Mylar aileron and flap seals

On May 31, 9:22*am, bumper wrote:
When heat fails, and I agree that heat is the first choice, then it's time for other stuff!

If heat removes most of the tape, but leaves some adhesive residue, first thing to try is more tape! Wrap duct or other strong bonding tape, adhesive side out around your fingers and apply it directly to the tape residue. Push down and then pull straight up, repeat rapidly. This will often cleanly remove the residue a chunkj at a time.

Make a scraper that is ideally softer than the surface to be scraped so as to avoid damage. In this case you might try making scrapers out of Plexiglas or a bit of hardwood shaped on a grinder. The hardwood will "burn" end-grain while grinding and this makes it even more durable. Wrap some tape around the scraper for a handle. Next apply a suitable solvent, as suggested in previous posts, to soften adhesive. Use scraper and rags or paper towels to remove goop scraped up so it doesn't smear and/or re-attach.

The very worst kind of tape to remove I've run into has been some clear tape used to afix a yaw string. UV degrades the plastic tape so it is not mechanically strong enough to peel off, while it still protects the underlying concrete hard adhesive from whatever solvent one is brave enough to try using to soften it! I'm only brave enough to try denatured alcohol sparingly, as many solvents will instantly or later on damage the plexi.

The best approach I've found is to soak a small bit of cloth with the alcohol and apply it to the surface to soften it some. Remove, scrape with thumbnail carefully, reapply cloth. 45 minutes later the result was tape removed, sore fingernails, and minor scratches to buff out.

Shameless ad department: This never happens with a MKIV yaw string. When time comes to replace, the yaw string base peels cleanly off the canopy. Also much nicer looking than tape and yarn. MKIV and Quiet Vent is carried by Cumulus Soaring, Williams Soaring, and SoaringNV

bumper

Shameless endorsement of MKIV yaw string: For me, nothing spoils the
sleek, high tech look of a modern plastic glider like an ugly chunk of
tape holding the yarn, frequently surrounded by adhesive residue from
the 3 (or more) prior yaw strings. I've been using Bumper's yaw
strings ever since I found out about them. I get at least two years
(around 250 hours of flying) out of one before it needs to be
replaced. For removing old, dried up tape residue, I have found that
covering the residue with a patch or strip of cloth, soaking that with
3M General Adhesive Cleaner, and then taping plastic wrap over it for
a while works well. This is a variation on removing the tissue from
your 10 year old free flight model plane, where you thoroughly wet it
with acetone and put it in a plastic garbage bag.

Gents, I went through this recently and found none of the mentioned
solvents/heat/scrapers, etc. to work. In desperation, I tried a "Mr.
Clean Magic Eraser" and PRESTO! it takes off the gum. Not completely
without elbow-grease, but WAY better than anything else I and my buddy
Luke tried.

Try it and let us know how she goes!

Derek

I just did this on my LAK. Fidel showed me how he square cuts a tongue
depresser and then sands it to a chisel edge. Use it like a chisel to
remove the adhesive residue and it won't harm the finish.


"Evan Ludeman" wrote in message
...
On May 31, 8:25 am, Geoff Vincent
wrote:
On 31 May, 14:06, jim wynhoff wrote:









On May 30, 8:07 pm, JS wrote:

Of course, true STUDs develop power tools to do the job. Removing
ancient gelcoat can be fun!
Fuzzy, if you've put an S-seal in, you could take your time with the
Mylar, but best to just get it done. At least round one, anyway.
Jim

On Wednesday, May 30, 2012 4:22:47 PM UTC-7, BobW wrote:
You're a STUD!!!
Regards,
Bob W.

Thanks all,
JJ - Good to know. I thought that might be the case, Concept being a
catalyzed paint, but my worry is based on way too many years of using
non-catalyzed paints.
JS, Yeah, that was quick, but really scary. There was no evidence of
an S seal ever being installed, just mylars top and bottom. Believe
me, I will be very happy to finish this round of refinishing. I'm
going to celebrate by growing fingerprints again, since I've worn mine
off. Next year the tips and horizontal, and maybe the fuse in 2014.
Bob... uh...thanks?

Hi folks,

My question is at the other end of the seal's lifespan - how to remove
the tape adhesive residue from the wing once the Mylar seal has been
removed? My progress, mechanically, is about 300mm per hour and I
would really welcome some practical advice on how do this more quickly
and less painfully. Recommendations on chemical solvents or
proprietary products would be appreciated. The aircraft is a PIK 20B
superbly refinished with 2-pack polyurethane about 9 years ago.

Regards,

Geoff Vincent
Grampians Soaring Club
Australia

If the adhesive still has enough tack that removal is a problem, I
don't use chemicals, I use heat.

A hair dryer is sufficient (high setting). Heat the adhesive tape to
about 50C and peel. If you can put your finger tip on the mylar for a
couple of seconds, but not keep it there, that's the right
temperature. The right combination of peel angle (roughly 135
degrees), speed and heat will lift off old Tesa bonding tape with
little if any residue (clean that up with solvent). This is about 50x
faster than solvent.

Likewise, heat is your friend when it is time to apply new seals.
Sanding is completely unnecessary provided that surfaces are clean and
warm (at least 30C). That said, sanding doesn't hurt. If in doubt,
go back over the bond line after application with hair dryer and back
of a table spoon or wall paper seam roller (while warm).

-Evan Ludeman / T8