100LL as a belly cleaner...

bnt83 said:
Women (and males) spay flammable crap indoors every day with hair spray, cologne, perfume, aftershave (I hope every day).
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There's a difference in flammability. Besides, there's a underlying principle that your mama told you when you were three: two wrongs don't make a right.

Hell, my table saw will fire an aluminum block into the blade if I touch it but I still use push sticks.
 
frfly172 said:
Not sure it's good for the paint,you have to get it off quickly after use. Can also cause stains if not completely removed.
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:yeahthat:

As for the engine, mechanics at my home airport used mineral spirits.
 
Clark1961 said:
Great idea! Let's take a flammable liquid and use it as a cleaner! Some people even use it in an airgun to clean the engine. Great idea, take a flammable liquid and atomise it! Wonderful concepts! Great practice from a safety point of view!

(that was total sarcasm for those without sarcasm detectors)

The fellow that I shared a hangar with for a little while thought 100LL was a great cleaning fluid. I don't share the hangar with him anymore.

Let me put it another way, have you ever been on fire?
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I remember it was standard practice to use 80/88 Aviation fuel in the 60s & 70s to power wash engines during the annual inspections. Of course all that leaded fuel landed on the ramp and evaporated. We are EPA smarter about that now, and fuel is not so cheap.
 
BillTIZ said:
I remember it was standard practice to use 80/88 Aviation fuel in the 60s & 70s to power wash engines during the annual inspections. Of course all that leaded fuel landed on the ramp and evaporated. We are EPA smarter about that now, and fuel is not so cheap.
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Oh yeah....we aren't even allowed to wash with "water" at our airport. :rolleyes2:
 
BillTIZ said:
I remember it was standard practice to use 80/88 Aviation fuel in the 60s & 70s to power wash engines during the annual inspections. Of course all that leaded fuel landed on the ramp and evaporated. We are EPA smarter about that now, and fuel is not so cheap.
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Were we more or less safety conscious in the past?
 
jimmyjack said:
This may be common knowledge, and it may be common knowledge that it's a good idea or that it's a terrible idea. But I'm new and I don't know...

I've discovered that 100LL is an AWESOME solvent for belly grime. Better than anything I've used in the past and I've tested quite a few things.

Having said that, I've found a rag soaked in 100LL quickly followed by a dry, clean rag (if you don't follow with the clean rag, it streaks) works wonders.

Thinking of paint or aluminum damage.... terrible idea?
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Won't hurt paint and yes, it is an amazing solvent. Back in the day gasoline was sold as a house hold solvent. Needless to say it was flamable and dangerous around open flame. Open your hangar when using it. No need to burn down your hangar. Wear gloves and you'll be fine. I usually finish cleaning up with 409 or similar, but no need. What's really cool is you have a dispenser with the wing sump drains!
 
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Geico266 said:
Won't hurt paint and yes, it is an amazing solvent. Wear gloves and you'll be fine. I usually finish cleaning up with 409 or similar, but no need. What's really cool is you have a dispenser with the wing drains!
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:yeahthat:

My favorite gloves are butyl rubber ones, they withstand MEK too which I buy in 5 gallon buckets.

I use organic vapor and forced air fresh air respirators a lot tho.
 
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Here comes the omg crowd for mek flammability.

They don't know about the gunpowder in my closet...
 
bnt83 said:
Here comes the omg crowd for mek flammability.

They don't know about the gunpowder in my closet...
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Are you using gunpowder to clean your airplane?

I store my gunpowder in the room that also has the boiler. Primers are there too.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Not the water as much as the perceived contaminates is washes away. :rolleyes:
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OMFG. "Contaminants" from washing your plane with a hose? Seriously?

Please tell us which hell-hole airport you are based at, so that we may avoid it?
 
Geico266 said:
Too much humidity? Not good for powder or primers.
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Why would there be any humidity? The boiler is a closed system. Yes, there is an automatic air vent but that does not emit water vapor in any noticable amounts.

The only worry with properly stored gunpowder is heat and while the boiler room is the warmest in the house it isn't excessive.
 
Jay Honeck said:
OMFG. "Contaminants" from washing your plane with a hose? Seriously?

Please tell us which hell-hole airport you are based at, so that we may avoid it?
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Any one that is close enough to the EPA's enforcement folks and doesn't have a specific trap to catch the petroleum stuff that may run off it. We have the same problem with washing down boats. I can wash it so it runs off on my grass, but down in my boat slip, no way.
 
flyingron said:
Any one that is close enough to the EPA's enforcement folks and doesn't have a specific trap to catch the petroleum stuff that may run off it. We have the same problem with washing down boats. I can wash it so it runs off on my grass, but down in my boat slip, no way.
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I'm not even suppose to wash at my hangar....in the grass. :mad2:

So....the wash fairy comes on Sunday afternoon or we go next door to HGR. :goofy:
 
jimmyjack said:
Thinking of paint or aluminum damage.... terrible idea?
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IF (after reading all the other concerns) you are still hell bent on using avgas as a cleaner, then I would add that while I haven't seen 100LL damage paint, I have seen it destroy underlining primer. If you have any rough edges in the paint (like around gear doors and the like).

I wouldn't use it.
 
BillTIZ said:
I remember it was standard practice to use 80/88 Aviation fuel in the 60s & 70s to power wash engines during the annual inspections. Of course all that leaded fuel landed on the ramp and evaporated. We are EPA smarter about that now, and fuel is not so cheap.
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OBTW that was 80/87.
 
Fearless Tower said:
IF (after reading all the other concerns) you are still hell bent on using avgas as a cleaner, then I would add that while I haven't seen 100LL damage paint, I have seen it destroy underlining primer. If you have any rough edges in the paint (like around gear doors and the like).

