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How to remove fuel stain

M

mbuto

Member
Hello!

Came into my hangar after 1 month to this nasty fuel stain on my wing. Elbow grease and 100LL doesn't help. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Mike
 

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I saw some pretty incredible results using brake cleaner on some fuel stains. I'm not sure if my success can be attributed to the brake cleaner or the Azko primer that was stained. That stuff seems to be impervious to just about anything! Of course, I'd try a small sample area to make sure the brake cleaner doesn't damage your paint.

I like Doug's plan! Great excuse to go burn up some dinosaurs!
 
Acetone has worked well for me - didn’t bother the Jet-GLO paint at all (But alwasy test in an inconspicuous place….)
 
Depending on how long the stains have been there, I have had success with baby wipes. Who on earth knows what’s in them, but if it’s safe enough for its intended use.
Somehow they seem to be able to dissolve anything…
 
Sunshine will make it go away as mentioned above..My plane is all white, single stage PPG Desothane which is extremely tough paint. All the lotions and potions mentioned (except the baby wipes),did nothing..however, a bit of flying and sun-tanning always makes it disappear. Any stains on the bottom will likely require extensive inverted flight.
 
It that just residual fuel from filling up or is it burping around the cap?

If it's coming out around the cap, that would make me wonder what's going on with the fuel vent.
 
Break cleaner with Tetra.....blah blah (some chemical name I don't remember). With this chemical component, you even use it on interior upholstery without any damage to fabric or the glue under the fabric. Test an area first.
 
flysrv10 said:
Break cleaner with Tetra.....blah blah (some chemical name I don't remember). With this chemical component, you even use it on interior upholstery without any damage to fabric or the glue under the fabric. Test an area first.
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I use lacquer thiner but be careful and use it sparingly.
 
Spray carb cleaner instantly dissolves fuel stains, but I've never tried it on concrete.
 
So MEK did the trick without excessive amount of elbow grease. It did dull the finish a tad, but polishing will bring it back. I will investigate fuel vent. FIrst step will be to locate it. It wasn't obvious on my first look-over.
 
mbuto said:
So MEK did the trick without excessive amount of elbow grease. It did dull the finish a tad, but polishing will bring it back. I will investigate fuel vent. FIrst step will be to locate it. It wasn't obvious on my first look-over.
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I have new fuel stain very similar to yours. I had temporarily put on an old fuel cap that I figured out later didn’t have the small O ring on the shaft. Not a fuel cap I had ever used and wasn’t going to fly with. The tank was full enough that the cap was dipping into the fuel a bit so it wicked up the fuel and bled out. You might check your small O ring and check the adjustment of the cap clamping force on the large O ring.
 
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Zero4Zulu said:
You might check your small O ring and check the adjustment of the cap clamping force on the large O ring.
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Yes the first sign that my cap was shot was that it vented fuel. It works both ways - an Usher cap that vents fuel may well let water in. In my limited experience the small o-ring usually causes the problems.
 
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