gummy control lines

I have a couple sets of .015 stainless lines that were put away with rubber bands on the reels to keep the lines neat. Over time a small amount of fuel residue has dissolved the rubber and gummed up the lines, making them sticky. What solvent should I use to make them clean and slick again?

This is a very easy four-step process:

1) Throw the lines away.

2) Throw the reels away.

3) Cut new lines to length, terminate ends with wire wrapping.

4) Store new lines on new reels. Don't use rubber bands.

If you absolutely insist on false economy of saving the old lines, if acetone won't remove the boogers I suspect they'll be there for a good long time.

LAST EDITED ON Jun-23-04 AT 10:48 PM (CDT)
 
These are not old lines. They were only used a couple of times. Other than the gum they are like brand new. I cannot obtain new material around here. I will try acetone.

Try wiping the lines with mineral spirits. It's a very good solvent for gummy crap, like masking tape residue. If it works on the gum, you can probably clean the plastic reels with it as well - acetone will almost surely eat the plastic.

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"Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -Aldous Huxley

Acetone will work OK. You will be able to clean the lines better if you take them off the reel anyhow.

When the gum was first discovered I took them off the reels, cleaned the worst of it off, and wound them back on. The dried rubber gum is only on the lines, not the reels. Do most people store lines dry, or with a small amount of some kind of lube on them? What is generally used to retain the lines tightly on reels?

Don't know what the Stunt guys do, but the Combat guys all use those nifty red Russian reels with the little holes you shove the ends of the lines into. The few who actually use eyelets (or racing people who actually have the lines attached permanently to the bellcranks cut slots where the little holes are so they can pull the line ends through them into the holes.

I wonder if that label remover stuff they sell at hardware stores for removing price tags and such would work..

I use 14 tho Solids. Before that I used the urtnowski solids, for the last 5 or so years, and in every instance, I use the red reels I beleive your reffering to.

With the solid black clip that goes over the whole reel, and U jsut feel the eyelet through and attach them to the clip.
Stays tight, I also store them in a zip lock bag.

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A friend of mine suggested to store them in Zero-gravity, Zero Oxygen Facilty but.. I thought it was a bit extreme.

>I have a couple sets of .015 stainless lines that were put
>away with rubber bands on the reels to keep the lines neat.
>Over time a small amount of fuel residue has dissolved the
>rubber and gummed up the lines, making them sticky. What
>solvent should I use to make them clean and slick again?

John,
This is not an unusual problem and very easy to solve(ent). Any number of readily available products will do the job. Probably the easitst to find is a product called "Goof-off", usually found at any hardware store and even drug stores and big supermarkets. Lighter fluid will also do the job OK but takes a little more effort. Another product is Dupont PrepSol which can be found at automotive paint stores.

When the gum was first discovered I took them off the reels, cleaned the worst of it off, and wound them back on. The dried rubber gum is only on the lines, not the reels. Do most people store lines dry, or with a small amount of some kind of lube on them? What is generally used to retain the lines tightly on reels?
John Fitzgerald

John,

I believe most people store their lines dry, I certainly do. Most any lube will attract dirt and junk, although probably not rubber bands.

For example, I try to clean my lines immediately after the last flight and before spooling them back up on the reel. This means running the lines one last time but with a paper towel which has been soaked in acetone.

While there are many neat tricks to keeping lines on the reel, I like to cut small rectangles from some sort of cheap rubber-like material, for the past several years resorting to thongs, sometimes called flip-flops.

If you get the sizing just right the rubber piece slips between flanges of reel, installing the little metal clip applies pressure to rubber piece, thence to the lines and all is good.

Dan

P.S. I don't recall a time when three members of the globally-feared Jive Combat Team posted on the same thread.