Best Practice belly pan exhaust clean / prep

[RocketAviator]

Any suggestions on best practice and or methods / cleaners to clean exhaust from under side of plane.  Mine is a white chalk looking, very little oil.  Anyone use any waxes or other preparations for future ease of cleaning etc:

Thanks in advance.

[M20F]

I use mineral spirits and then Dawn and then wax (Collnite 845)

[TTaylor]

1. Clean well with soap and water.

2. Clean with a good polishing/rubbing compound and an electric polisher like a Porter-cable 6".

3. Polish with a fine finishing compound with the polisher.

4. Wax with a good quality paste wax.

5. Repeat the washing and waxing every six months (The wax coat keeps it from sticking in the future).

[aaronk25]

I installed a airwolf oil seperator and it keeps the bottoms free of oil but the surprising thing is even after using cleaner wax and one flight I can pick up exhaust on my finger and it's visibly noticeable one the transponder antenna located 2 feet behind the tail pipe.

I've tried LOP take off and even after one the exhaust by products is noticeable.

About once a month I spend 10 min and use cleaner wax and clean the belly. It's easy thanks to the airwolf seperator. Btw, oil analysis remains unchanged for the haters in the group....

[Hank]

Aerocosmetics Wash and Wax. Degreaser (red) for the belly, Regular (blue) for everything else. It has never taken more than one time to get the belly clean. Both leave a smooth, shiny surface, and bugs are easier to remove.

[quik flite]

I always used WD 40 or CRC , 10 minutes and it was spotless, did it regularly, always quick , clean and easy. I did use Maguires on all the other areas, just not the belly.

[johnggreen]

I learned this "trick" from Max Grogan on Beechtalk.  The best belly cleaner HANDS DOWN is non-pumice Go-Jo hand cleaner.  I've tried everything and nothing else compares.  Just smear it on with your hand then wash or wipe off.  Caution, don't use too much.  As long as you cover the surface, anything else is wasted.  I do agree that a good wax job makes the time between cleaning a little longer.  The real beauty of hand cleaner is that you can smear it up into tight places.  Remember: non-pumice.

 

Jgreen

[N201MKTurbo]

I know that it is supposed to be death to airplanes, but Simple Green takes it off.

 

The only reason Simple green is off limits is because the Air Force did a long term study and found that if AL was exposed for a long time it would slowly corrode.

 

I wonder how GoJo would do in such a study?

[Txbyker]

I have mentioned on this board before but Scrubbing Bubbles Bathroom Extend-a-Clean works wonders. I read about it a couple of years ago on Beech Talk. I have tried a lot and this seems to be the best.

Russ

[Jsavage3]

I've had great luck with a cotton rag soaked in kerosene.

[cbarry]

SprayWay's Crazy Clean and shop style paper towels work well. I spray and area about two feet square at a time and the grime will wipe off with no scrubbing required. I've been using this method for about ten years and have tried several other methods before without nearly the results as this.

[MARZ]

LA's totally awesome - get it at the dollar store - spay on and wipe off. even puts the shine back. http://www.dollartree.com/20-oz-Totally-Awesome-Cleaner/p8056/index.pro

[MB65E]

Jet A! or...Scrubbing bubbles on the white chalky exhaust stains. Or The Simple Green Extream Aircraft cleaner. This stuff is better and more effective than MEK on the belly!! Makes brown antennas white again. White bottle, blue foil label. Made for aircraft aluminum so no worries there.

Mothers Wax Cleaner works well too if its only slightly stained with exhaust soot.

-Matt

[M016576]

Carbon-X at a 1/5 concentration works great for me... Does take a little scrubbing though. The stuffs relatively expensive though...

[ghovey]

I am going to try Go-Jo. Great idea.

[chumbi25]

I also use the Totally awesome product from the dollar store, works great!

[Hank]

Aerocosmetics Wash & Wax, red Degreaser formula. Just cleaned mine last weekend [while it's off for annual]--cleaning the one-piece belly laid flat on the floor took about 4 minutes, spray, wipe and buff, no scrubbing. Nice and shiny and slick now, even got the black off of the nice white antenna. Did I mention no scrubbing, no rinsing, no second cleaning? 

[aaronk25]

I just use cleaner wax....I can't believe how much exhaust soot collects even back by the tail. It is very difficult to make out any oil as the airwold oil separator does a great job of keeping the belly free or oil. At every oil change I'll spend 10mins and wax my bottom....

[fantom]

Simple Green - Aviation or Wash & Wax degreaser plus $10 to the airport kid. Clean belly, clean hands and clothes, and no fuss!

[aaronk25]

Simple Green - Aviation or Wash & Wax degreaser plus $10 to the airport kid. Clean belly, clean hands and clothes, and no fuss!

Hey where do I get a $10 airport kid? I wouldn't have dropped the $950 total installed cost of the oil separator if there was some cheap labor!!!

[laytonl]

Mineral spirits work fine too.