Priming - Wing Ribs and attachments 14-3-4

I took advantage of a break in the rain to work on priming the wing ribs and attachments. As with previous priming, I first wiped of any markings on the parts using acetone, however since there are a number of similar parts to be primed here, I also attached labels to each part so that I could easily identify its place in the wing.

Wing rib attachments cleaned and tagged for easy identification

I labeled the parts by their wing side (Left or Right) and rib position (pictured above, the 1st and 7th rib starting at the inboard end of the right wing)

Ribs were labeled similarly R1 to R15, and L1 to L15

I then used EkoEtch to clean and etch the aluminum surface. I did take the labels off the parts for this, but was careful to keep the parts organized.

All wing rib attachment parts were etched and left to dry thoroughly prior to priming

Wing ribs were etched outside as it was easier to clean them off with a garden hose due to their size

Slowly working my way through all 30 ribs, 2 at a time

After etching the rib surfaces, I grouped them into piles of 5 but kept them in rib order, as I planned to prime 5 at a time

With the etching done, I then went outside to spray EkoPrime primer on all parts. This took a while, and I had a couple of instances where the compressor tripped a circuit breaker on my power cord reel, and I didn't notice the air pressure slowly decreasing. 

I eventually figured out what happened because primer use increased due to the decreased atomization at the spray gun nozzle (the spray gun was essentially spitting primer), resulting in an uneven spray pattern. After resetting the circuit breaker, and bringing the air pressure back up, priming returned to normal. However, the same thing happened a second time shortly after, and after resetting the circuit breaker again I paid extra attention to it to not get caught out again.

Wing rib attachments drying for a few minutes after priming

After the marathon priming session (30 ribs and a bunch of attachments), I laid all parts out in the garage to cure.

Wing ribs laid out in garage to cure for a couple of days prior to starting final wing assembly

Unfortunately, due to using (and wasting) more primer than planned, I'm now running low on the Charcoal Gray EkoPrime so I'll be placing another order prior to priming the rear spars and top skins.

Primer Hints

• Monitor any circuit breakers that might get tripped by the compressor running. Decreasing air pressure is not immediately noticeable, but becomes obvious when the spray gun starts to spit primer rather than atomize it at the nozzle.

Primer used:  ~620g + 62g distilled water

Time Taken:     11.5 hours

Dates:                February 11 - February 24 2024

RV-10 Build Total Time:    604.1 hours

Priming Total Time:             62.4 hours (not included in build time totals)