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Q&As since 1989
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How to clean adhesive from dyed anodized aluminum?
Q. We make loudspeakers that incorporate aluminum extrusions. Naturally, some adhesive becomes smudged onto the appearance surfaces during assembly.
What solvents can be used to remove adhesive from a dyed anodized aluminum surface that was sealed using nickel acetate plus hot water without damaging the seal?
Xylene and MEK work well on the adhesive, but seem to leave the surface looking hazy or lightened, whether it is dyed or clear. Pretty sure hexane or heptane would work, but have not yet tried them. Also have not tried any chloro or chloro-fluorocarbons.
loudspeaker company - Columbus, Ohio, USA
2006
A. acetone [on eBay or Amazon] should work just fine.
Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho
A. Acetone will leach (lighten-not bleach) several organic dyes.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
Q. Thanks, Mark. That does work. I may also wind up with a bit of cured epoxy that I'd want to get rid of. What about pushing my luck with an epoxy remover that says right on it, "Not suitable for aluminum or zinc"? It smells like methylene chloride. Will the anodization hold up?
David Janszen- Columbus, Ohio, USA
2006
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December 2013 A. Hi. Aircraft Stripper is methylene chloride, so I don't think methylene chloride will harm aluminum or any metal. But since it says "Not suitable for aluminum or zinc", I'd suspect that the product is actually a highly caustic stripper (which unfortunately would destroy the anodizing very quickly). Regards,  Ted Mooney, P.E. Striving to live Aloha finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey |
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Q. Thanks, James.. I was not aware of that. Is that the case with even a well sealed coating? With the fast evaporation of acetone, I couldn't imagine it effecting any well sealed dyed coating. But then again, I haven't done any dyed anodizing for almost 8 years.
Marc Green
anodizer - Boise, Idaho
2006
A. Theoretically, all of the solvents mentioned above WILL WORK if the anodizing is COMPLETELY sealed. That said, we have to admit, that most shops do not control their seal well enough to get a "complete" seal. In other words, acetone will work without leaching, again, if the seal is complete. That is one of the test for a complete seal.And most of those so-called "cold" seals are not "complete".
Robert H Probert
Robert H Probert Technical Services
Garner, North Carolina
2006
Need a coating to stop adhesion of automotive glue to aluminum
Q. Greetings finishing.com members, it's been a good 10 years since I left the finishing industry, so I'm kind of rusty on needs.
I have a unique need in that I have 6061 unfinished aluminum fixture pieces that are constantly being subjected to a Bostik 4289 series glue process. The problem with this is that the glue is accumulating and requiring a very aggressive cleaning cycle that is going to eventually lead to failure of the fixtures due to buildup.
These are not anodized parts and that initially was my thought on how to help alleviate this issue; the glue comes into contact with the parts around 380-400 °F temps, being deposited by glue gun onto a substrate.
I'm looking for a way to keep the maintenance tasks either less, or allow the glue to break away from the aluminum bases easier.
Any thoughts? I'm willing to get the battery charger out and go old school for some tries if you guys think anodizing would possibly help.
old school anodizer - Toledo, Ohio USA
December 18, 2013
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