Some Aircraft Paint Stripping Products

Solvent Kleene is an American company based in Peabody, Massachusetts. It has recently developed two varieties of aircraft paint strippers. Their details are provided below.

D-Zolve 15-33LO-R Aircraft Approved Paint Stripper & Remover
This product is used by either brushing or airless spraying. It has already been approved by the US Air Force for stripping paint off aircraft. Its use allows you to remove not only polyurethane topcoats but even epoxy primer. It can also remove topcoats that contain high solid content polyurethanes or fluorides off aircraft painted surfaces.

It can be used with aluminum, cadmium coated steel, titanium, carbon, or stainless steel base substrata. It does not contain any peroxide or chlorinated components and is devoid of any hydrogen embrittlement. Neither is it acidic or flammable. It has high viscosity and clings on nicely not only on vertical surfaces but even on the underside of wings and fuselages. The LO in its product designation stands for Low Odor. It acts basically by breaking the bond between the substrata and the primer.

Using the product economically and efficiently requires the use of a non-atomizing tip on the spraying equipment nozzle. Subsequently, a secondary action allows the paint to lift off the substrate as a single entity that includes both the topcoat and the primer. The product remains active and renders the removed layers moist till 48 hours after spraying.

Once the paint-primer entity has been separated from the substrata, it can be removed by either using what is known as a rubber squeegee, Vac Strip (another Solvent Kleene product), or high pressure water. Finally, the paint stripped surface of the aircraft can be rinsed with water. The paint lifting time can be reduced by pre-heating the painted surface to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Another version of the product designated as D-Zolve 15-33LO-IM Aircraft Approved Stripper is amenable for tank immersion paint stripping operation. All the properties are almost the same as the above mentioned R designated product, but the latter can be heated upto 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Vapormatt is a British company based in Taunton, Somerset, in UK. It has developed W.A.S.P. (water assisted stripping process) that is used for the degreasing, cleaning, and paint stripping of aircraft wheels. It is dust and solvent free and uses a cleaning solution consisting of three ingredients, namely detergent, water, and soft plastic media.

The cleaning solution is not harmful for the operator who hand blasts it on the aircraft wheel using a pressurized nozzle device (Vapormatt 1315 wheel cleaner). The configuration of the machine enclosure that uses the process can accommodate aircraft wheels of diameter upto 30 inches.

When used at the low pressure setting, the device can be used for degreasing and cleaning aircraft wheels without damaging paint on the wheels. At the high pressure setting, the paint can be stripped off aircraft wheels.
Related Articles