Washing your plane

[N1277D]

Rumor has it that WD-40 is primarily made out of lard, pig fat The same stuff they used to grease the wheels on horse drawn wagons.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

George and all. Check out this link to learn about WD-40. http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwd40.htm

When I was a boy my dad and I washed our house windows the same as he and his dad had with the secret formula of kerosene and water. I was told it stopped the windows from streaking.

[Roesbery]

For what it is worth. I used to have a boat with Briggs and Stratton engine driven hydraulics, I used to spray the spark plug and wire with WD-40 to dry them of rain or sea spray. The plug wire insulation turned to a jelly like consistency. and I changed to other products after that. Read somewhere that WD-40 will do that to some rubbers and plastics, maybe on the can.

[GAHorn]

I don't know what your spark plug wires were made of but UV rays from sunlight and exposure to the elements will also deteriorate some rubber compounds and turn them to mush/jelly. I'm not convinced WD-40 is the culprit . (But the WD40 folks do warn about using it on certain plastics that do not do well with petroleum products. I have a hard time believing that engine wiring can't stand petroleum products.)

I had a difficult time getting Bruce's link to work, but finally figured out the period at the end had to be dropped (so I took the liberty to delete that punctuation, Bruce.) The text of the link says:

"According to the WD-40 Company:

"WD-40 literally stands for Water Displacement, 40th attempt. That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who developed WD-40 back in 1953. The chemist, Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion - a task which is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off when he perfected the formula on his 40th try."
WD-40 was invented in 1953, by the three members of the Rocket Chemical Company of San Diego, California. They were working on a line of industrial rust-prevention solvents and degreasers for use in the aerospace industry. WD-40 was first used to protect the outer skin of the Atlas Missile from rust and corrosion. Norm Larsen then repackaged WD-40 into aerosol cans for consumer use and the product was first sold to the general public in 1958. In 1969, the Rocket Chemical Company was renamed after its only product, WD-40. "

[Jeff Matthews]

I've had less luck with WD-40. Our club bought a Blanik--big Czech glider with forward swept wings, but that's beside the point. The previous owners had wiped it down with WD-40 a couple times a season, and it had considerable surface corrosion on the bottoms of the wings and stabilizers. That could have come from living outside in Maryland, but the WD didn't stop it.

The story I got from the Rock Island Arsenal corrosion guru is that WD-40 has lots of surfactant in it--doesn't so much displace water (can't, because it's lighter), but binds it up in an emulsion. I've seen photos of a drip test with side-by-side panels coated with WD-40 and motor oil, and the WD goes away with the first dozen drops.

The lesson, then, would be not to count on WD-40 to protect metal from water, though the surfactant-oil combination might shine up an otherwise adequately protected surface. But how many natural aluminum 170's live outside any more?

Same fella had nothing good to say about graphite-containing lubricants in humid conditions, or Armor-All on plastic. Gave us convincing-sounding reasons.

JM