100LL Blue Stain on Wheel Pant

CC268

CC268

Final Approach
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Nov 4, 2015
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CC268
One of my quick drain valves went bad and left a nice blue stain on the wheel pant. It’s been there for a few days. Replaced the valve. I can’t seem to get the stain off though. Even used my dual orbital polisher with polishing compound and a fairly aggressive pad and it didn’t come off. Tried 100LL and that didn’t work either.

Any recommendations on how to get this stain off?

Thanks

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If you cant get it off, it will eventually go away on it's own. The dye will break down in the sun.
 
I had it on the bottom of my wing last year. Nothing I tried worked. Like said above, it went away on its own in a few weeks.
 
I had the same issue once...I tried several things, so I don’t remember for sure which one worked, but I think it was wd40
 
Velocity173 said:
I had it on the bottom of my wing last year. Nothing I tried worked. Like said above, it went away on its own in a few weeks.
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Really? Wow wouldn't expect that to go away...but I guess worst case I let it sit there.
 
tawood said:
I had the same issue once...I tried several things, so I don’t remember for sure which one worked, but I think it was wd40
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Hmm will try that.
 
MEK is fantastic on 100LL stains. Can pick up at any paint shop. Some of the big box hardware stores sell it as well.

Rub an inconspicuous spot to make sure your particular finish doesn’t dissolve with it, however.

I have no issue with my paint on the Mooney, and until the Weep no More gang fixed me up, this was my go to solution on a regular basis to get rid of the stains.
 
Like the above post said MEK. But do not leave it on the surface for long it may eat the paint. You can also try denatured alcohol and acetone. Again be careful with the acetone it can also eat the paint. I have had luck with all three of the options.
 
CC268 said:
Really? Wow wouldn't expect that to go away...but I guess worst case I let it sit there.
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Yeah. Looked like this late last year. Don't have an after pic but it's completely gone now.


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CC268 said:
I tried 100LL and it didn’t do a thing
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Try 100ll on a rag, PLUS a LOT of elbow grease.
Or as someone else said, just wait a while and allow the sun to bleach it out.
 
Thanks fellow aviatorsss! I am heading to the hangar to try some of this. This stain is slowing me down a good 10-20 knots and causing some adverse yaw issues.
 
CC268 said:
Thanks fellow aviatorsss! I am heading to the hangar to try some of this. This stain is slowing me down a good 10-20 knots and causing some adverse yaw issues.
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Stop by your mechanic on the way and borrow some of that elbow grease I mentioned.

:D
 
CC268 said:
Thanks fellow aviatorsss! I am heading to the hangar to try some of this. This stain is slowing me down a good 10-20 knots and causing some adverse yaw issues.
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The lacquer thinner was a joke. Don’t attempt. :D
 
I thought elbow grease is what I had on my elbows when I finished working on cars at the end of the day not airplanes.
 
CC268 said:
One of my quick drain valves went bad and left a nice blue stain on the wheel pant. It’s been there for a few days. Replaced the valve. I can’t seem to get the stain off though. Even used my dual orbital polisher with polishing compound and a fairly aggressive pad and it didn’t come off. Tried 100LL and that didn’t work either.

Any recommendations on how to get this stain off?

Thanks

View attachment 57542
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CC268:
I had good results with Aero Gloss polish. But it depends on the condition of your paint as to its effectiveness. A good protective finish to ward any future issues is to apply Rejex to your paint at regular intervals.
 
mscard88 said:
Looks like the outside of an airliner from the lav. Blue juice!
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Lol! Yeah, fuel sender started leaking last year. Had to take the wing off to get at it.
 
A one-time stain will work itself off. It’s when the valves leak repeatedly that you get paint problems. Go look at a bunch of Cherokee’s some time. You’ll see lots of stained wheel pants.
 
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Leave it on overnight.
 
Spill 100ll randomly on all painted surfaces and call it a tie-dye paint job.
 
If it's urethane paint? MEK or lacquer thinner. If not? Stoddard Solvent.
 
SkyDog58 said:
So Cherokee pilots typically worry about stained pants?
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Yup. The valves on Cherokees leak all the time. It’s a Cherokee thing. I’ve met more than one Cherokee pilot who’s given up sumping the tanks altogether.
 
steingar said:
Yup. The valves on Cherokees leak all the time. It’s a Cherokee thing. I’ve met more than one Cherokee pilot who’s given up sumping the tanks altogether.
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That seems... rather stupid. Just sayin’.

They do make replacement valves, ya know.

We even have an STCd better valve type on the side of the Skylane that got a new bladder a few years ago. Much nicer than the original one.

In the grand scheme of AMUs the pair of new valves was dirt cheap.
 
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