krazy4planes

my fuel stopper on my tank leaked into my plane and now I have an oily mess, any ideas on how to get the saturated oil out of the wood??

bullseye000

I just had a tank split in one of my planes for the second time. Fuel all over the inside. You never really get rid of the ALL of the oil, but I was able to get rid of most of it by filling the tank compartment and the forward fuse with kitty litter. It soaked up all of the fuel and most of the oil.

krazy4planes

I wonder if arm and hammer baking powder would work??

jester_s1

K2R is the only cleaner I know about that will actually pull oil out of balsa wood.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I also use K2R, found at ACE lumber/hardware. Then I use the bottom of the bag kitty litter and let it soak inside the tank area for a few days. I have known people to use a blender to get the litter ground up. Between the two I get most of the oil out but I have only had one or two tanks let go. Don't worry about a little oil left behind, the plane will die long before the oil rots the wood. {USUALLY!!}

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

A heat gun will applied carefully to the soaked portions will cause the oil to bubble to the surface of the wood and wiping that off after each heating will get a good part of it. While nothing will get it all this is a viable option.

The best option is to avoid the split tank in the first place and the best way to do that is to start using Hayes tanks which use an (o) ring plug and not an expansion plug which tends to split tanks from overtightening.

John

Live Wire

Reading this post , Is it gas or fuel spill. could get interesting.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

OK For Glow Fuel spills alternate heating with a heat gun and wiping away the oil as it bubbles to the surface of the balsa that previously appeared dry is sometimes a more effective method than the absorbants such as K2R or others. This when accessability to wipe the oil as it surfaces is not an issue and of course avoid direct heat on epoxy joints.


John

Rodney

Gas is usually a lot easier to clean up than glow fuel. If you really mean gas, most of it will evaporate out leaving a small amount of oil which you can usually get out by repeated heating the saturated area with a heat gun and wiping with paper towels. Of course the best way is prevention to start with, paint the tank area and surrounding area with an epoxy paint or some other fuel proof paint before installing your fuel tank. Also, drill a drain hole at the lowest point in the fuselage beneath the tank; that way you will get early notice if a leak occurs.

Charlie P.

Cat litter for glow fuel ("Fuller's Earth" kind). Leave it sit a week to absorb and refresh at least once. For gasoline plenty of ventillation and, when mostly evaporated off, Goof Off spritzed lightly and blotted up with paper towels or rags. Any detergent will help trap and remove some oil. But you don't want to soak and warp the airframe.

If you want to invest a little go to a paint store and get some TSP and blot that on (wear gloves - usually it's a powder that is mixed with water). It will draw the oils out of the poly & balsa. Painters use it to prep walls in greasy environments like resturant kitchens.

krazy4planes

That K2R , is that a cleaner of some kind? can I get it anywhere else other than ACE?? All these ideas are very helpfull thanks to all..

bullseye000

I bought it at the local grocery store. It was in with the cleaning products. I used it on a stab that the covering had lifted on and a bunch of burned fuel collected underneath. It's tough to use on the inside of a fuse because you can't get enough into the fuse to do any good. All the stuff mentioned above works and you may want to use a combination of techniques because none works 100%

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

K2R is a spot cleaner for carpets and it used to be sold in most all markets. Last time I needed it my local market and the one big market in the valley no longer stocked it? I was told by Minn to go to the local ACE and they had it in stock. Good stuff!