Growing up working in bike shops, there was usually a parts washer of some sort hidden in the back room. More often than not, it was some disgusting leftover from an automotive shop which you really didn’t want to use unless you absolutely had to, and even then you had better wear at least two pair of chemical resistant gloves. Even when aqueous parts washers started to become common place, the models I used either didn’t clean that well and still required a lot of manual scrubbing, or worse – damaged the finish of pricey bicycle components.
All of those reasons are part of the inspiration behind Renegade’s new TMB 5500 Automatic Top Load Solvent Free Parts Washer. Essentially a dishwasher for your bike parts, Renegade looks like they’re already making friends in the high end bike service industry…
Based on the video from Maplewood Bicycle in Missouri, cleaning parts with the TMB 5500 is as simple as loading them in the machine, closing and locking the lid and pressing start. Custom designed for the bicycle industry as well as small engine repair shops, the parts washer uses solvent free detergent that appears to be safe for the finish of bicycle parts yet easily breaks down grease, oil, and lubricants. Featuring a high pressure spray manifold and high temperature washes, the end result is a tank full of clean parts and waste water that falls in the same industrial waste category as mop water.
That means there are no hazardous chemicals, VOC’s, or solvent vapors to worry about for your shop, your employees, or your customers. Based on how well this thing appears to work, I’m second guessing all those hours and hours I spent scrubbing bike components by hand with a brush and a can of Speed Clean. However, it still probably won’t be for every shop as it’s most likely pretty expensive. Renegade says that they don’t publish prices and sell direct since the systems are usually customized and require consultation before a quote can be given. Even if it is thousands of dollars though, the time saved in cleaning and the boost in productivity to your service department may be worth it.
You got your part numbers wrong.
TMB-5000 is a manual washer. It appears to basically be an industrial sink on wheels, with a pump/filteration-system and heat element. It is not automated, it is not load-and-close-the-lid. It is an industrial sink. Your photo in the article is incorrect too.
See: http://www.renegadepartswashers.com/pdf/manual-TMB-5000-part-washer-spec-renegade.pdf
As listed in the story, it’s the TMB-5500 not the 5000 as you say. Thanks though!
Interesting that they put a derailleur in there – wouldn’t it damage the bearings in the pully wheels?
Looks awesome though!
What’s this thing cost?
If this thing can get our coffee pot clean then I’m giving our shop owner the hard sell.
Pretty nice. BITD I would get headaches in the shop from the solvent tank fumes and your skin would be slick from working with it.
We’ve got one and it does t put out fumes. The really nice thing is the ability to skim off the crud to keep the solution cleaner longer.
And if you have to your hands in there then glove up homie!
This would be amazing for bike, motorcycle, car, etc parts. The chemical solvents work well but they are just nasty to deal with.
We’ve got one and its amazing. Half a season and its almost already paid for itself. I would not consider us a “high end” bike shop btw.
I have a small ultrasonic cleaner. Run it with Simple Green Crystal diluted with water. Chains and cassettes go in every week. Done.
We hAve one in the shop. About 7000.00. Paid for itself in 4 months.
What I want is one that I can park my whole bike in!
Pretty nice if it does that without solvents of any kind. And yes, any bearing that is put in any machine cleaner needs to be opened up and re-packed/lubed.
We have a larger version of this we use in our machine shop for turbocharger parts. I sneak my own stuff into it, then into the ultrasonic, on a near-daily basis. No fumes, and the waste stream is, as they say, not much different than mop water. Our local EPC has us test our drain water once every two years, and even with some of the nasty stuff we wash off of other parts, it’s never been an issue.
fak ya maplewood!