, degrease and sometimes dry mass quantities of large or small
parts in preparation for distribution or surface treatment. This is a necessary
process, since newly machined, forged or fabricated parts are usually coated
in oils, chemicals, burs and other residue leftover from the fabrication process.
Coatings such as zinc and electroplating cannot be effectively applied atop
grease or contaminating dirt. Aqueous parts washers use water-based chemical
or natural solvents, boiling, pressure boiling, blasting and soaking to remove
these contaminants from a virtually limitless variety of unfinished parts.
Aqueous parts washing is the most common type of part washing, and there are
many different kinds of aqueous part washing machinery which accommodate different
sizes and shapes of parts as well as different levels of cleanliness. One of
the most common aqueous parts washers is the spray washer; most spray washers
are built with an enclosed conveyor system which moves parts through the cleaning
machine, spraying newly fabricated parts with aqueous solvents, rinsing water
and sometimes a corrosion resistant coating. Other types of spray washers guide
products through on an overhead conveyor, or monorail, while others use a cabinet,
or cell washer, in which a stationary basket is placed within a cabinet lined with
spray nozzles, much like a household dishwasher. Spray washing is effective
for parts which require light to medium surface cleaning. The common alternative
to aqueous spray washing is immersion washing, in which uncleaned parts are
submerged in hot or boiling water or aqueous solvents and soaked or agitated.
Immersion washers usually hold parts in a wire mesh basket as the basket and
all the parts it contains are rotated, turned and shaken within an aqueous
solution.
Ultrasonic parts cleaners are a type of immersion washer which use tiny underwater
air blasts against the surface of a dirty part in conjunction with organic
or chemical solvents to precision clean the surface of parts. This method is
highly effective and uses far smaller amounts of organic or chemical cleaning
solvents than non-ultrasonic methods; it is used frequently in industries which
require precision-cleaned parts, such as medical, surgical, dental, automotive,
electrical, aerospace and defense. Rotary drum washers are neither spray washers
nor immersion washers, but use instead the technique of rotary tumbling and
mass abrasion which tumblers use to wash, rinse, dry and sometimes coat or
paint mass quantities of small parts. Industrial fasteners are often cleaned,
coated and dried in large rotary tumblers; different sections of the rotating
cylinder spray, rinse and dry the fasteners, and the abrasive action of the
fasteners tumbling against each other agitates off dirt with the help of overhead
spray nozzles.
Aqueous parts cleaners have traditionally used chemical solvents 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 washers use the lowest amount of solvent and can
be made effective with either chemical or organic solvent compounds. Recent
innovations have introduced several organic solvent compounds to the parts
washing industry, and more manufacturers are incorporating organic solvents
and waste-reducing techniques into their manufacturing processes. Aqueous parts
washing is a market which maintains a high level of innovation as advances
in industrial technology require more stringent levels of precision cleanliness.