I wouldn't use it.
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the stuff must be real bad on bare aluminum fuel tanks.....:yikes::goofy:
 
Fearless Tower said:
Didn't say anything about the metal. I was referring to what I've seen 100LL do to zinc chromate primer.
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I think "zinc chromate primer" is heavily abused term. They certainly aren't all the same. 47 year old yellow primer on my door jams didn't seem affected by MEK which quickly cut through the grimy blue green paint over it.

Acrylic enamel paints don't seem very fuel resistant either.
 
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bnt83 said:
I think "zinc chromate primer" is heavily abused term. They certainly aren't all the same. 47 year old yellow primer on my door jams didn't seem affected by MEK which quickly cut through the grimy blue green paint over it.



Acrylic enamel paints don't seem very fuel resistant either.
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I think you are probably right. In my case, the logbook entry from the paint shop stated zinc chromate primer.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
Oh yeah....we aren't even allowed to wash with "water" at our airport. :rolleyes2:
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It's the oils coming off the aircraft they are worried about. We have EPA approved wash racks that trap the runoff and separate the bad stuff.
 
Jay Honeck said:
OMFG. "Contaminants" from washing your plane with a hose? Seriously?

Please tell us which hell-hole airport you are based at, so that we may avoid it?
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Oil leaks from the engine, exhaust on your belly, all contaminants. That exhaust include unburned fuel, fuel carbons and burned oil.
 
jimmyjack said:
Man, how do you guys get through the day w/o fear of killing yourselves?

(Automotive) Mechanics have been using gas as a cleaner for decades. I've bene using gas as a cleaner for decades. I siphon gas, get this, with my mouth.

And yes, I was a 240 firefighter for several years. I've sat in a burn house, in full gear during a fully engulfed fire.

I understand the *personal* risks. I was asking about the aircraft.
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Just think of all those insane danger junkies that get in tin cans with engines bolted on the front, and they go take them flying. How do they do it. It's sooooo dangerous.:D
 
BillTIZ said:
Oil leaks from the engine, exhaust on your belly, all contaminants. That exhaust include unburned fuel, fuel carbons and burned oil.
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LMFAO. You have GOT to be kidding.

Washing an airplane is now a toxic environmental hazard. We really have jumped the shark. Of course, we all knew that, the moment it required permission from a bureaucrat in Washington to add 500' of pavement to an airport in Texas.

(BTW: I would no sooner spray my airplane with water than pee on it -- but to say it's some sort of contaminant is just too absurd to even discuss.)
 
Jay Honeck said:
LMFAO. You have GOT to be kidding.

Washing an airplane is now a toxic environmental hazard. We really have jumped the shark. Of course, we all knew that, the moment it required permission from a bureaucrat in Washington to add 500' of pavement to an airport in Texas.

(BTW: I would no sooner spray my airplane with water than pee on it -- but to say it's some sort of contaminant is just too absurd to even discuss.)
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It's mostly the soap. 1 gallon of general purpose detergent will contaminate 1 cubic mile of water down stream. We have fish in our rivers that many people make a living from fishing them. try to understand you are not the only person on this earth, others are harmed your actions.
 
a good airport will put in a wash rack with approprate drain considerations.
 
Tom-D said:
It's mostly the soap. 1 gallon of general purpose detergent will contaminate 1 cubic mile of water down stream. We have fish in our rivers that many people make a living from fishing them. try to understand you are not the only person on this earth, others are harmed your actions.
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What scares me is that you are probably 100% serious.

I started writing a dissertation, breaking down your argument, point by point -- but I came to the sudden realization that it would not matter in the least. Therefore, suffice it to say that I am very, very glad to be based at an airport that still adheres to the belief that cleaning your airplane with a hose and some soap is your own business, and that the children will likely grow up straight and tall despite this horrible environmental violation.
 
Jay Honeck said:
What scares me is that you are probably 100% serious.

I started writing a dissertation, breaking down your argument, point by point -- but I came to the sudden realization that it would not matter in the least. Therefore, suffice it to say that I am very, very glad to be based at an airport that still adheres to the belief that cleaning your airplane with a hose and some soap is your own business, and that the children will likely grow up straight and tall despite this horrible environmental violation.
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This could not be more concisely stated. I'm only in my 30's, but I am shocked, shocked I tell you, at how safety-minded this country has become.

From the parroted "think of the children" nonsense (for every little thing) to not being allowed to wash your plane, being safe to a fault is detrimental to society as a whole.
 
Stewartb said:
a good airport will put in a wash rack with approprate drain considerations.
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I can guarantee one thing.....the 10 or 20 gallons of fresh well water used never even makes it off the taxi way or grass....or the drain.

It evaporates..... What a load of fear mongering regulations....:rolleyes2:
 
Talk to your airport management and get some facts. They may have a reason for their rules. My airport put a wash rack in. It's about 100' from the lake. The lake used to get polluted by runoff de-ice fluid from the adjacent big airport. The big airport had to put in containment. Lake Hood got a high volume deep well to flush the lake. The wash rack came soon after. It all makes sense. The result is cleaner lake water and now we have a significant weed problem so they have a thresher running most of the time to keep the lake clear for seaplane ops. It's better than the old dead lake with polluted water.
 
Auburn2002 said:
Where do you guys find the GoJo without pumice? Can't say I've ever seen it in the big box stores, and amazon looks to only have the pumice variety as well.
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My NAPA store had it.

In a white container.

Used about 1/3 of a tub ($13) on a dirty belly.
 
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