A Very Sticky (Eeewe!) Problem

Hi!

 

I have a Speedlink Black Widow flight stick. It was a great stick. It's been in storage for a bit, but now it's impossible to use.

 

The stick handle and throttle are really sticky. It takes a lot of washing to get the glue-like sticky stuff off your fingers.

 

Is there any solution to unsticky my sticky stick?

 

It's quite a "sticky" problem.

 

I actually can't fly with it at all.

 

Please ensure any suggestions are practical, non expensive and not impossible or unrealki'stic' :)

 

Thanks in advance

The actual flight-stick handle is sticky?? Did you store it in a gluepot? I would start by spraying a cloth pretty liberally with WD-40 and giving it all a good wipe then follow up with a rag soaked in alcohol. That should ungoo your mess. Be sure to wear some latex gloves to protect your skin.

Interesting problem. I've experienced over the years various electric and electronic gear e.g. some electrical cables, computer power cords etc, old ones, where the plastic covering becomes sticky. Very unpleasant. Have often wondered (but not my highest priority in my life) why they degrade that way, and how to clean them. Also, have been somewhat concerned about their chemical impact, are they dangerous to handle, skin-wise. I notice that sometimes also that mould likes that plastic. I know mould loves leather if it's stored somewhat damp, but am flabergasted that it evens colonises vinyl, e.g.in my 40 year old 1981 Mazda 929 car that I use as a sim booth that's in storage in my garage under my house. Weird stuff. Will be interested for someone to give a scientific explanation of the phenomenon and of ways to fix it.

It could be one of two things. It sounds like the stick has either a rubber-coated plastic handle or one that's all rubber. If it's rubber coated you may be able to get the "stickies" off by scrubbing it with isopropyl alcohol or simply scraping it off. If it's all rubber there isn't any cure I know of. What I've learned here in Florida is that most rubber-anything will get the "stickies" if stored in a warm, humid environment like the garage or any place that lacks some sort of humidity control.

My climate is similar to Florida - here it's subtropical, warm and humid, hence good ventilation is critical. The question I have always had is "what are the stickies". And yes, stuff grows on rubber too. I presume it's some type of bacteria. What is that stuff?

My climate is similar to Florida - here it's subtropical, warm and humid, hence good ventilation is critical. The question I have always had is "what are the stickies". And yes, stuff grows on rubber too. I presume it's some type of bacteria. What is that stuff?

 

https://cleaning.lovetoknow.com/why-does-rubber-get-sticky-fixes-prevention-tips

Don’t use wd-40 and alcohol. It sounds like the plasticizers came to the surface.

 

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-plastics-become-sticky-after-a-while

 

How to fix

 

https://heartworkorg.com/2017/01/08/sticky-plastic-and-how-to-fix-it/

Thanks for the replies.

 

Someone suggested to me using meths ro white spirits, gloves, and an old cloth, and a lot or rubbing may get rid?

 

Any thoughts?

Sounds dangerous! Stick with alcohol and/or WD-40!

Thanks Mr Zippy for the link, yes, after a particularly wet season, I venture into the garage/workshop and discover green or perhaps blue-green stuff on items, what the..., damn alien invaders! On reflection, there are two facets to the problem of "sticky" stuff:

- old gear. The plastic is breaking down. Hence some of my old computer (real classic items, e.g. the original IBM pc circa 1981), cables are sticky because the plastic, for whatever reason, is decomposing, i.e. chemical decomposition. Can't be fixed as even if you clean the gunk off, it'll continue to degrade. Potentially dangerous e.g. carcenogenic as we don't know what the chemicals are that are liquifying.

- environmental factors. Something is congealing/growing on the surface. Cleaning will fix it but temporarily, if the environment persists, e.g. damp storage, it'll return e.g. mould. Not particularly worrying as we know what mould is, just annoying. A wipe with a bit of bleach will kill the gunk.

 

On a different topic, un-stickyness remedies, yes, the trusty old WD40 is amazing (saw a TV doco about the invention of it by that American guy, amazing). However, it does smell a lot and is oily feeling. A good alternative is a dry lubricant. One very good product I discovered in my local hardware store (Bunnings, a national retailer in Australia), which turned out to be a miracle product, frees up all sorts of stuff e.g. stuck zippers, sliding windows, etc. etc. and no after-smell or oiliness, is a silicone-based (I think) dry lubricant Selley's "Ezy Glide" https://www.selleys.comau/products/cleaning/lubricants/selleys-ezy-glide. Is amazing stuff, handy around the house. (Of course, the "old school" way is to pull stuff apart and lubricate with e.g vaseline, that's what I did with my old yoke I got from the garbage tip shop, it now works fine. However trying with a spray or dribbling some type of lubricant down the sides is the easiest first option).

Edited August 15, 2021 by MAD1

Hi.

 

I also have a Black Widow Flightstick, and its surface is a rubber coating that softens as time and oils from your hand go to work on it.

 

The Intellimouse Explorer 3 had the same coating, and used to come in for the same criticism.

 

I haven't cleaned the Flightstick yet but I did successfully remove all the coating from the Intellimouse (still in use and smooth as a baby's backside).

 

I tried WD40, meths, petrol, a chlorocarbon-based carburettor cleaner, all with no luck.

 

I finally found that Rain-X water repellent for windscreens dissolved it very easily. According to Wikipedia the product's solvent is a mixture of acetone and water. I'm not certain that is correct as I'd have thought that acetone would have damaged the plastic of the mouse (the plastic is unharmed). Also, it doesn't smell like my high-school memory of acetone.

 

It worked, anyway.

 

D

 

edit: I'd better add the detail that I have a small $5 bottle of Rain-X, not a pump-action nor an aerosol.

 

I think I should also add that my daughter refers to the Flightstick as 'that rubber-coated Ann Summers thing'.

Edited August 18, 2021 by defaid

Don’t use wd-40 and alcohol. It sounds like the plasticizers came to the surface.

 

https://www.quora.com/Why-do-some-plastics-become-sticky-after-a-while

 

How to fix

 

https://heartworkorg.com/2017/01/08/sticky-plastic-and-how-to-fix-it/

 

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

 

I was just about to post an update - a test clean proved very successful.

I didn't like the idea of using solvents, especially as they would probably dissolve the lettering paint.

 

Like the dude quoted above, I tried using some good old sodium bicarb. I turned it into a paste, and using a glove covered the flight stick with the sludge and left it for 15 mins. I then got a cloth and used a bit of hot water to damp the end and ground it thoroughly around the stick, re applying the damp cloth with hot water.

 

Next, used the damp cloth to clean up. then took a handful of regular liquid soap and rubbed that around the handle, then cleaned that off with a damp cloth. When it was dry it was back to normal again :)

 

So now I will go around the entire flight stick thingy and that to be the end of the problem :)

 

For the price it's actually a very good flight stick.

Edited August 19, 2021 by peugeot309style
typos