Choosing a Precision Medical Parts Cleaning Solvent: Crucial Considerations

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Precision parts cleaning sounds like a technical process that has a lot riding on the final result — and it’s true. Simply put, precision parts are components that have the least tolerance for alterations that affect how they are designed and intended to operate.

For example, a precision part that warps is technically no longer a precision part; its dimensions are imprecise compared to the original design. In an operational capacity, a precision part that contains coatings or residues that impact its function no longer operates precisely, either; rather, it operates imprecisely and may even experience accelerated wear.

This is why it’s important to choose a precision medical parts cleaning solution that preserves the “preciseness” of the dimensions, surface quality, and overall operation of the parts you clean. If you’re ready to select a precision medical parts cleaning solvent, below are four crucial considerations that will help you choose the right cleaner for your requirements.

1. Type of Metal

The type of metal you clean determines the type of cleaning agent you use. Chemicals that are considered corrosive to the metal are avoided. Common examples of chemical bases that corrode metal are ammonium hydroxide, potassium hydroxides, and sodium hydroxide. Common examples of corrosive acids are hydrochloric, sulfuric, nitric, chromic, acetic, and hydrofluoric.

2. Cleaning Method

Precision medical parts cleaning is often performed using an enclosed parts washing system. If this is how you clean metal parts, in addition to selecting a solvent that’s safe for the metal, you’ll select a solution that the washing system is designed to accommodate.

If you’ll clean a part that’s too large for a parts washing system, then you’ll look for a solvent application method that dries quickly, leaves no residue, can penetrate crevices via capillary action, and distributes uniformly over the surface of the part. Aerosol is often a good choice for addressing these requirements.

3. Part Application

The degree of precision cleaning required depends partly on the end use of the part. For example, a part that doesn’t touch skin requires a high degree of soil removal, but a part for invasive surgery may require a deeper degree of soil removal. In either case, no soil is visible to the eye, but even microscopic particles could pose a serious danger in the second situation, depending on what they are.

4. Worker Safety

When it comes to precision medical parts cleaning and worker safety, there are two ethical choices: Use solvents that have known health risks and outfit workers and the work environment with equipment that eliminates the risks, or use non-toxic solvents that require minimal protective measures.

When you consider the cost of high-level personal protective equipment (PPE), a special air filtration system, and the cost of maintaining the system, using non-toxic solvents is normally the most economic route.

Contact Us Today

Ecolink specializes in supplying precision parts cleaners that have a good safety profile for humans and the environment. We supply stock solutions and formulate custom solutions to address unique cleaning requirements. What’s more, we’ll provide you with a free solvent sample, so you can see how a solution works before you place an order.

Call us today at 1-800-563-1305, or send us an email using our contact form. We look forward to supporting your precision medical parts cleaning jobs!

What is TCE Being Used for?

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Trichloroethylene — TCE for short — is a chemical compound of the halocarbon variety. It is frequently used as an industrial grade solvent for a variety of applications. If you arrived here planning to order a TCE solvent, please be advised that it appears the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will severely regulate or ban TCE due to its negative effects in workers and the environment. Until then, many companies will continue using TCE for the following purposes, among others.

  1. Industrial Degreasing

TCE’s most common use is as an industrial degreaser for metal components. For this purpose and the two purposes below, TCE is often used as a solvent to mix ingredients that coalesce to create a high level of degreasing power. Due to its poor safety profile, TCE is being used less for this purpose.

When the EPA regulates TCE, the compound will have little to no use for industrial degreasing. This is why companies and organizations are recommended to start searching for a TCE replacement now — preferably one that can be “dropped in” the degreasing system, without requiring changes to equipment and safety protocols, and may make it possible to outfit workers in a lower, less expensive level of personal protective equipment (PPE)

  1. Tough Cleaning Jobs

TCE is also diluted with water or another non-active ingredient to create a TCE solvent whose power is perfect for “tough” cleaning jobs that aren’t as strenuous as many industrial degreasing operations. Diluting TCE may make the compound less powerful in liquid form, but it doesn’t eradicate the hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) the compound emits.

  1. Cleaning Rocket Engines

TCE is used as a cleaner for aerospace equipment. As Wikipedia explains, “During static firing, the RP-1 fuel would leave hydrocarbon deposits and vapors in the engine. These deposits had to be flushed from the engine to avoid the possibility of explosion during engine handling and future firing. TCE was used to flush the engine’s fuel system immediately before and after each test firing.”

