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Oiling tubes

Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed

MEMBER
PNW
I searched the site for information on oiling the tubes and it sounds like TubeSeal is the desired product. However, when clicking on the links (all from old posts), searching the internet, Polyfiber, Stits or Aircraft Spruce I come up empty. The only hit I get is on a European site that sells it in a container that looks like Polyfiber with their label printed over it. Not interested in shipping this stuff over the pond.

Does anybody have a current source for TubeSeal or an equivalent product?

Thanks.
 
Oiling fuselage tubes? For that the most common is Corrosion-X. Sealed struts produced nowadays have Corrosion-X in them.
 
Par-Al Ketone, Tube Seal, or Linseed Oil are all good for coating tubing interiors. Tube Seal and Par-AlKetone are available from Aircraft Spruce. Linseed oil can be had at most any big box store. Unless you want to start drilling holes in your fuselage and then putting in drive screws to seal them, I don't know that I'd worry much about it unless you are going on floats. Most every Piper fuselage I've done repairs on, the interior of tubing was great, exterior not so much. For fuselages that have been oiled, I hate doing repairs on them. I've had more than one tube flash flames at me. Had a buddy have his T shirt catch fire from a tube flash on his chest while welding a cluster in front of him.
 
dgapilot said:
Par-Al Ketone, Tube Seal, or Linseed Oil are all good for coating tubing interiors. Tube Seal and Par-AlKetone are available from Aircraft Spruce. Linseed oil can be had at most any big box store. Unless you want to start drilling holes in your fuselage and then putting in drive screws to seal them, I don't know that I'd worry much about it unless you are going on floats. Most every Piper fuselage I've done repairs on, the interior of tubing was great, exterior not so much. For fuselages that have been oiled, I hate doing repairs on them. I've had more than one tube flash flames at me. Had a buddy have his T shirt catch fire from a tube flash on his chest while welding a cluster in front of him.
Click to expand...

I'd be surprised if Aircraft Spruce or the other supply houses still have Tube Seal. I looked hard for it a couple years ago and found some at Spencer Aircraft. They said they were almost out of stock and not likely to get more.

Speaking of flash flames, while building a torque tube assembly I found that to be routine, even with stock raw tubes. You learn to treat the tubes as if they were guns!
 
If TubeSeal is available from Spruce they are hiding it well. I have corrosion X so I’ll use that.

I do plan to put it on floats so want that extra layer of protection. I built in a provision for adding tube oil to the lower longerons so that’s not an issue.
 
I'd heard that Tubeseal was discontinued. I sure hope it doesn't stay that way, because that stuff was lightyears ahead of all the other stuff!!! I dropped a little on the outside of a bottom longeron on my Bellanca and didn't think to wipe it right up. Next day it had climbed half way up the tailpost. I've cut tubes to repair bent ones that had it in, and it's 360 degrees around the inside. If you put it in with a syringe and needle, carefully, it wont have a flare up at the hole...but if you accidently slop a little it sure does!!
John
 
Hardtailjohn said:
I'd heard that Tubeseal was discontinued. I sure hope it doesn't stay that way, because that stuff was lightyears ahead of all the other stuff!!! I dropped a little on the outside of a bottom longeron on my Bellanca and didn't think to wipe it right up. Next day it had climbed half way up the tailpost. I've cut tubes to repair bent ones that had it in, and it's 360 degrees around the inside. If you put it in with a syringe and needle, carefully, it wont have a flare up at the hole...but if you accidently slop a little it sure does!!
John
Click to expand...

I've got two pints sitting on a shelf waiting for the last weld on my fuselage. I tried a little for a test and it did what you said.
 
Mr. Ed said:
If TubeSeal is available from Spruce they are hiding it well. I have corrosion X so I’ll use that.

I do plan to put it on floats so want that extra layer of protection. I built in a provision for adding tube oil to the lower longerons so that’s not an issue.
Click to expand...
Unless you have pin holes in your welds, oiling the insides won't make any difference being on floats. The tubes rust from the outside in. If you have pinholes the oil will leak out the holes.

Not trying to talk you out of oiling the inside, only pointing out reality. In A&P school they teach you about oiling the insides. After cutting up lots of old rusty fuselages, the only places I've found rust inside is where the hole rusted it's way in from the outside letting in the moisture. Concentrate of being sure 100% of the outside is rust proofed.
 
My Bellanca was the last one I found with rust inside. And only in spots. It's usually from condensation rather than leakage. The longerons on my Cruisair were absolutely solid, except for rust globs about the size of a pencil lead....some on the bottom of the tube, but also some on the top of the tube. The outside of all the tubing looked fantastic and was epoxy primed and topcoated.
 
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