My Nuevo caught measles in France

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Just washing the van down after it's trip to France in preparation for the Bala rally when I discovered this massive rash of tiny red spots covering all of the horizontal surfaces. It's a beggar to get off. Nothing touches it but elbow grease and cutting paste. I've tried meths, polish, white spirit, alchohol, and resin remover (rubbing them on the spots not drinking them)

It would appear to have come from a tree I was parked under in France as it is only on the roof and bits that stick out on the rear of the van, but not the bonnet.

Anybody any ideas what it might be so I can avoid it in future, or an easy way to get rid of it without using up any more of my finite heart beats?

Thanks

Peterm

I've had that on the roof of my Symphony and it's parked on my drive not under a tree. I researched it a while back and the only common answer I got was 'Industrial Fallout'. I had some success at removing with Autoglym Paint Renovator and then waxing but it was slow hard work. Then I tried Muc-off caravan cleaner, left it for about five minutes (they say it should be washed off after 2 minutes) and it seems to wipe off easily followed by waxing.

I remember a few years ago when every vehicle on our works carpark had something similar. It turned out to be, as Paul says, "fallout" from Leyland Motors blast furnaces. In other words, hot iron dust which stuck to the paintwork and then rusted.
One of the works technologists told us about something we could get from the chemist to remove it but I cannot remember what it was, some kind of acid I think?
I do remember it being a white powder that we mixed with hot water used to wash the dust off.
Some really badly affected cars were re-sprayed at Leyland Motors' expense.

Frank

 One of the works technologists told us about something we could get from the chemist to remove it but I cannot remember what it was, some kind of acid I think?
I do remember it being a white powder that we mixed with hot water used to wash the dust off.

~That would be "OXALIC ACID"  used by boat owners to remove rust staining from a carelessly dropped iron objects, certainly works extra well on GRP -  on metal body work Im not so sure so it might be worth testing it on an out of the way spot just incase it bleaches the paint

Yes! you've rung the bell  that's the stuff  

Frank

I read that there is something called 'artillery fungus' which targets white surfaces with it's spore shooting fruits. As Peter says there is none on the Heki or the cab. Some recommend coating the area with cooking oil, leaving it overnight and using a polish on the surface. Seems a bit of a chore.

Thanks for the suggestions. I would use a labour saving device, but she is packing the van tomorrow.

Regards

Peterm

Isn't rhubarb a good source of oxalic acid?  

It's an 'old hands' method of removing tea stains and such.

Boil up some of those old stalks - at least it can't be strong enough to attack the paintwork.....................




............can it???

Derek

Isn't rhubarb a good source of oxalic acid? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] 

It's an 'old hands' method of removing tea stains and such.

Boil up some of those old stalks - at least it can't be strong enough to attack the paintwork

Its the leaves you brew up not the stalks, I have a recipe somewhere given to me by an old salt  when I stupidly left a spanner on the GRP cab of my boat I didnt use it  - I just bought a 500g box of Oxalic acid  its not expensive and readily available at a well known online dealer that sounds south American.

I cant see oxalic acid attacking the paint work but it might bleach it

Our advice is DON'T TOUCH IT!!

It happens every year in the south of France and as far as we could make out it is resin spat out by trees. (One year we weren't within fifteen yards of a tree but it still appeared!!)

We tried "EVERYTHING" for two seasons (including turps, white spirit, alcohol, bleach and acetone) in an attempt to remove it from our boat; and none of them worked 100% without starting to damage the paintwork.

In the end an old Frenchman told us "Nature puts it on and nature will take it off." and he was right. We left it alone the next season and after about two months it disappeared.

We think that the UV from the sun removed it, which could be a bit of a problem if you are now back in the UK!   

Hope this helps.  

Best regards,
 

Very interesting - hope it does come off one way or the other. I cleaned the roof of the van yesterday and found some black spots which seemed to be flakes of something or other. It was a pain removing them but at least they didn't leave any residue. Shocked at how dirty the roof was, though. Now shiny. Very shiny 

Not me groundhog.

Thanks for all of the suggestions folks. I like the one about waiting until next year next.

Just driven back from Bala in all that rain. The red spots are now hidden by pine needles!!!

Great rally with a steam train trip - and the weather was mostly warm and dry. A first for my visits to the area.

Fairly painless for my Nuevo. Only two bits fell off. A trim around the hab door window and the plastic insert on one of those daft headrest cushions.


PeterM

I had a similar problem. After fitting a satellite dish to the roof of my Nuevo two weeks ago, I cut off some over long mounting bolts with a hacksaw. Unfortunately I didn’t bother sweeping up afterwards as I didn’t think it would be a problem. I couldn’t actually see any iron residue but it certainly made its presence known when I looked on the roof a few days later. Rust spots everywhere! I used a kitchen cream cleaner which was slightly abrasive to clean it off.

I'm all for Dutto's idea i'm off to Spain in January for 6 weeks I'll let you know if it works.  

deka wrote:I'm all for Dutto's idea i'm off to Spain in January for 6 weeks I'll let you know if it works.  

Hi there,

We are just a few miles north of the Spanish border near Narbonne and if you are looking for the sun to cure anything we strongly suggest that you keep going towards Gibraltar and beyond!!   

On the other hand, here's hoping that the weather improves because we are due to arrive in Santander on January 11th next year after Xmas and Hogmanay at home!!  

Main thing is "Enjoy!"   

Best regards,

Will do, Cheers and Merry Christmas to everyone