Blue fuel and paint

N64GH · #1 09-02-2010, 07:59 PM

I am sure this has been asked but my "search" skills stink (could not find any thing).

I filled up when it was cold. Did not go fly. It got HOT HOT HOT. Back to the hanger several days later and my beautiful paint is now stained blue. Fuel expanded on hot day and ... oops

Any way the top of the wing (Maroon) not to bad but you can see the blue. Bottom of the wing (Maroon, White and blue) is a mess. Especially the white. It looks like the fuel is under the white.

I tried washing nothing. Wax and nothing. Anything I can try that might help at least not look so bad?

Neal@F14 · #2 09-02-2010, 08:09 PM

One of my fuel drain valves dripped slowly on my Cherokee wheelpant (new paintjob on the plane) for about a week in the hangar and it stained the white paint with a big ugly blue circle. The paint is Sherwin Williams AcryGlo polyurethane and no solvent I dared try on it would remove it. I finally used some very fine polishing compound on it and rubbed it off by removing the outer microscopic layer of paint and buffing back to a glossy shine. That's the only thing that worked for me.

Steve Barnes · #3 09-02-2010, 09:09 PM

If your paint is fresh, a month or two, depending on the paint, may stain. However a few days in the sun, it may bleach out entirely. It happened to me with blue fuel on my RV. Furthermore, many years ago I had a paint shop paint a red truck, white. It looked great the day I picked it up. After several days, the white turned to very splotchy pink. I took it back, and with out hesitation the shop owner said he would repaint. I said, lets let it cure for a few days. After a few days in the sun, it started to disappear, and after a month it was totally gone.

Steve Barnes "The Builders Coach"

Special Delivery · #4 09-02-2010, 09:13 PM

Interesting... my bird is PPG base/clear and I have no problems with fuel staining... and yes, I do occasionally overfill. I do however know of two RV-4s that are painted with Imron (silver gray) and recently they are experiencing severe fuel staining problems. We've tried everything to remove the stains and nothing touches it. It appears that the dye has penetrated and chemically bonded with the paint. I don't recall that avgas stains were a problem in the past for birds painted with Imron. I'm suspect that the chemical dye additive has recently been changed and we're just now seeing the results. I'm curious about the paint brand/product used on your bird.

Rick Bradley · #5 09-02-2010, 09:33 PM

Use scrubbing bubbles cleaner. Spray on and wipe off quickly.

N64GH · #6 09-03-2010, 12:31 AM

Nope the paint has been on there for 10 years give or take.

PCHunt · #7 09-03-2010, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick Bradley

Use scrubbing bubbles cleaner. Spray on and wipe off quickly.

If you use "Scrubbing Bubbles" ber VERY careful to not get any in a seam or under a rivet head.

Read the MSDS, and you will find it is not good for aluminum.

N131RV · #8 09-03-2010, 08:27 AM

I had a similar problem. Large stains from leaking fuel cap o-ring. After a bit of thought I tried wiping the stains with a clean cloth soaked n avgas. Sure enough, after a few days of this the stains were greatly reduced. The sun removed the rest and now they are no longer visible.

longranger · #9 09-03-2010, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PCHunt

If you use "Scrubbing Bubbles" ber VERY careful to not get any in a seam or under a rivet head.

Read the MSDS, and you will find it is not good for aluminum.

You might try Extreme Simple Green. It's formulated for aircraft, and removed some exhaust stains from my 25+ year-old imron paint job that nothing else would touch.

Ironflight · #10 09-03-2010, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N131RV

I had a similar problem. Large stains from leaking fuel cap o-ring. After a bit of thought I tried wiping the stains with a clean cloth soaked n avgas. Sure enough, after a few days of this the stains were greatly reduced. The sun removed the rest and now they are no longer visible.

I had a similar overflow a couple of months ago, and was quite upset with myself for getting a blue stain on the Val's white wings. No cleaner seemed to remove it. I then went off on some travel, and forgot about it. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen the stain the last few times I fueled, and think that the sun has bleached it away - hurrah!

Paul