Simple green

[jerryotti]

Without going into too many juicy details, 150ml of concentrate Simple Green (not the aluminum friendly version) solution spilled in the backseat of my RV8 , mainly leaking into the fuselage through the flap pushrod on the left side.

I cleaned it up by removing some panels in the baggage area and using an extended pole with rags to reach as far back as the rear bulkhead.

I also removed some inspection panels and cleaned what I could in that area. The Simple Green leaked out from the tail at the tailwheel rod spring, through the flaps, and from a seam on the fuselage's underside.

To clean it, I sprayed water lightly into the affected areas, including inside the fuselage, and flushed it several times. I'm still seeing traces of green in the water collected under the tailwheel rod spring.

For those still reading: what else should I be doing? What should I worry about long term, what should I be inspecting short term?

 

[Dr_Dave_MT]

I would just continue to pour a *hit-ton of water where you made the spill and let the effects of gravity and dilution of the water resolve the issue. (Same as I had to do, per maintenance, in a corporate jet when some solution spilled enough to leak out the belly drain holes)

Even with an un-primed interior you”ll be fine. It’s not like ya cut that facehugger in Alien.

 

[JonJay]

Excellent advice.
“The solution to pollution is dilution”

(old farmer mantra)

 

[BH1166]

Though Im not a scientist, Heard early on about Simple Green being bad for Aluminum. I made a test out of aluminum strips, a cup of Simple Green, Soaked for months, SG evaporated away, no damage I saw ! Maybe it could, but I use it a lot on my 6A, NEVER the special Aviation type, never an issue. YMMV, but I sorta doubt it.

 

[Freemasm]

Flush more; then, I'd very strongly consider applying some ACF50 (best wicking/there are others/not a debate) or similar preservative to the affected areas.

 

[Jjackh10]

Excellent advice.
“The solution to pollution is dilution”

(old farmer mantra)

I made that statement to a young engineer at a refinery a couple years ago. He looked at me funny so I proceeded to explain how most pollution is measured in PPM. So a lot of pollution "controls" don't reduce the "P" they just increase the "M". The perforated exhaust tips on a diesel pickup, or automotive smog pumps as examples. The smog pumps actually increased the "P". But the govt is smarter than us lol.

 

[Mikeyb]

I guess I’m in the 10 percent that doesn’t get the word. I used simple green with abandon.Does it hurt aluminum?

Simple Green Industrial Cleaning Site

Simple Green | US | Industrial | FAQsLearn about Simple Green's full line of environmentally safer household cleaning products. Discounts, cleaning tips, reviews, special offers and more.

simplegreen.com

 

[D-Dubya]

I guess I’m in the 10 percent that doesn’t get the word. I used simple green with abandon.Does it hurt aluminum?

Simple Green Industrial Cleaning Site

Simple Green | US | Industrial | FAQsLearn about Simple Green's full line of environmentally safer household cleaning products. Discounts, cleaning tips, reviews, special offers and more.

simplegreen.com

There was allegedly a story years ago that the military found using regular Simple Green would cause corrosion on aircraft and they put stopped using it. I never saw that in print, so I don't know if it's legit or just one of those stories. Not too long after that, the Simple Green people developed an aviation version that was made for use on aluminum.

Years ago, one of my old bosses had an old Cessna that he babied. He ran tests with scraps of aluminum in jars of various degreasers--he found that regular Simple Green did no harm to aluminum. That was just his unscientific test, but it's pretty much the same result that Butch referenced above.

So long story short, don't scrap the plane because you got Simple Green on it. Wipe it down, flush it off, and move along. Nothing to see here, folks.

 

[the realconradb]

I guess I’m in the 10 percent that doesn’t get the word. I used simple green with abandon.Does it hurt aluminum?

Simple Green Industrial Cleaning Site

Simple Green | US | Industrial | FAQsLearn about Simple Green's full line of environmentally safer household cleaning products. Discounts, cleaning tips, reviews, special offers and more.

simplegreen.com

Simple Green itself doesn't degrade aluminum components but continued exposure to ammonia compounds found in Simple Green chemically does.

 

[rocketman1988]

From the simple green website:

“
Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser, and Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process.

Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.”

Straight from source. In other words, in can be used with caution and extremely thorough cleaning. The aircraft simple green removes the issues.

 

[Mikeyb]

Just now I took a sample of new clean 2024 and 6061 aluminum in a 50/50 Simple Green/water mix. To accelerate the reaction I heated it to 150F. The results after 23 minutes! Thanks VAF. I learned something interesting today.

 

[FL Flier]

Simple Green Extreme and Pro HD are recommended for aircraft use. Near as I can tell, they’re the same formula, except ProHD is purple-colored and available on the regular retail market, where Extreme has to be gotten from aircraft supply houses.

 

[CaptPausert]

So I work for the USAF and we had several incidents of using simple green to clean aluminum wheels on the T-6 Texan II and it resulted in a lot of corrosion on the wheels long term, When we stopped using it the corrosion issues stopped.