cleaning engine

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...


Bill Denton wrote:

Here in the US, paint thinner is not a product, it's a type of product.

No, what is sold as "paint thinner" is a specific product also known as
"mineral
spirits". It will NOT damage cured auto/aircraft paint. If you go to an
auto
paint store, you can buy reducers used to thin specific paints, but those
are
not commonly sold in a container labeled "paint thinner". If you go to
just
about any other type of paint or hardware store and ask for paint thinner,
they
will sell you mineral spirits.

Now, here is the obvious: here in the states we clean automobile engines
with a product called "Gunk Engine Cleaner" which comes in an aerosol
can.

Many people use this. Pete Kupper, who ran the maintenance shop at Kupper
airport until a few years ago, bought mineral spirits in 55 gallon drums
for
use cleaning engines and other parts.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they
really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy
lifting".

George , kerosene in Australia is called kerosene.

We are talking aircraft here George, if we want paint thinner for our
aircraft why are we going into a hardware store? In the very least I thought
we would be going into an automotive paint supplier, and if you asked for
paint thinner there you would not be given mineral spirits.

Scet wrote:

We are talking aircraft here George, if we want paint thinner for our
aircraft why are we going into a hardware store? In the very least I thought
we would be going into an automotive paint supplier, and if you asked for
paint thinner there you would not be given mineral spirits.

If you go to an auto paint store and ask for paint thinner, you will get some
very odd looks here. They will ask you what you mean, since you could be asking
for what is usually called "reducer" or you could be asking for what is usually
called "hardener". None of the ones I've shopped in sell "paint thinner", but
I do happen to have a can of "acrylic laquer reducer" downstairs.

The poster who first mentioned paint thinner was referring to using it as a
cleaning agent, and nobody with the sense God gave a goose would go to an auto
paint supply shop for that.

As far a "white spirit" is concerned, I ran into the term in a book on wood
finishing years ago and asked a gent from the Britain Isles what it was. He told
me that he thought "white spirit" is called kerosene over here. Since that does
not appear to be the case, can you tell me what it would be called over here?

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

White spirit is a synthetic version of turpentine (or at least it's used
interchangeably with turps). It's used for cleaning off wet or recently
dried paint from things. It's a solvent and I think it can be used to
thin oil based paints, but not sure.

Paul

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...
As far a "white spirit" is concerned, I ran into the term in a book on
wood
finishing years ago and asked a gent from the Britain Isles what it was.
He told
me that he thought "white spirit" is called kerosene over here. Since that
does
not appear to be the case, can you tell me what it would be called over
here?

Paul Sengupta wrote:

White spirit is a synthetic version of turpentine (or at least it's used
interchangeably with turps). It's used for cleaning off wet or recently
dried paint from things. It's a solvent and I think it can be used to
thin oil based paints, but not sure.

Thanks. Turpentine is used here for thinning and cleaning oil paints (as in the
stuff Rembrandt used), but little else. Not sure if I've ever seen a synthetic
version on the market. I think the real stuff comes from pine trees, of which
we have plenty.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...
Paul Sengupta wrote:

White spirit is a synthetic version of turpentine (or at least it's
used
interchangeably with turps). It's used for cleaning off wet or recently
dried paint from things. It's a solvent and I think it can be used to
thin oil based paints, but not sure.

Thanks. Turpentine is used here for thinning and cleaning oil paints (as
in the
stuff Rembrandt used), but little else. Not sure if I've ever seen a
synthetic
version on the market. I think the real stuff comes from pine trees, of
which
we have plenty.

White Spirit may not be a synthetic version. Maybe I thought that
because it's sometimes labelled "Turpentine substitute".

http://www.tipking.com/Tips/publish/tip_475.shtml

So "mineral spirits" is the same?

Ah, been google-ing. From:
http://www.peg2003.org/hardwood_gard...niture_uk.html
HARDWOOD GARDEN FURNITURE UK : Turpentine is
a derivative of pine oil which is the proper solvent for varnish.
Mineral spirits are a derivative of coal tar distillates and white
spirit pertains to naptha which is also a coal tar derivative but
containing benzene which may be banned in your country.

Other websites say it's the same thing, including:
http://www.inchem.org/documents/hsg/hsg/hsg103.htm
which says "mineral spirit" is a synonym for white spirit.

So I guess we can use it! :-)

Paul

Paul Sengupta wrote:

So "mineral spirits" is the same?

Nope. Completely different smell. It's used primarily here to thin oil-based
house paints and for cleaning stuff. It's an oilier substance than naptha,
which makes naptha better for cleaning applications that must be oil free. So
I used turpentine for oil painting (back when I did such things), I use mineral
spirits for paintbrush cleanup and cleanup of car and aircraft parts, and naptha
to clean items I'm preparing to paint.

I haven't found much on how they're made or what the chemical differences are,
but I did find a medical dictionary which lists them as different substances
and prescribes different treatments for cases of poisoning. That site is
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency

As others have pointed out, mineral spirits is also called "Stoddard's Solvent".

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

Paul Sengupta wrote:

So "mineral spirits" is the same?


Many (too) many years ago, we used a mix of Gunk and
Kerosene;
about 1 part Gunk to 5 parts Kerosene. Didn't have
EPA in
that time so there wasn't a restriction on disposal of
the
cleaning mixture and the residue from the cleaning.

We would spray the engine with the cleaning mix, leave
set 15
to 20 minutes then wash the engine down with straight
water.


Lou.