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Best way to clean parts?

Mike McD

I'm New Here
Hi,
Im just getting starting on the RV-14 vertical stab and there is a red residue on the spar doubler. What is the best way to remove this?
Thanks, Mike
 

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Acetone will take that right off ... that's the mfgr's ink marking under the protective plastic describing what the metal is (ie 2024T6 0.040, etc) -- not always legible.
 
Solvent

Almost any solvent will remove it. Wear gloves. Stuff is absorbed through the skin. I use lacquer thinner.
 
Soon to be replaced by your own blood. If not on this piece, then on another.

Ask us how we know.

:D
 
Isopropyl alcohol will take the ink off, a little better on your skin than acetone, but still wear gloves.
 
You can leave it on..

In the "big plane" world, it is seldom removed and after mechanical or chemical etch prior to treat/prime what ever is left sometimes will bleed through a thin primer coat. I personally only remove it 100% on the exterior skin surfaces that will be painted. I have used it as road map in restoring old planes to easily identify the original material spec. some alloy MFGs use blue or black also.
 
Typical options, in roughly decreasing order of toxicity and increasing order of time and effort:

1. methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) - toxic, hard on skin, excellent cleaner, marks wipe off
2. acetone - toxic, hard on skin, excellent cleaner, cheap
3. isopropyl alcohol (IPA) - less toxic, still removes oil from skin, also excellent cleaner
4. D-limonene - non-toxic, leaves skin greasy, apply to surface and either scrub with cloth for a few seconds or leave for a couple of minutes before wiping off.
5. PreKote - non-toxic, detergent-like, apply and scrub with Scotch-Brite, then rinse with water, fairly expensive.

The TDS and MSDS for all these are available online, so you can decide what level of effort, risk and expense you are happy with.

Alternatively, if you're going to either Alodine or prime, just leave it on there until whatever surface finishing pre-clean you decide to use.
 
Acetone. Cleans everything off and leaves no residue. It is not considered to be very toxic but can cause skin irritation. I have never gotten any skin irritation but I have pretty tough skin.
 
gloves

It's not just the skin irritation to be concerned about, the solvent can pass through your skin and end up in your tissue/blood stream. I use the disposable black nitrile gloves, they work better than the latex gloves that tend to disintegrate with solvents.
 
I had good luck with just Dawn dish detergent in a normal dishwashing mix with water. And its right at the bottom of the toxicity scale! Both the red and blue inks came off with minor rubbing after a short soak. I don't recall seeing the "bubbly" patterns in your pix. Is that some residue from the dreaded blue film? If so, that would explain the mentions of stronger solvents. I did use some of them for serious degreasing on structural and interior parts that I primed. No need to discuss the virtues (or lack) of priming any further here! ;>)
 
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