Newbie Question - Oil Canning?

[elderjay]

What's that?

[Miriam C.]

Not very old are you? The sun will heat the side and it will stretch out like a bubble.

This is covered in Polymax and is beautiful till the sun got hot.



This is SidnSide's build site. Great information in it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/tdcampers/T ... 0511To0606

[rainjer]

This is how Boeing defines it.

Oil Can - A surface deformation contained within a single structural bay (area between adjacent stringers and formers or other structure) which when pushed inward with light hand pressure, returns or transfer to an adjacent bay. The return or transfer will create an audible (oil can or cricket) sound.

Jeremy

[elderjay]

I guess the past 51 years didn't teach me that term. Thanks.

[Miriam C.]

I guess the past 51 years didn't teach me that term. Thanks.

Just jokin with you. The sound an old oil can makes by popping in or out isn't something younger people seem to know.

[angib]

The sound an old oil can makes by popping in or out isn't something younger people seem to know.

You might like to know that the British Navy use the same term - they had some destroyers where the bottom of some fuel tanks would oil-can in rough weather, causing a noise that no-one could ever pin down. 3/8" plating makes a much bigger 'ping' noise than 20 gauge sheet.......

They only figured it out when eventually the plates doing the oil-canning started cracking around their edges and seawater started finding its way into the fuel tanks.

Andrew

[aquaholic14]

I live next to a marina with the majority of the boats being pontoons. If I go out in the yard in the morning in the summer when its just heating up, the pontoons sing me a song. Took me awile to figure out what the noise was. me being semi young, didn't know it was termed oil canning until I came here.

chad

[dguff]

Those old oil cans were round one quart metal cans. The top was pierced by a spout to pour the oil into a crankcase through the oil filler cap. The spout did not allow for easy air flow so the oil would kind of flow in spurts and the air that did get into the can would cause the bottom of the can to flex. The flexing would create a "popping" sound. If you open an oil bottle today and just dump it into an oil filler hole you will get a "gulping" sound as the plastic bottle flexes but not quite the same sound as an old oil can.

Jerome

[Bigwoods]

It is also a term used by canoeist and a sound some canoes make. It is especially noticeable in a long canoe with one paddler in the back. The center will buckle and pound the water making that sounds.

[Mark McD]

As noted above the phrase "oil canning" refers to a phenomena that occurs in many different trades.. aircraft,boatbuilding,even vinyl siding. The causes however, are always the same- expansion and contraction. If the material- be it aluminum, vinyl,wood,etc. is not able to move it will naturally take the path of least resistance, usually manifesting as unsightly bubbles. My solution when I built my last tear was to not glue the siding on. I just held the skin on with the mouldings. Underneath certain mouldings I would drill the holes through the skin,(skin only), a bit bigger than the screws to allow for movement. After 15 plus years as a cabinetmaker I knew from the get -go that contact cement+aluminum+sunlight = bad news. The results were good- no bubbles on the hottest of August days.

That's my .$02.
Cheers,
Mark

[eamarquardt]

OK Mark I like the results you've obtained. Now I'd like to know how you determined which ones to drill oversize so I too, can avoid oil caning, That is, of course, if you tell me the secret, you'll have to shoot me. Then I guess I'm ok not knowing your tricks of the trade.

Seriously, under which moulding do you recommend drilling the skin holes oversize.

Thanks,

Gus

[starwars]

This is covered in Polymax and is beautiful till the sun got hot.

Yet another reason why I built a woodie.

[Mark McD]

Gus,
I had to think like the aluminum. Anyplace that would bind the material I felt would a problem area. Specifically I drilled "relief" holes under the door moulding, under the drip edge, and under the skin along the top, but not under the roof. For the roof I made the skin about 3/16 narrower than the width to allow for movemnet under the corner moulding. When I installed my angle around the top/sides I used as few screws as possible into the roof and ran a good bead of OSI sealant under the moulding. The combination of the flexible sealant and the room for movement provided excellent results.
Hope I helped...
Mark

p.s.
I run caulk under all of my mouldings

[eamarquardt]

Thanks. I've never thought like aluminum. Have always thought like a Marine, ha.

I think I have it

Cheers,

Gus