Cleaning Fluid Pumps?

[harriw]

Hey Folks,

I'm looking at different hand siphon pumps and pros/cons of each.

Is there a good way to clean these things out well enough to be able to use a single pump for multiple uses (i.e. diff fluid, tranny fliud, motor oil, coolant, etc.)? Or do you pretty much just have to resign yourself to having a dedicated pump for each different fluid?

I'm wondering if I should go with the most versitile one (if it's possible to clean them well enough), or if I should find the best one for the immediate task, and worry about other applications later (if I wouldn't be able to use this pump for other fluids anyway)?

Thanks!

-Bill

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

You talking about the style of pumps that go on top of a 5 gallon pail? Or just the hand pumps that you can use to suck out fluids and put fluids in?

 

[harriw]

Just the little ones for taking out fluids and putting them in. The one I got is like a liquid soap pump - screws right onto the top of the bottle of gear oil, and you press down on it like the soap to pump. I'm thinking maybe I should take that one back though and get one with just a length of hose on either end and a squeeze bulb in the middle, as it might be more versitile - but only if it's possible/practical/easy to clean it well enough that it can actually be used for different types of fluid without cross contamination. Not sure if there's a way to clean all that narrow tubing well enough or not?

Thanks.

-Bill