Tumbling Parts Cleaner Made From Hot Water Tank

Tumbling Parts Cleaner Made From Hot Water Tank FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 20-1-34 Carl Fountain, Hill City, Kan., used a 30-gal. hot water tank to make a "tumbling" parts cleaner that's powered by a 1/2 hp electric motor. The 19 in. dia., 4 ft. long tank mounts on an old 3-wheel welding cart. "I used mostly junk parts so it didn't cost much to build. Commercial units sell for over $1,000," says Fountain, who uses the cleaner to remove dirt and grease from old alternators and generators that he rebuilds for sale. He flattened one side of the tank where he cut a 12 by 18-in. hole and welded 1 1/ 2-in. angle iron frame around it. He used 1/4-in. thick sheet metal to make a lid which bolts onto the frame with six bolts. Rubber stripping forms a seal between the lid and frame. He welded a stub shaft onto each end of the tank and added self-centering bearings that mount on steel flanges off an old Deere combine. The flanges bolt onto channel iron uprights at each end of the welding cart. The electric motor bolts onto a platform on the cart and belt-drives a gear reduction box equipped with a 2 1/2-in. dia. pulley. The gearbox belt-drives an 18-in. dia. pulley mounted on one of the stub shafts on the tank. A timer switch off an old clothes dryer controls the length of cleaning time. "It takes 10 to 30 minutes to clean all the parts depending on how clean the solvent is," says Fountain. "About 30 to 40 lbs. of small nuts, bolts, nails and staples remain permanently in the tank to provide rubbing action against the parts. I keep about 10 gal. of solvent in the tank which makes about 30 revolutions per minute. If it went any faster all the parts would be thrown to the sides of the tank and stay there instead of tumbling around. If it went slower there wouldn't be enough cleaning action." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Carl Fountain, 221 E. Mulberry, Hill City, Kan. 67642 (ph 800 377-2895 or 913 674-2895).

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