Battery acid spill in cabin, what to do?

[Captain_John]

Yep, it says it all in the title. My buddy who owns my favorite Cherokee Six which I fly here and there had a mishap.

The first thing he did was sop up the excess and get out the baking soda to neutralize the acid. We know the carpet is a gonner, but what about the aluminum? I haven't seen the spill yet. Tomorrow morning I am heading up to the airport to take a peek.

I don't know if the acid made it down into the structure of the floor.

Question: Will this eventually cause corrosion? Any suggestions?

CJ

[penguin]

Unless you remove or neutralize the acid it will cause corrosion. I would flood the area with fresh water, then baking soda again, then fresh water, then scrub all the rivited joints. It depends how much acid was spilled and how long before you could do anything about it as to how much corrosion. Mask off any areas, with tape and plastic sheet, that have not been contaminated to save yourself even more cleaning up.

The slightly longer term problem is corrosion of any "etched" metal. Reprotect any areas that the acid got to with something like Alodine initially - a Touch-n-prep pen may be useful. Regular primer is OK for parts that can be removed from the airplane. If any severe etching has taken place you will have to measure how much metal has been eaten away to figure the thickness of the remaining panel, compare it to the original, and then look in the maint manual for the limits (or contact Piper if nothing is given). Also talk to your A&P, let him know what's happen and get his advice.

Pete

[Captain_John]

I will "re-scrub" with baking soda and flush it today. Thanks for the recomendations, especially the one about the Alodine. I think that scrubbing with a Scotchbrite pad and Alodining afterward could be the best recipie.

I will let you know how it goes. Maybe I will take some pics too.

Well, off to the airport...

CJ