Cleaning Prop Blades

[{151760}]

+1
I use white vinegar from my local international supermarket. It's basically non-brewed condiment without having the caramel and costs not much at all.

That's the stuff.

 

[richardbrennan]

Thanks Vyv for the reply. I am not entirely sure what the inner hub of a Volvo folding prop is made from; does anybody know? My son thinks it may be steel.

 

[GrahamM376]

Eek! The others said overnight! I hope i don't go out and look for them tomorrow and they have disappeared?!

5 mins in 30% muriatic is long enough to clean the crud, use outdoors and be careful not to breathe in the fumes.

 

[ghostlymoron]

Why not put the blades in the toilet bowl with the acid and kill two birds with one stone?

Dilute hydrochloric acid has no effect on brass or bronze, nor any common plastics and rubbers. It can attack some aluminium alloys but not others, so go carefully. I would have thought that 10 minutes immersion was ample, certainly is on my toilet.

 

[roblpm]

So all done. Left them overnight and they didn't dissolve! Nice and clean. Just need to figure out how to do the hub.

The only thing still left on them is a bit of grease residue in the gear bits. I am inclined not to grease them when I put them back on. Im sure flexofold say not to. Just my neighbour who has the same prop does and I am too scared to do anything that he doesn't!

 

[Lucky Duck]

What did you use?

 

[charles_reed]

I use sulphamic acid paste (it's too much of a chore to strip the blades off an Autoprop boss) and wash it off thoroughly before polishing with a 3M stainless-steel polisher (green plastic like a pot-scourer but very much more effective) and finish with good quality metal polish.
I've found the closer to a mirror you can get the blades the cleaner they stay - most prop antifouls are of apocryphal value. Only a mirror finish and constant use seem to work in practice.
Hard work to achieve but not too hard to maintain - abrasive paper is far too extreme.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bonnymans-Sulphamic-Acid-Sulfamic/dp/B00BY3UMVY

 

[macd]

The only thing still left on them is a bit of grease residue in the gear bits. I am inclined not to grease them when I put them back on. Im sure flexofold say not to. Just my neighbour who has the same prop does and I am too scared to do anything that he doesn't!

Prepare yourself for a busy day following Flexofold's maintenance regime:
The only maintenance required is to keep the propeller clean.
The pivot pins and gears are water lubricated, however, adding waterproof grease to the moving parts will help the folding and unfolding.
http://www.flexofold.com/maintenance/

 

[Neeves]

Brick cleaner won't do any harm. However I used kettle descaler as the blades where only lightly fouled.

We just boil a half lemon skin in a full kettle to clean - and use the other half for G&T , can't do that with brick cleaner

Jonathan

 

[roblpm]

Prepare yourself for a busy day following Flexofold's maintenance regime:
The only maintenance required is to keep the propeller clean.
The pivot pins and gears are water lubricated, however, adding waterproof grease to the moving parts will help the folding and unfolding.
http://www.flexofold.com/maintenance/

Aha i was mistaken.

 

[richardbrennan]

Apparently the hub of a Volvo folding prop is stainless steel; is HCl safe on this ?

 

[macd]

Oddly enough neither 304 nor 316 stainless steel alloys are regarded as resistant to HCl, but that's in respect of long-term contact. (HCL precludes the protective oxide layer.) Dissolving off crud for an hour or so followed by a thourough freshwater rinse should be fine. If feeling nervous, add sodium bicarbonate/baking soda to the rinse water.