In Corona CA http://www.aircraftspruce.com/search/search.php?query=carbo-lift&search=1

They allow local pickup too.

Aircraft spruce is showing backordered, anyone know a place in the US that has it in stock?

Don't feel too comfortable ordering chemicals from overseas

Is caustic soda safe to use on epoxy? I know it dissolves ally.

_________________
r o y g b i v

Not sure ... looking into alternatives though:

http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=82&prodid=113" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.auto-ease.com/cgi/ppcart.pl? ... 4&cleaners" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Seems like there are quite a few products designed for fiberglass. I'm doing an entire frame, so I am a bit leery of using something that may eat into the epoxy resin.

The captain lee one sounds promising.

reporting back ...

I went with a product called "smart strip." You can get it at any sherwin williams store, making it very accessible for people in the US at least.

Little to no smell and fumes and says it washes away with water. Takes some time to start working, but it did remove even very thick white paint. Nice thing is that it is weak enough not to penetrate the primer coat, so it took the frame straight down to the primer.

^ What frame did you use that product on?

_________________
"Let's plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will -- it's only action that can make a man."

full carbon

posting response here to avoid sending too many pms:

I've gone through 1 1/2 quart tubs. I'd go with the gallon side just in case.

I HIGHLY doubt you can strip a frame with any less than 3 containers of 500ml carbolift, unless you use it extremely sparingly on a frame that has a very thin layer of paint. That being said, I really glopped it on ... not worth my time skimping out to save 5-10 bucks.

Heres a pic I took just now on my way out to the store. If you can, I'd recommend wrapping in plastic where ever possible.

test patch





current state of the frame, I was doing it in segments then decided to just do as much as possible in 1 go.

Any concern with affecting the carbon fiber/resin in a negative way? I guess that was one benefit of the Carbolift was that you didn't have to be worried about that.

_________________
"Let's plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will -- it's only action that can make a man."

I can't be 100%, but the fact that it stops at the primer and doesn't seem to go further in many places is at least a positive indication.

http://www.dumondchemicals.com/pdf/TDS/ ... 0Sheet.pdf

Says:

This water-based stripper is extremely effective for removing multiple layers of architectural and tough industrial coatings from virtually all exterior and interior surfaces – wood, brick, metal, concrete, stone, plaster, fiberglass, etc. SMART STRIP™is exceptional for lead-based paint removal and for removal of marine coatings without damage to the gel coat.

I'll keep you updated ... if it does damage the frame I'd sure be sad and out a scott plasma 3 frame

This is a paint stripper for DIY use. It also says on the label not to be used on Plastics. Take composites at your will.

The way that frame has been dabbed, stripper is not meant to be used like that on carbon. After enough time, it will eat through the uppermost coat (clear-coat). You could argue how long it will be before the stripper affects structural integrity. But long before that actually happens, the carbon finish will turn into a matte.

The recommendation is to use multiple thinner coats. Tedious task, you bet.

Says on the data sheet:

"SMART STRIP™ will not affect glass, aluminum, or plastic surfaces."

I only used large amounts to get the initial layer of decals off and to soften it up.

It is also not penetrating the primer coat. I can't see how it can get to the clearcoat if the primer is very much intact.

Have a mate with a Addict frame,ugly white and gold paintwork,so wants it stripped.Have seen great reviews of carbo-lift on this forum,so looked up their website.It has the info,is basic in design but so what??? But when you click on the online shop part,it draws a blank.So my query is,are carbo-lift still operating,or has it fallen on hard times?? Anywhere in the UK selling it??Thanks.

What's a carbo lift? Iv seen it mentioned on here a few times?

I have some , I got mine from there websight. But the quickest way to strip the frame is use a craft knife/stanley knife. Just get it under the paint and lightly pull it towards you,it's much quicker than using the Carbo Lift. I stripped my old carbon trek in less than 3 hours . Just make sure you dont dig into the carbon .You can get small bits off with a bit of wet and dry paper. It's really not that hard . Carbo lift seems to work much better on alloy. If you do get some Carbo the room has to be hot .it works much better hot. But if I was you I would use the knife method which is much better and quicker.wear some thickish gloves if you do it that way
Good luck .

Some people have also suggested that some sharp blades for are faster and easier to use to remove paint: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83500&hilit=sharp+blade" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;