STratus and mud

[Rada70]

Crashed my beloved Stratus yesterday. no major damage, just full of mud. It's very frustrating seeing it this way. I want to fix the damage, but first I would like to git rid of the mud all over it. What would be the best and safest way to clean it. thanks

[wattybotts]

Alot of rubbing alcohol, paper towels, and compressed air should do the trick.

[DavidH]

I would get the receiver and gyro and governor brain box off it, Then just wash it off with a water hose. It won;t get water in the servos if you just spray it off. I have done this before and seen it done several times.

David

[Rada70]

sounds like a plan. thanks guys

[Rada70]

One problem, After inspecting the whole thing, the swash is notchy when turned. Could it be because of the mud, or is the bearing gone? I sprayed it with alcohol for a long time, air hosed it, but still notchy. any suggestions. thanks

[WayneBrown]

sounds wasted..
You can replace the bearings in the swash, IF you can find the right ones but buying a new one would likely be faster.

[wattybotts]

While your machine is down, send it down to MA with Attn: Jeff Miller. He can take a look at it for you and fix it. Try loosening the 1.5 mm set screws on the lower ring first, that might free it up some. If not- send it to MA.

[Dr.Ben]

Indeed, if it's notchy, send it down to Jeff and have him rebuild it for you. It'll still come out cheaper than a new one. I'd prefer not to contemplate the potential RFI issues from flying a swash with a noisy lower bearing, either <G>.

I don't envy you this clean up task. EVERY SINGLE bearing that got mud on or near it is going to have to be checked for contamination. What a PITA.

Ben Minor

[Rada70]

I don't envy you this clean up task. EVERY SINGLE bearing that got mud on or near it is going to have to be checked for contamination. What a PITA.

Ben Minor

you're not kidding. My garrage smells like alcohol. I got drunk being there for hours sniffing that stuff. :)

[Alfred]

Actually
Best is Kerosene in a spray bottle. Keep spraying it until all the mud is off.
The oily contents in kerosene makes the mud slide off and doesn't hurt anything else.
Now that your heli is nice and clean but oily, change to Methylated spirit.
It will take off the oily film.

[ChrisLaFollette]

I was at a funfly over in tallahassee and i saw about 5 or 6 guys take an aircompressor with a spray nozzle with a hose in a bottle of alcohol, so it pressure washed the heli with air/alcohol and they sprayed them helis right on clean! :mrgreen: At the time I thought they were crazy! Now thats dang near what I have to do with mine everytime I clean it.

[ClayK]

I use a pump sprayer from Ace Hardware. It's full of 70% alcohol. It has an adjustable nozzle to do spray or stream. A few pumps and it's pressurized. I use this for my end of the day cleaning as well. I've only had one run in with mud (bad auto). It worked like a charm.

Not my idea though, credit goes to Matt Botos.

[ChrisLaFollette]

Ive got one of those same sprayers matt has, works great! No pullin a trigger a jillion times, just pull it and hold it and it goes and goes and goes... :mrgreen:

[saary]

i use this steam jet
:roll:
http://www.kenwood-australia.com/products/product_details.asp?Model=SC114

[Rada70]

that's a good idea. thanks

[sookainian]

can those steam cleaner remove those oil left over after flying ?

will it melt the rudder or plastic on the heli because i believe it's steam n it's hot ?

[saary]

It doesn’t remove it 100% but its much easer for cleaning because its easy access to the components. But what I do is I mix a car washing soap with water in a spray and spray it where the oil to make it easer for the steam to clean it. I use car washing soap because it usually doesn’t contain salt. the steam will not melt plastic because its not hot enough