Solvent type for refillable pressurized sprayer?

[BlaineB]

What kind of a solvent could I buy by the gallon that would work well for "do-it-yourself" type projects in place of generic aerosolized brake cleaner? My refillable pressurized sprayer arrived yesterday. I've read things about Heptane, Hexane, denatured alcohol, acetone, etcetera. I'm looking for something that I could buy locally, the easier and cheaper the better. This is only for private use, not for a shop environment, and ideally I'd love to use something that would not cause damage to caliper piston seals and hoses. Thanks!

 

[JohnnyG]

I'd think you would want to go milder to protect those parts and yourself.
Something more like mineral spirits or varsol. Final clean of metal parts could be a bit harsher, just brake cleaner from a can if it's going into piston calipers.
90% isopropyl alcohol would work of on brake parts I think.

 

[BlaineB]

brake cleaner from a can if it's going into piston calipers.

That is what I am looking to replace as a universal solvent, ideally.

 

[CarLuver]

acetone seems to be the most used in these in my expereince .

 

[shortyb]

Without paying some hideous price or having to secure an EPA license, I would say the 2 I would get are high percentage IPA or Acetone.

 

[BlaineB]

Without paying some hideous price or having to secure an EPA license, I would say the 2 I would get are high percentage IPA or Acetone.

Thank you very much. I always wear gloves, and like I said do not use the product often. Just whenever I do my own projects, work on some family vehicles, etcetera. For everything else I use purple power primarily! Is there something involved with cooking meth that makes people look at me like I'm the devil when I've asked this question elsewhere? And I'm surprised that it hasn't been asked before.

 

[Boomer]

Avoid hexane and heptane. They can give rise to health issues if exposure is long enough.

Any time you are spraying any solvents, you should wear the appropriate mask so you don't breathe in the vapors. 3M makes a selection of these.

 

[BlaineB]

acetone seems to be the most used in these in my expereince .

Thank you!

Avoid hexane and heptane. They can give rise to health issues if exposure is long enough.

Any time you are spraying any solvents, you should wear the appropriate mask so you don't breathe in the vapors. 3M makes a selection of these.

Thank you, I will avoid. There was that one heavy-duty Diesel tech on youtube that always taked about using hexane, which is I believe what I heard him say. I forget what his name is, but he works at a Caterpillar shop somewhere in the west-central US I believe, Montana?

 

[Rand]

acetone will ruin paint so better not get any overspray

 

[BlaineB]

acetone will ruin paint so better not get any overspray

That is true and I never thought of that before, as using "generic" brake cleaner for years including the OG "Brakleen" never resulted in any messes for me with the one-time lesson learned not to use on plastics, which somewhat hazed the LCD display of my digital multimeter many moons ago. According to the CRC Brakleen SDS, Acetone is 80-90% of the composition, along with carbon dioxide (10-20%) and toluene (1-3%). I guess Acetone is good enough for me, and I see that it's about $20 per gallon at Lowes and Home Depot too.

https://www.crcindustries.com/media/msdsen/msds_en-1003740.pdf

 

[D60]

Yep most non-chlorinated seems to be primarily acetone. Doesn't seem to readily affect automotive quality paint jobs (in small amounts) but it can do a number on rattle can paint

 

[BlaineB]

Yep most non-chlorinated seems to be primarily acetone. Doesn't seem to readily affect automotive quality paint jobs (in small amounts) but it can do a number on rattle can paint

Thank you. I think this will serve me well. I HOPE that I'll find this to be a better long-term solution than individual, one-time-use aerosolized brake clean?

 

[BlaineB]

Well what the heck, this pressurized sprayer NEVER worked right, not even once. I would only be able to get the slightest squirt out of it even when pressurizing it to 111 PSI (the highest I achieved. Manual states up to 150 PSI is safe, with the vessel rated for 200 PSI maximum). So I disassembled the pintle and found that the rubber gasket which seals against the output orifice was totally disintegrated and clogging the discharge. Do you think I received the item like this, or could it have immediately "melted" from exposure to the acetone? I didn't think that was possible as brake clean is essentially mostly (80-90%) acetone as it was, and that is what these are supposedly designed for, right?

Luckily my brake job was clean and I did not need to spray any acetone. I used some on some shop towels straight out of the gallon container. But I'll still need a pressurized sprayer for my upcoming transmission pan drop! What a pain in the butt, considering it took Amazon forever to deliver this to begin with.

 

[Hohn]

I’m partial to mineral spirits these days. Less volatility and seems to work pretty well, just slower.

 

[Donald]

You could spray mineral spirits or alcohol then if still needs additional cleaning then use brake cleaner in a aerosol can.

Acetone can damage rubber depending on the type of rubber.

If I was cleaning off a new rotor before use I think pouring alcohol and wiping would do a fine job.

So would Dawn and water.

I tend to go from gentle to stronger if the gentle does not do the trick.

 

[BlaineB]

You could spray mineral spirits or alcohol then if still needs additional cleaning then use brake cleaner in a aerosol can.

Acetone can damage rubber depending on the type of rubber.

If I was cleaning off a new rotor before use I think pouring alcohol and wiping would do a fine job.

So would Dawn and water.

I tend to go from gentle to stronger if the gentle does not do the trick.

I understand that, but isn't that what these bottles are designed to handle?

 

[Rand]

well this titan brand one doesnt seem to think so.

your can in yellow inokraft brand says no

 

[Donald]

I understand that, but isn't that what these bottles are designed to handle?

I am saying that acetone might damage brake rubber parts. Not rubber parts of the sprayer

 

[BlaineB]

Had a bad seal, seller fixed it.​

Update: I finally got ahold of the seller. Amazon didn't make it easy. Once I sent a message they were very responsive. Sent me out a replacement part that was updated. New one works well so far. Updated review from 1 star to 4. I would go 5 but this should be called Orange, not red. Original Review: So I bought this for brake cleaner, which it says you can use on it. I was able to use it once. Then I stored it for a couple weeks and next time I needed it it wouldn't work. Oh yeah, I need to add pressure, duh. Nope still not working. I took it apart and found the valve rubber was completely bloated and destroyed. So it can't be used on brake cleaner? I do not want to buy a rebuild kit. I shouldn't have to for years. I guess I should of spent a little more and buy a different one. I see some of the rebuild kits for these now use a white material on the valve, so where is that? Also it is supposed to be red, this has got to be the orangish red ever! I wish I could return it but I am outside of my window with Amazon.

This wasn't my review, but it was an identical issue.