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Enzyme odour remover safe on aluminium?

Finley Atherton

Well Known Member
Went away for a couple of weeks and came back to a rat infestation in the 9A cockpit/baggage compartment. Machine washed all the easily removed upholstery items but there is still an almost overpowering smell when flying.

The smell must be in the glued on thin fabric (Flightline Interiors) on the side walls. I would rather not remove the fabric to wash it and am considering spraying on an enzyme odour neutraliser. The product is Britex Odour Blaster which contains Alcohols C12-15 ethoxylated and sodium xylenesulfonate

Anyone know if it is safe on aluminium?

Fin 9A
 
I can't answer regarding the safety of that cleaner, but I would think the side panels would be the least of your worries. I'm not a rodent expert, but I would think that critters are more likely to lay their nasty little wastes on a horizontal surface like carpet, seats, floorboards, etc. Are you sure you got all of the droppings out? Did they get in through the vents? If so, there may be crud in those flex hoses, also. What about behind the panels next to the spar and in the tunnels?

One of the guys at our airport had mice do a tremendous amount of damage to his Bonanza. The little varmints ate up wiring and did thousands of dollars worth of damage. He made some sheet metal rings to go around each of wheels with a latch on the inside. They were kind of like those springform cake pans that are easily unlatched. He made them around ten inches high (about 25 cm for the rest of the world), as he figured that would even keep out the big goobers that could stand up. It worked, and they were easily unlatched and pulled out of the way before he flew.
 
David.
Thanks for the suggestions. All carpets, seats and removable upholstery were machine washed. On the ground there is little smell in the cockpit with a stronger smell in the baggage compartment. In flight I think the baggage compartment smells are blown forward.
Next fun job will be sniffing everywhere to find the source of the worst smells.

Fin. 9A
 
Experiment with this.. Remove a stinky piece of upholstery and sprinkle and brush (scrub brush) in baking soda and let it sit for a few days and then vacuum it out.
 
Next fun job will be sniffing everywhere to find the source of the worst smells.
Ummm, EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Not sure how EWWWWWWWW translates into Australian, but I think we can all grasp the concept.:)

Simple Green for Aircraft should be a safe bet for the aluminum parts if you're not sure about other cleaners. I've used that for years.
 
I'd be concerned about getting all the urine/ammonia out or neutralizing it
(corrosion?)

for the stink...look into chlorine dioxide generators.
Here's one of many options on the market. I've used this one in my camping RV (motorhome)

it's a little bit corrosive but for a controlled application time it seems to be ok for cars, electronics, etc... so ???

you can also buy chlorine dioxide liquid and fog it or spray it

It's the best deodorizer I've ever found
 
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