Because TCE is flushed through the engine to the point of overflowing, its toxic vapors pose  a significant safety risk to those performing the operation. In addition, unless the is solvent overflow is recycled, it could drive up the cost of chemical waste disposal significantly.

Need a TCE Replacement?

If so, now is the time to act — before the EPA regulates TCE, and it can no longer be used for industry — and Ecolink is the perfect place to find a TCE replacement.

Depending on how and why you use TCE, we have several stock solutions that may offer exactly what you need. If not, we can create a custom solvent that’s tailored to your unique requirements. Regardless of what you plan to order, we’ll send you a free test sample, so you can see how the solvent works firsthand — no strings attached.

To learn more about TCE replacement, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to helping you find an eco friendly TCE replacement!

 

Gun Shop Parts Solvents: Properties for Perfect Gun Cleaning

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In action movies, we see guns of all kinds firing round after round, as if the pistols and rifles were practically indestructible and incapable of failing. But this perception is far from the truth. Unlike the black powder rifles and firearms of yesteryear, today’s cutting edge firearms are essentially compact machines filled with hundreds of complex moving parts.

To ensure these guns deliver the highest performance, those parts need to be cleaned with gun shop parts solvents that are specially formulated for the job.

Gun Shop vs Private Ownership

Gun shop parts solvents are also available to private individuals for cleaning guns. But gun shop cleaning may be described as “precision cleaning” and is exceptionally important for both the mechanical operability of guns and, by extension, how safe they are for end users to fire.

This is why professional gun dealers often use a parts washing system to remove all residues and particulate matter from gun components before reassembling the rifle or firearm, whereas a private individual generally cleans his or her gun parts with hand wipe, aerosol, or pump spray applications.

Cleaning a gun manually with agents that are appropriate for the metal, plastic, wood, and other materials on the gun body and behind the plating doesn’t present a problem. However, after extensive use, it’s a good idea to take a gun to the gun shop and have it cleaned professionally.

Most frequently used guns need their mechanical components professionally cleaned to remove particulate matter that can build up during personal cleaning operations. Particulate matter is attracted to the parts due to the lubrication they receive to keep them functioning smoothly.

Some of the particulate matter can simply be wiped away, but particulates in tight seams and crevices need to be removed, as well — and gun shop part solvents are designed for the job.

Choosing Gun Shop Parts Solvents

If you own a gun shop, and you’re interested in using environmentally preferred gun shop parts solvents instead of old generation, toxic solvents that are good for neither you nor the environment, Ecolink is a great destination for the gun part cleaners you need.

We offer eco friendly cleaners that are compatible with the metal, plastic, rubber, and wood parts commonly found in today’s firearms, as well as vintage and antique firearms. If you sell reconditioned guns, our solvent solutions will help you make them look and function like new.

In addition to supplying a wide selection of stock solvents, we also customize solvents to address the requirements of specific users. If one of our readymade solutions doesn’t work, we’ll create a custom solutions that does. In addition, we supply free solvent samples on request. Order a sample, test it out, and decide if it offers the cleaning power you need.

Contact Us Today

To get started on choosing gun shop parts solvents, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email using the contact form on our website. We look forward to supplying the solutions you need!

 

 

 

 

 

Choosing Tool Parts Cleaners: A 5-Step Checklist

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In industrial settings, tool parts cleaners are one of the most-used classes of cleaning solvents. Consequently, the number of solvents marketed as tool part cleaners is practically endless. You could never evaluate them all and make an educated selection within a reasonable timeframe.

Consequently, it’s a good idea to start your search by creating a basic checklist — such as the one below — that will help move you along in the tool parts cleaners selection process.   

  1. Will an enclosed parts washing system be used?

If so, you’ll need to do more than match a cleaner with the types of soils that need to be removed. You’ll also need to choose a cleaner that’s compatible with the parts washing system. That typically means choosing an aqueous based cleaner for a “hot tank” system or a solvent based cleaner for a “cold tank” system.

  1. What kinds of part materials must be cleaned?

When we think of industrial parts cleaning, metal parts immediately come to mind. In most cases, it is metal parts that require cleaning, but not just any cleaner will do. For example, some cleaners that work fine for carbon alloys would cause chromium alloys to tarnish significantly.

