[tghii]

While reading the Pelican board I found this thread on using Dry Ice as a blasting media to clean the under-carriage, strip paint, etc. Could this be better than an acid dip? No acid seeping from the seams to ruin paint. Better than glass, soda or sand media as there will be no media to clean up. Might this solve the removal of the rubberized undercoating?
I've been told by ASCO Mannassas that sand/glass blasting is useless in trying to remove the undercoating.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showt...hreadid=207752

Can anyone think of a down side?

thomas

[BlackTalon]

It takes a really big compressor, and it is a really, really loud process! I saw a demonstration a few months back where they showed the use of ice blasting for cleaning brick masonry facades. To be honest, it didn't have much success when used on calcium deposits, but it blasted layers of paint right off the steel pipes and conduits. Based on what I saw, I would wonder if it would be effective on pliable undercoating material...

Also, I was left with the impression that there are not many ice blasting setups in the country right now. The company that performed the demo was from Michgan -- and there was no one closer to DC.

[thomschoon]

Investigated Dry ice for the stripping of aerospace parts back in the early '90's, great process but the cost was too high. I dont think it would be much good on the undercoating as we had problems getting it to remove pliable sealants. I have also done the acid process (which is usually caustic soda) a couple of times, what a mess as you will have things coming out of body seams for quite a while. It was great it its day but I would torch off the undercoating and get it PMB (Plastic Media Blast). That way it is dry and you have no entrapped mositure.

[Vicegrip]

CO2 blasting is good for areas where savings on cleanup would offset the freaking $$$$$$$$$$ cost. No media to clean up but there is still the removed substance to deal with. CO2 is not as agressive as inorganic sand type media but does not produce mesurable point of impact heat so it might be good for stripping thin sheet metal rather than walnut shell. Soft materals are not cut well by media blasting. Stone cutters cut rubber sheet for stencles (How the heck do you spell that?) The media bounces of soft stuff but chips away at hard or brittle stuff.

[tghii]

Thanks for the responses. There is a company near our home in Georgia that provides the dry ice blasting so I thought it might be an option to clean up the under-carriage. I've called the company and left a voice mail requesting info on their services. I'll post their response and cost estimates.

thomas