Protect from Bird presents

[BillyBob]

My project will take a couple of weeks to complete. It's 17 miles away and a lot of surface area, Beech Bonanza.

The Bonanza is in a shade hangar, roof but no walls. So birds can leave me presents.

Question:
When I finish an area with UC & polish, should I wax to protect from elements. Or wait until larger area is complete to wax (entire wing). I would imagine I need to wax. That's why you tape off areas?

Also why can't I post photos. At the bottom it says, "You may not post attachments"

[TOGWT]

Re: Protect from Bird presents

Paint vs Bird excrement

It contains highly acidic and alkaline concentrates; Ammonia and Uric acid, pH 3.0 - 4.5, Uric acid is a small organic compound which is produced by the breakdown of protein during digestion, and is excreted by reptiles and birds. Uric acid is also the end product of nitrogen catabolism in birds Ammonia is a mixture of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas; with moisture as a catalyst it becomes Ammonium Hydroxide, which is caustic.

Heat and water act as a catalyst; a vehicle paint surface temperature of >90.oF creates a very aggressive reactivity of the Alkaline, Uric Acid and Ammonia. This will cause surface etching, so they should be removed without delay, at lower temperatures (> 40.oF or less) there’s no reactivity and therefore little or no etching.

Their main food source in summer is mostly insects, in the winter/ spring it’s berries, which are very acidic, and if left for any length of time the will cause the porous clear coat to occlude (a non-transparent ‘clouded’ area) or may cause etching (a depression in the paint or glass surfaces) Birds use gravel to help digest their food so grit and sand are some of the major components, which can cause scratching.

Protection- a polymer sealant forms a molecular bond with any paint surface it’s applied too, so when it’s attacked by environmental elements (acid rain, bird excrement, etc) it provides a direct conduit to the clear coat paint surface, causing surface etching.

Carnauba wax- molecules form a closed linked mesh like structure, which means that they only butt up together to protect the surface and the wax forms a shell like structure that adheres to the paint surface. When attacked by environmental elements they have to compromise the wax surface before they can reach the clear coat paint surface and cause surface etching.

Most organic waxes (Carnauba) are more resistant to environmental hazards then synthetics, although an Acrylic polymer offers limited resistance. Being a sacrificial coating, the best way to avoid clear coat etching is too remove the environmental acid, along with the wax as soon as it’s noticed; but given enough time acid will compromise the clear coat whatever its protection.

No wax or polymer sealant can provide a permanent shield against acidic bird excrement, even the latest nanotechnology coating or CeramiClear only offers resistance to scratches, mars and acid etch, a product like Collinite 845 Insulator Wax is probably the most durable non-organic wax product, and but this will only provide enough of a barrier to enable it to be removed quickly before causing too much damage to the paint film surface.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Protect from Bird presents

In a bit of a round about way TOGWT is telling you that bird droppings are nasty things, and not just because of the way they look. They can do serious damage to paint, but no wax on the market is a permanent barrier against them. Wax is a sacrificial barrier, but anything than can actually etch paint (like bird droppings) will obviously be no match for that incredibly thin layer of product you poured out of a bottle and wiped onto the paint.

We would suggest waxing the areas you've corrected before leaving for the day. This will at least give you some level of sacrificial protection until you can come back and continue work. Of course you should remove fresh droppings as soon as possible to minimize the risk of damage to the paint, so every morning when you return to the project take a minute to inspect the areas you've previously corrected to make sure you don't have any surprises to deal with.