Furthermore, for the sake of cost effectiveness and performance quality, many “metal” parts also have rubber and plastic components. This can complexify the selection of tool parts cleaners. You need a cleaner that works on the metal and any non-metallic components that are present.

  1. Will parts be cleaned while they are energized?

A tool part cleaner is usually applied to parts that have been removed from a mechanized assembly (if they were in an assembly in the first place). There are also situations when a tool part is cleaned while a machine remains in action. For example, degreasing tools in production equipment may occur while the equipment stays in operation to meet production quotas.

Long story short: In addition to needing a cleaner selected with the cleaning system and material(s) of the parts in mind, you’ll need a cleaner that has a dielectric. At the proper strength, the dielectric content will prevent electrical current from traveling through the solvent as you use it to clean.

  1. What types of soils must be removed from parts?

Used for various applications, industrial tool parts accumulate a variety of soils, from simple grease and oil that are used to lubricate, to tough organic accumulations such as bitumen and resins. Removing a tough accumulation doesn’t necessarily require a powerful, toxic cleaner.

You can use a strong, environmentally preferred cleaner instead. Choosing this type of cleaner is beneficial for more than the health of your workers and the environment. By avoiding cleaners that have ingredients that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considered hazardous, you avoid using a cleaner that the EPA may eventually regulate or ban.

In the Market for Tool Parts Cleaners?

If so, Ecolink is your destination for eco friendly cleaners that demonstrate excellent efficacy and lack many of the harmful ingredients common in popular solvents of the past. We provide an array of stock products, as well as custom products for when readymade solutions aren’t the best option. In addition, we let you request a free sample, so you can the results firsthand.

To choose tool parts cleaners for your business-critical cleaning operations, call us today at (800) 563-1305, or reach out to us through our contact form. We look forward to assisting you!

 

 

Selecting Medical Cleaning Solvents: 3 Crucial Considerations

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When we think of what leads to good health outcomes in medical patients, any number of medical procedures could come to mind. But behind those procedures, helping to make them effective, are medical cleaning solvents for equipment ranging from scalpels to electronic diagnostic machines.

We rarely think of medical cleaning solvents as playing an important role in health outcomes. However, as the following three considerations for choosing medical solvents demonstrates, medical cleaning solvents can indeed underpin health outcomes for better or worse.

  1. High or Low Flashpoint

The flashpoint of a solvent is the temperature at which it combusts. If there are no ignition sources in the environment where they are used, low flashpoint solvents are relatively safe.

An example of when using a low flashpoint solvent (e.g., one with a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol) would not be safe, is spot cleaning the skin of a patient while he or she undergoes an electrocautery procedure, cleaning skin near the point of the procedure.

  1. Ability to Kill Microbials

Especially when choosing medical cleaning solvents for surgical utensils and other medical equipment that directly contacts patients, it’s important to use solvents that kill four elements: viruses, bacteria, fungi, and bacterial spores.

Choosing a solvent that kills all of these microbial elements can be tricky. For example, isopropyl alcohol (IPA) kills viruses, fungi, and bacteria, but not bacterial spores.

As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) note, “Steam under pressure, dry heat, EtO gas, hydrogen peroxide gas plasma, and liquid chemicals” are often used to kill microbials. Ecolink can provide custom chemicals that fully sterilize medical equipment and instruments to help prevent health outcomes that opportunistic infections complicate.

  1. Material Compatibility

To get the best result, cleaning the rubber and plastic parts on medical equipment can require using a different cleaner than one used to remove soils from metal in the equipment. For example, IPA can clean most metal parts well, but repeated use can prematurely age certain grades of plastic and rubber, causing them to malfunction during medical procedures.

Using two cleaners for a single piece of equipment may be logical, but it’s also a hassle. If you can’t find a stock solvent that cleans multiple materials without corroding some of them, inquire with Ecolink about producing a custom formulation.

Need Medical Cleaning Solvents?

If so, you can choose from hundreds of solvents that fall within this category. If you operate a hospital, finding a single medical cleaning solvent to meet all of you solvent needs is unlikely.

This is why many healthcare organizations turn to Ecolink for assistance identifying and procuring the right solutions. What’s more, when you work with us, you receive solutions that are environmentally preferred, containing no ingredients that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to regulate.

To get started on selecting the right medical cleaning solvents for your requirements, call us today at 800-563-1305, or send us an email through our contact form. We look forward to supplying you with best-in-class solvents!