Stits Tubeseal

[skip]

I am doing some tubing repair and needed some good-old Stits tube seal to coat the interiors of the tubes under repair.
Searching Aircraft Spruce, nothing shows up. Search Wicks. Nothing. Univair has a reference but the page says "Nothing here". Wag Aero actually still has some!
I contacted the parent company that has Poly Fiber, Randalf, etc. and found that Tube Seal was discontinued last May. It kind of makes sense. Tube seal is not a "covering product" which is what they do now.
In any case, I have a bit on order that will hold me for a while. But it looks like when Wag Aero's stock is gone, Tubeseal is gone.

So In the future when this last bit of Tubeseal is used up and I don't really want to go back to pure boiled Linseed oil, What alternatives do you guys recommend?

Skip Egdorf
N34237 - 1946 BC12-D

[Peterroy]

Skip,

What happened to Scott? Surely he would have some ideas on this.

Peter

[Guest]

There is a MIL SPEC number on the label. How about looking up that spec and perhaps mixing your own?

I always thought that tube seal smelled just like linseed oil, I bet it is mostly linseed oil mixed with some other preservative oil.

Dave

[Scott]

Search "line oil"
aircraft spruce has Rand line oil.
i used that and ACF50

[Guest]

For a long time I thought that people were saying "Lion oil" when they talked about that stuff.

[PA1195]

Think about this. I'm not sure if i'm correct but here goes...Once welded and built the only way internal corrosion can become a problem is if the internals are humidified prior to closing or they continue to breathe. If we seal the fuselage to leaks then tube seal is just an extra. Find a spot, add an air fitting, and pressurize the fuselage with shop air to look for leaks. At one time manufacturers like Piper for the early J series left them open at the tail to breathe. Ask why and balance out the problem.

Gary

[Mike S]

... and I don't really want to go back to pure boiled Linseed oil

The IA that welded in my new tie struts recommended linseed oil. Other than leaving rags soaked with it in my neighbor's garbage bin what is the downside?

[Robert Lees]

Think about this. I'm not sure if i'm correct but here goes...Once welded and built the only way internal corrosion can become a problem is if the internals are humidified prior to closing or they continue to breathe. If we seal the fuselage to leaks then tube seal is just an extra. Find a spot, add an air fitting, and pressurize the fuselage with shop air to look for leaks. At one time manufacturers like Piper for the early J series left them open at the tail to breathe. Ask why and balance out the problem.

Gary

That's a commendable aim, Gary, but to be honest a welder is never going to be able to seal every single leak. And certainly not back in the '30s and '40s when they were almost throwing them out of the factory door!

There was an article in the EAA Sport Aviation a couple of decades ago, whereby a builder had pressurised his steel-tube frame with nitrogen (and added a pressure gauge). My recollection is that he never got it to hold pressure.

Your comment about the Piper tail being open may be correct....but I believe that the Piper tubes were not internally oiled; hence all the tail longeron corrosion so prevalent on early Piper taildraggers.
My BC12D was built in 1946, and was treated with oil in the tubes (which oil, I do not know...probably boiled linseed oil). When I re-built my fuselage, I repeated the oiling (with Stits Tube-seal).


"using a vetinerary syringe, with the wickedly sharp point removed"


"picture shows the stuff unexpectedly pouring out of an aperture at the "H" frame (control column) fitting, to prove that at least some of the tubes are connected internally."

Source: https://www.taylorcraft.org.uk/Brey_rebuild-Fuselage-structural.htm

[N96337]

The IA that welded in my new tie struts recommended linseed oil. Other than leaving rags soaked with it in my neighbor's garbage bin what is the downside?

Boiled Linseed Oil doesn't creep anywhere near as good as Tubeseal does!!! I'm sure sad to hear it's going away. Gonna have to try the line oil I guess.
My Bellanca was original from '46, and both lower longerons had "dots" of rust on the lower AND upper surfaces all the way from the tail to the rear spars. Dots about the size of a pencil lead, but some had almost come through the wall. No oil of any kind present in the tube and beautiful looking welds and a very nice looking fuselage! I just happened to hit one with my auto center punch when inspecting, before I painted the tubes... if I was 1/4" away, it was solid as could be. I'm a big advocate of oiling tubes!!
John

[Scott]

Linseed oil will eventually dry to a crystal-like state. Line oils and ACF 50 have surface tension properties that promote capillary action, the scuttlebutt being that they will eventually coat the interior surfaces without rotating the tubes.

[Jfmctt]

You could possibly use some Progold steel tube protector, it is for bicycles