Tool Crib

Smoother Wings with the Granitize Process

Granitize, a manufacturer of car-care, boat, and recreational vehicle cleaning and maintenance products since 1930, offers a growing line of aircraft cleaners and has obtained Boeing approval of its Xzilon 3 Aircraft Exterior Corrosion Inhibitor formula. On a properly prepared surface, Xzilon 3 reduces aerodynamic drag, protects painted surfaces from ultraviolet light damage, and inhibits corrosion, according to the company. Xzilon 3 is designed for application on both painted metal and composites surfaces and also polished aluminum nacelle inlets and leading edges.

The Xzilon application process begins with cleaning the surface using Granitize's XE-3 degreaser or XC-11 cleaner. Granitize recommends using a clay bar (XC-12 Grana-Clay) with the XE-3 or XC-11 to remove tough dirt and previous treatments and to smooth the surface to be treated. After clay-bar cleaning, the XG-5 Hard Surface Cleaner is used to prepare the surface for application of Xzilon 3.

Xzilon 3 is expensive ($110.95 per pint) and must be used sparingly and carefully. A pint is enough to cover about 1,600 square feet with one coat, but Granitize recommends three coats for best results. The pint bottle will be enough to do three coats on a typical twin like a Beech Baron, according to Dale Forton, Granitize national sales manager. One third of a pint will be sufficient to coat the brightwork on a business jet.

On a clean, dry surface, Xzilon 3 is applied with a lint-free cotton cloth or Granitize's special application mitt on a four-square-foot area. It is important to polish the area after applying Xzilon 3 (with the Granitize microfiber towel) before the substance dries off, otherwise it will have to cleaned off and reapplied. Two more coats should be applied, as recommended by Granitize.

The results are impressive. Xzilon produces a clean, hard shine on even old paint. While it is challenging both to apply Xzilon sparingly so as not to waste it and in a small enough area to prevent it from drying prematurely, the results are well worth the effort. In a field test, one wing was treated with the full Xzilon process and the other wing left alone. The untreated wing quickly took on a coat of hangar dust, while the Xziloned wing remained shiny and relatively dust-free.

One note of caution when using Xzilon 3: it won't spruce up faded paint. When polishing a faded area of red paint on an airplane using the clay bar process and Xzilon 3, it was found that the red paint remained cloudy, although it was smoother after the treatment. Forton explained that some sun-faded paint may benefit from treatment with polishing compound to restore the paint's luster before using Xzilon. "It's only a protectant," agreed Jim Garland, president and CEO of aircraft cleaning company Sharp Details, Fairfax, Virginia.

Xzilon 3 has other applications, primarily for treating polished aluminum brightwork. A Boeing service letter (737-SL-71-053) approves the use of Xzilon as "an acceptable temporary protective coating for corrosion prevention," according to the letter, "and found that it offered enhanced corrosion prevention performance over anodized or bare (polished) lip skins fabricated from 2219-T62 [alloy]." Garland's company has been using Xlilon on polished aluminum leading edges and nacelle inlets for corporate jet clients. "It's been fantastic," he said.

Granitize recommends waiting 60 to 90 days for paint to cure before using the Xzilon treatment, according to Forton. He advises touch-up treatment every six months or 400 to 600 flying hours. "If you set up a maintenance schedule," he said, "you shouldn't have to polish [the whole airplane]."

Business jet operators have devised their own uses for Xzilon, in addition to normal airframe polishing. One flight department technician uses Xzilon to coat the inside of the company airplane's trash bins. The owners don't like using garbage bags, and the Xzilon prevents waste from sticking to the sides of the bin. Another flight department's jet accidentally taxied over some freshly painted yellow taxiway lines and paint spattered the underside of the wings, according to Forton. Luckily, the airplane had already received the full Xzilon treatment and the cleaners were able simply to wipe the paint off; it didn't stick to the Xzilon.

The $129.95 X-3500 Kit includes a 16-ounce bottle of Xzilon X-3, one application mitt, six microfiber polishing towels, and an instructional DVD. Forton said that Xzilon isn't delivered in larger containers because it will cure once exposed to air. "The smaller bottle doesn't seem to have that problem," he said. "We can, however, for larger jobs like BBJs, package it in a gallon [container] to be used up on a particular job."

Granitize Aviation International, phone: 562-923-5438, www.granitizeaviation.com

CHAMPION DASH 1 OIL FILTERS FEATURE UPGRADES

It's been three years since Champion Aerospace released its redesigned -1 series of piston engine oil filters and about a year and a half since mechanics and owners started seeing the -1 filters completely replace the old-style Champion filters in the marketplace.

The big difference, besides the dash number, is that all -1 filters are short, making them easier to install where there isn't much room between the accessory case and the firewall. To make the filter shorter and yet more effective, Champion engineers had to incorporate many improvements.

From the outside, the nut on the end of the filter can has a higher hex and squarer edges, so sockets or box-end wrenches fit better and don't slip off as easily. The nut is also attached more securely to the can with a new welding process so that it's harder to twist the nut off when removing the filter. Another feature that makes the filter easier to remove is a siliconized gasket, which helps prevent the gasket from sticking to the mounting pad on the engine. The can itself is thicker, too.

On the inside, the filter base plates have eight, instead of four, inlet holes to improve the flow of oil by 30 percent. The center tube is stronger, with more than twice the collapse resistance, to help resist collapse during cold starts when oil is more viscous. At 15 degrees Fahrenheit, according to Champion, oil is 10 times more viscous than at 100 degrees F. "During a cold start when oil is like molasses," said Steve Staudt, Champion aviation marketing manager, "the spike in pressure wants to get through the filter media somehow and tries to crush the center tube."

The filter media is new, made of a composite fiberglass cellulose. "It's got the highest efficiency of any other filter on the market for dirt-holding capacity," said Staudt. Designing the media so that the filter bypass valve (only in the 48108 and 48109 filters) opens only after the element has done its job filtering out contaminants for a long period of time is challenging. "You can make a super-efficient media," he added, "but it will gunk up and force the filter into bypass."

During SAE dirt tests, the Champion filter was 98.6 percent efficient at removing 40-micron wear particles. Catching smaller wear particles that are 10 microns in size isn't critical, Staudt said. "Those particles don't cause wear because engine clearances are so wide."

Champion engineers elected not to incorporate a magnet in the oil filter. "We've built filters and tested them with magnets. Patents for the use of magnets in oil filters go back to about 1950. On aircraft engines, you have 13 or 14 different contaminants in the oil and only one of those is ferrous metal. What about all the other particles? If those particles are large enough, they can do just as much damage as ferrous particles," Staudt said. Champion has also found that in oil filters with magnets, the oil flow tends not to travel by the magnet to a great degree or if the filter suddenly goes into bypass mode, a surge of oil can wash the ferrous particles off the magnet and nearby magnetized parts, allowing the ferrous particles to reenter the engine.

Since launching the spin-on filter in the aviation market in 1972, Champion has delivered more than 25 million filters.