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Alumiprep removes a sharpie

BNut

Member
My first attempt at my personnel choice of corrosion prevention is Alodine 1201. My intentions are not start in on the primer wars but I need some help. I marked my parts with a black permanent sharpie. When I prepped my parts with Alumiprep 33 diluted with 3 parts water all my markings disappeared after a 3 minute soak. After the first piece I tried a one and two minute soak and did not get as good of an Alodine finish and only the 1 minute soak I could only just barely make out the part identification marking. My process is working very well. My only problem is how do I know what my part location is after I am done. Can I lightly engrave the parts or will this make the parts prone to cracks later on??? If not does anyone have a solution? Luckily I did the on the horizontal stab parts with right side and left in order so I know what is what. I am worried about the future when I get into my wings.

Thanks


bnut24


Marked parts just before Alumiprep.


bnut24


After Alodine with a 2 minute soak.

bnut24


Finish with a 3 minute soak
 
Yep. You want to scuff the parts with the diluted alumiprep solution to get the parts sheeting water off when rinsed. Then go for the alodine, and another rinse. Finally, let them dry.

My best advice is be very organized and lay your parts out in a logical order so you don't forget which part is which. When you are done and the parts are dried, remark them with the sharpie.

I tried doing the engraving thing, but wasn't happy with the results and would rather not have my nice parts getting scratched up.
 
When I scuff my parts I make sure I don't completely scuff the sharpie marks off so after I alumiprep the parts and the marker disappears you can see the marking because the area where the marker was is slightly shinier and you can make out what you wrote. After alodine it shows up even better. Before I prime I remark the parts with a blue sharpie and that will show through the primer. The only parts this doesn't seem to work for is the angle aluminum, I don't know why. I had no issues keeping track of what goes where.
 
Thanks

Thanks for the reply's.... It turns out some have a faint shadow of my markings. I have two black sharpies and am not sure which one I used were. I think they will both go in the trash and try a blue one. We will see on the next batch. Otherwise I will have to do the alternative style marking or be much more organized then I have been. :rolleyes:

Thanks again!
 
The purpose of the alumiprep step is to leave a clean and corrosion-free etched aluminum surface for the alodine to react with. It defeats the purpose to back off on the alumiprep so that shaprie marks remain. If there are any signs of your sharpie marks left, that's a good indicator that your part hasn't been adequately cleaned/etched, as is water beading.

I also normally add an extra step to the process. Wipe down the parts with acetone specifically to remove sharpie marks and other oils and contaminants prior to alumiprep. A solvent like acetone works like a charm for removing that stuff. And then the alumiprep is better assured to get all the way down to bare aluminum where it can perform its function which is to etch the oxide layer.

Use an alternate method to identify the parts through the alumiprep/alodine process, as others have suggested. In my experience, Bruce's advice of simply keeping things organized is sufficient in most cases.
 
Fencing wire hangers

I use fencing wire hangers and mark the wire with some tape and the sequence number of the part if there is one.

I am not using the alodine process as I am using non chromium products. I do however, Acetone, Acid wash, Boegel, 2 pack primer. And the below system works well.

If it is a left part, the wire haning hook has a kink in it, if it is a right part there is no kink.

I use the top hole where there is a requirement for an up/down reference.

I also align the opening to the 'open' side and if ther are two parts that need to come together, I use the same hole on each. With each part facing the same way.

Basically I now know from this system, the front, top, left/right and number just from the hook it is hanging on. :D

Simple but effective and no scaring of the part with either engravement or ink??

Just my thoughts, hope it helps.
 
Agreed

Yep, as you both said, however, for most parts I do not need to do any writing or tape as the left/right, top/bottom, front/back is just how you attach the hook. Saves a fair bit of time for me. :D
 
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