24 hours straight with two strippers...

[bnt83]

In reality I believe that do-all strippers don't work well anymore.

If you know the chemistry of what you're trying to strip, it should be easier to find something that works well.

Regular carburetor cleaner works better on some stuff than others for small parts.

[xavierm]

I used citristrip gel and spray to strip two cherokee wings. Brushed it on a bit thick, left it for two days, came back and the paint came off in large sheets.

[DGlaeser]

Have you ever tried DOT 4 brake fluid? I had some get on a painted surface when I was filling my brakes (after putting in all viton seals of course) and it seemed to be pretty effective!

[dwrichey]

No one seems to have really focused on the possible side effects of using a chemical stripper on a composite part. I would be afraid the stripper will attack the resin and cause a permanent softening and/or dis-bonding.

[DaleB]

Originally Posted by dwrichey

No one seems to have really focused on the possible side effects of using a chemical stripper on a composite part. I would be afraid the stripper will attack the resin and cause a permanent softening and/or dis-bonding.

Actually, I did mention that a couple of times... nether of the ones I am using have had any effect at all on the fiberglass. No softening, no de-lamination. I have some scrap pieces I'll use to test the effects of whatever other strippers I try.

[DaleB]

Update:

I had let the strippers work for several days. For the last 36 hours or so I had wrapped plastic around the spinner with a fresh coat of PTS-202, just to see if that helped. It did, slightly -- there were a couple of small areas that loosened up like I would expect them to. I ended up wiping everything down with a rag, cleaning off the spinner and sanding with 80 grit to remove the remaining streaks of paint that I hadn't scraped off already. After sanding and a wipe with some solvent I shot a light coat of primer to get an idea of how much work I have to do before re-painting (lots).

Before closing the book on the strippers, I think it's only fair and reasonable to try them on painted metal. When I have some time in a week or three I'll pull some access panels, scuff with sandpaper and try them again. I'm honestly not expecting much success, though.

[Av8torTom]

Since you're planning on stripping the whole airplane have you considered sodium bicarb blasting? Similar to sand blasting, but replaces sand with sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda). It's used on airplanes all the time and leaves no "stripper" residue that can be hard to remove from seams that will affect paint later on. Sodium bicarb just washes away with water, and of course is non-toxic.

[DaleB]

Originally Posted by Av8torTom

Since you're planning on stripping the whole airplane have you considered sodium bicarb blasting?

You're not the first person to ask that. At first I was leery of blasting the plane with an alkaline gritty substance that would get into the seams and rivet heads, but the more I read and hear about it the less I think it would be a problem. I'm looking around locally to see if I can find someone who can do it.

[aerhed]

Unless blasting has gotten way better in twenty years, I wouldn't consider it on our thin skinned planes. A guy I worked for took a Cheyenne to PPG with a couple of his painters and they stripped it at PPG as a training course (factory pros). He had to buy the owner a new Cheyenne. Nothing pulls paint like Meth chloride. I have thirty year old stripper scars to prove it. They look like old cigarette burns.

[Clint B]

Hi Dale, I was reading through this thread, and trust me, I've been where you've been. I'm currently refinishing a set of Cessna wings, and just like you have said, the hardware store stuff softens the paint, but really doesn't cut it off.
In despair, I thought that I was going to have about 50 hours of scotch briteing just to get the wings and control surfaces back to bare aluminum, when I happened across a Facebook post about this "stripper that worked real good"
I called an outfit out of ST Louis called Chemisphere and the salesman assured me that the stuff he had would work wonders and he had heard my story before.
Let me tell you that this stuff WORKS! No foolin around with 18 coats and 5 days of scrubbing to get the paint off. It takes maybe 3-5 minutes with the first application and 75% of the paint is gone. 2nd coat pretty much cleans up whatever is left. If your interested, I'll get the part number of the stuff for you. Hope this helps. Clint