Treating Magnesium

AKBill

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AKBill
So I'm working on the landing gear and need to treat some of the Magnesium parts for corrosion. The shop manual says to use Chromic acid (CrO2) and Calcium Sulphate (CaSO4).

I found the products on line, I have not found a local source being Sunday. What type of store might carry these products?

Thanks
 
Thanks for posting. I’m interested in this subject also. Some of the Bonanzas have magnesium control surfaces. I need to mist the aluminum areas, but the magnesium control surfaces are very specific and can be seriously damaged if not done properly. Trying get a game plan together for an entire A36 airframe.
 
What type of store might carry these products?
Tough to find those at the retail level. That selection of chemicals was mainly for shop level type maintenance to provide large scale magnesium processing.

Beechcraft? There are several conversion coating alternatives that can be bought at aviation supply stores. Beech offered one or several from Dow. Bonderite also offers a magnesium conversion coating that is much simpler to use at the field level. The last time I needed to treat magnesium was on an A36 stab and talked to Beech support which gave me the Dow conversion coating. Might call them to get latest offerings.
 
This might be something to consider. I submitted a question about using ACF-50 on magnesium.

Here’s the response, per the manufacturer:

"ACF-50 can be used on all metal surfaces including Magnesium. After attending Airventure a couple weeks ago we were informed that the American Bonanza Society (ABS) is recommending ACF-50 as the corrosion inhibitor of choice for all Bonanza airframes."
 
This might be something to consider. I submitted a question about using ACF-50 on magnesium.
FYI: a conversion coating and a corrosion inhibitor are two separate and distinct products/processes. Most importantly the former provides an adhesion layer for applying paint similar to alodine on aluminum and also provides corrosion protection. Leaving raw magnesium alloy parts (no conversion or paint) exposed to the elements can lead to some very unanticipated results. Applying ACF50/CorrX to mag parts after conversion and paint on a regular basis provides the best possible corrosion control.
 
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Understand. Great clarification. My situation is different. I’m using it as an inhibitor only during routine maintenance.
 
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