Just looking for some other cleaners to get the glo-fuel off my planes. I heard a blend of Alcohol and water work well.

Windex...

Straight, regular, blue windex and paper towels. don't try anything else. this is the best

windshield washer fluid and water. 50/50 mix and a paper towell.

Mike

I use Sig Plane Cleaner.

I used to have a recipe for a home brew stuff that would work on cold castor oil. IIRC it had vinegar and ammonia in water.

I like to use Windex, 409, Fantastic or Simple Green. Simple Green works the best.
You can buy a spray bottle of Simple Green. You can then get a large jug of Simple Green to refill the spray bottle with. I dilute the Simple Green with tap water at about 1/3 Simple Green to 2/3's water.

In a 24oz bottle I mix 10% simple green 2% rubbing alcohol and water.

I use a spray of dilute de-icer, which is basically just alcohol and water, works fine.

I've heard that ammonia dulls monokote by etching the surface.

Greg

I heard that too Greg, but I always give my models a blast of furniture polish with wax in it and buff with a soft cloth after a flying session anyway

Another question, how can you make monokote (or Ultrakote) that's gotten pulled back,stick around the firewall area after it's had glo-fuel on it for a while?

Simple Green will eat aluminum if left on too long. Just be careful.

2% alcohol is doing virtually NOTHING for your cleaning. Try more.

how can you make monokote (or Ultrakote) that's gotten pulled back,stick around the firewall

Couple of points here;

If the firewall is properly fuel proofed, it should have a minimum of fuel actually soaked into the wood, so clean the firewall with one of the products mentioned above (I mean REALLY clean) to get any surface residue off.

Then, peel the film back away from the firewall

Give the firewall a thin smear of balsaloc (or any other heat activated adhesive) and iron the film down again.

Now, mix up a little epoxy, and with a fingertip (wear gloves) smear a very thin film over the edge of the film. This will "seal" the edges down with a fuel proof seal (not much is MORE fuel proof than epoxy)

IF the wood has got a bit of fuel soaked into it, then its a bit more of a hassle.

Cut the film back until you reach wood which hasn't got any fuel soaked into it.

Place a piece of kitchen towel over the fuel soaked area and heat it with an iron, this will draw out SOME of the fuel from the wood. If the wood is soft and pulpy, it needs to be junked, as it will have lost any strength it had in the joints or in any fittings (ie captive nuts) and these are liable to give way without warning.

If the wood seems ok, don't bother trying to fix the original film down again, rip it off and do it with new film, again using a heat activated adhesive for a really tight bond. Again, where it overlaps the firewall, smear a film of epoxy over it to seal it down tight.

Thats my approach anyway, others may have a different take, or a better idea

Matt

Originally Posted by dan n

Another question, how can you make monokote (or Ultrakote) that's gotten pulled back,stick around the firewall area after it's had glo-fuel on it for a while?

Apply starch or just baby powder (which is actually talcum powder with some fragrance ) to the fuel soaked areas. Wait for 10-15, brush off the powder. Apply again, wait, brush. Repeat as many times as needed until the surfaces are clean of fuel (actually the oil that's left from the fuel after the methanol and nitromethane have evaporated).

Mix 5-minute epoxy. Apply on the cleaned surfaces. When the epoxy starts to gel, reapply the monokote - it will stick to the gelled epoxy. After the epoxy cures, mix another batch of 5-minute epoxy and seal well the edges of the monokote covering. This would prevent the covering from peeling off again.

Actually, better seal the covering edges at the firewall (LG area, wing mounting area, etc.) while assembling the plane. I find most ARF's firewalls quite dry of fuelproof epoxy and prefer to give them a good coat of slightly thinned (with denatured alcohol) 30-minute epoxy (I need the working time as I go over the entire firewall, the wing saddle, the landing gear mount area and any other surfaces that are not covered and might get fuel/exhaust on them.

Ivan

The trick for oil soaked wood is K2R Spot Remover. Getting harder to find, but Ace Hardware has it in many areas.

Or use the corn starch or baby powder and a solvent, like acetone or lacquer thinner. K2R is diatomaceus earth (can be found at pool supply places) as the absorbant, and some solvent.

When fuel proofing wood with epoxy, thinning the epoxy will cause the the epoxy to be more porous than un-thinned. Better is to gently warm the epoxy once mixed. This will thin it out, and cause it to set quicker. Use slow epoxy for this. I prefer to use WEST System for this, as it starts out much thinner than hobby epoxy. You can get it at marine supply places, or online from Aircraft Spruce or CST Composites.,