Smoke damage cleanup

Hello,

A buddy had a small intake fire due to over-priming. Not much fire damage, since his trusty flight lead managed to extinguish the fire (anybody got a source/link for Halon extinguishers).

But the smoke and residue made a MESS. De-greaser doesn't allow it to be rinsed off, nor 409, nor AvGas. It will wipe off if rubbed.

My question. Is there a product for easily removing smoke residue? My understanding is that the residue is corrosive due to it's high acidity.

Thanks,

Tim

You might give Simple Green a try.

Lots to try.

My plane was involved in a fire and I had the same problem, cleaning up the mess. We found that different products worked on different things. I had a quick build with wash primer on all interior surfaces. I found ZEP purple worked great on that. Clean aluminum required acid etch to clean. Painted surfaces we another problem. I end up trying everything and anything but eventually got it cleaned up. Tell him to get it cleaned up as soon as he can. It will corrode if left too long. I ended up painting just about everything after the fire. Clean that engine! ZEP purple then paint it. All the control cables will carrode up if not cleaned. Even the stainless firewall! Mine started to rust. I polished it up.

Plenty of choices for Halon Extinguishers,
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?s=EXTINGUISHER&x=0&y=0

Once you get the smoke residue cleaned up, make sure he does a VERY thourough check for hidden heat damaged components - particularly wiring (melted insulation that might hide shorts) and control cables (the internal nylon liners don't like excessive heat). Might be good to re-lubricate the Heim bearings as well.

A suggestion...

Use chemical dry cleaning sponges for every thing you can reach.

Use TSP and water and rinse well with clean water for everything else. Rinse well.


Disclaimer: I have not used these products on an aircraft but worked with fire damage restoration companies in my previous line of work.

Best regards,

In addition to Paul's 2 bits, look up the carb. I've seen more than one melted venturi from fire.

extinguisher residue

Having had an engine fire in a race prepped 911 (because I'm a *******), and having used a powder style extinguisher, I can strongly recommend making sure all of that stuff gets cleaned up. It too can be corrosive to aluminium.

It gets in every tiny little crevice you can imagine, miles away from where it was shot. As I recall I used water initially, then simple green then solvents with a brush.