how to clean?

[Keratos]

Just wondering what the best cleaning and polishing agents are for a Nitro Heli.
Can I use same agents all over or do I need different chemicals/agents for different components?
Over on the Finless bob videos, he recommends alcohol all over. I'm not particularly fond of dipping into my wife's Xmas Smirnoff stash!?
Thanks

[del19_82]

how to clean?

I quite literally wiped mine over with a baby wipe or a flash wipe at the end of the flying day, put the bung in the exhaust and that was me. Never had an issue with this in the 6 years that I flew nitro Heli's

[trillian]

I use a little window cleaner and a tea towel (I just have Sainsbury's brand window cleaner) for the general residue and splattered bugs etc. and this has worked well and never harmed anything. A lot of the time the blades will wipe off easier on a nitro because the fuel residue keeps the grass and bugs from sticking as much as they do on a dry surface.

[pgkevet]

After the wipe you can use cleaning putty to get into other bits.
I have been tempted to make up a propylene glycol solution and fill a compressed air sprayer with it though..

[PKNEC]

If you want your copter to come up smelling of roses get in touch with the detailing lads.
Awesome products to suit any surface.
I use autosmart 101.
copter looks good so do my vehicles.
then there's dodo juice,valet,etc have a look here A world for detailers...

[Keratos]

A-ha , ok ,
thats great guys, thanks ever so much for the tips
So just wipes then to clean down the servos and electrics too?

[jimmyhorns]

I just use what I use for my nitro planks - the cheapest kitchen surface cleaner I can find in that particular supermarket. Own brand asda at the moment, about 80p a bottle from memory, with some blue general purpose kitchen wipes that I cut into 4's or 8's depending on how big they are to start with. I couple of those and a quick spray and im all done.

Ive used baby wipes (have a ready supply at home) but find they catch and tear too easily and arnt really agressive enough.

Ive stopped bothering with some bits TBH, I cant really see a reason to clean the skids off properly, just a cursory wipe for them

[Steve]

Clean the whole thing with WD40 and some kitchen roll - lubricates the moving parts a treat, protects against rust and cleans the plastic surfaces (even the canopy) like new.

[jimmyhorns]

A-ha , ok ,
thats great guys, thanks ever so much for the tips
So just wipes then to clean down the servos and electrics too?

your servos and electrics should be mostly protected by your canopy, I dont think i've ever needed to do any serious cleaning of them...

[tonystevens]

wipes and kitchen towel are all you need

[Keratos]

I probably should have qualified my query ...

The canopy is off. Im cleaning as it looks dirty, greasy the metals are dull , and the plastics are flat .... Its been in storage for about 6 mnths in a dusty dirty garage, although it was in a large cardboard box

Sorry!

Does this change anything recommended above?

your servos and electrics should be mostly protected by your canopy, I dont think i've ever needed to do any serious cleaning of them...

[Bronek]

Re: how to clean?

I use two chemicals for cleaning of my heli - isopropyl alcohol and silicone oil. Not sure if that helps.

[Keratos]

Yup. It all helps thanks.
Another bit to add to the expanding shopping list. Every time I tick an item off, a new one drops in at the bottom.
Getting an expensive hobby is this.

I use two chemicals for cleaning of my heli - isopropyl alcohol and silicone oil. Not sure if that helps.

[jimmyhorns]

I probably should have qualified my query ...

The canopy is off. Im cleaning as it looks dirty, greasy the metals are dull , and the plastics are flat .... Its been in storage for about 6 mnths in a dusty dirty garage, although it was in a large cardboard box

Sorry!

Does this change anything recommended above?

I suppose it depends what you think you will acheive by cleaning them.

If it looking clean is important to you, then sure, go ahead.

A dirty servo case isnt going to stop the servo from working as it should.... cleaning stuff generally means moving dirt, grit and grime around and taking some of it off on the cloth, so IMO you are just as likely to be pushing dirt into the workings of a servo with cleaning, than actually removing dirt.

The bad news is, that with nitro, even if you do all this cleaning, its going to get a fine greasy film back on it after the first couple of flights anyway, especially if you are learning.

Learning to hover on a nitro is basically like floating the heli in a cloud of oil. It can and will get anywhere.

If I was stripping and rebuilding then I would clean as I go, but I wouldnt bother with servos , battery and electronics unless I was doing this.

[Keratos]

Mmm, logical when you put it like that. Ok. I shall just see how i go after the initial hover learning thanks And appreciate the insight.

I suppose it depends what you think you will acheive by cleaning them.

If it looking clean is important to you, then sure, go ahead.

A dirty servo case isnt going to stop the servo from working as it should.... cleaning stuff generally means moving dirt, grit and grime around and taking some of it off on the cloth, so IMO you are just as likely to be pushing dirt into the workings of a servo with cleaning, than actually removing dirt.

The bad news is, that with nitro, even if you do all this cleaning, its going to get a fine greasy film back on it after the first couple of flights anyway, especially if you are learning.

Learning to hover on a nitro is basically like floating the heli in a cloud of oil. It can and will get anywhere.

If I was stripping and rebuilding then I would clean as I go, but I wouldnt bother with servos , battery and electronics unless I was doing this.