Honestly, this has to be my least favourite subject so far – there seems to be an endless amount of products and methods, and every time I do research I feel like I come away thinking about it completely differently.
There’s lots of discussion that aluminium has good built-in corrosion resistant aluminium so perhaps in the end it doesn’t matter so much which direction you go as it’ll ultimately just add to the existing resistance.
However, after hours of research, trawling facebook groups and forums, I still feel pretty uninformed about it all – but have decided that it probably comes down to which process I prefer to work with.
To help make that decision I have decided to try 2 methods (Alodine vs Spraying), this should help narrow down the next choice of product, especially if I prefer the Alodine method.
Given that I don’t have my empennage kit yet, and probably don’t want to use any of that for “testing” anyway, I will prime my Vans Toolbox. My plan is to Alodine everything first and then spray EkoPrime on the outside of the parts, this should give me an insight into which process is easier to work with.
Here’s a few notes on each of the 2 products I’ll be testing:
Alodine (using ALOCROM 1200 + Deoxidine 624)
- Doesn’t add as much weight to the aircraft (vs paint primers)
- Simple to work with (doesn’t need a spray gun, compressor etc)
- Potentially less messy, and can be brushed on
- May be difficult to dispose of excess (people seem to suggest making concrete)
- Can be purchased in the UK from LAS
EkoPrime + EkoEtch + EkoClean (Stewart Systems)
- Seems to be a popular choice for Vans
- Water based so easier to clean up vs epoxy based paints
- 1-part – so slightly simpler to use smaller quantities
- Can be purchased in the UK from LAS
- Requires more complex process (spray booth, gun, compressor, suit etc)
- Not sure if my compressor will be good enough for HVLP gun
- I’ve never used a spray gun in my life, so that concerns me!
Building an RV-14A 