sloshed Tanks

[SMO]

CAUTION: THREAD DRIFT

Originally Posted by flyboy1963

Mark, how are things coming with your F1? ....we are all waiting to hear the 'happy ending' !

Prop is in Oroville, other parts arriving Friday. Fiberglass repairs are mostly done. New outer wing skins are made - in the process of riveting them on, picking up paint today. Hold up will be the gear leg - titanium 40 mm round stock, has to be sourced in Europe and then machined. Will likely fly late fall/early winter.

NOW BACK TO SLOSH

[777Dave]

Russell Billet Aluminum Street Fuel Filters 645140. Summit Racing.

I use one of these in each fuel line. They have replaceable cartridges that are easy to examine and change.
Removing the slosh looks to be a real PITA.

[Mel]

If I were going the "filter" route, I would make sure that the pick-ups are the "screen" type and not the original "sawed slots" type.

While the original sawed slot work fine, if a medium sized piece of slosh came loose, it could easily cover the pick-up and stop fuel flow.

It would be much harder to block the screen type.

[jordanrv6a]

my friend bought the 5 caps seals from vans.. they look like a inspection plate. you cut about a 4 holes in back of the tank in each cell., took him about a month to clean all that slosh out and pro-ceal it back . but it worked out for him .. that way he didn't have to re-drill all the attachment bolt holes back in the new tanks if he would have bought them new.its a lot of work.. don't get me wrong ... but it will save you money.

[777Dave]

[quote=Mel;1010210]If I were going the "filter" route, I would make sure that the pick-ups are the "screen" type and not the original "sawed slots.

Agreed. I ordered new finger screens from AS.

[bill v]

do a search "sloshing poll" most of the tanks sloshed showed no evidence of pealing in the survey but it would make a world of difference in how much was used and how. I look in the tank when I fill it but no sign of trouble yet. used slosh with a paint brush on top of rivets then after back plate was on I poured only a little in and rolled it about the back of the tank not enough to get any to pour back out. so I would look at what you have and take vans instructions as data points along with your inspectors opinion

[SHIPCHIEF]

I just fixed a leaking tank that had 'slosh' in it. I drilled four corner holes and used a cut off wheel to cut the openings for each rib bay in the back cover of the tank. I deburred the holes to reduce bleeding, I drilled out the leaking rivet. We got to work with scotchbrite pads and polysufide remover. It took a few days to get the slosh out, and lots of rinse water.
eventually it was clean enough. I cut the covers for the openings then drilled and cleco'd them on. I made the anti rotation bracket for the fuel pick up, and removed the abandoned remnants of a flop tube.
The slosh was not well attached. It was thick in places, thin in others, loose and flopping in some, and required a lot of diligent scrubbing to remove in other places. Most of this was done by my wonderful wife who wanted her plane back.
When everything was clean and ready, I weighed & mixed baseball sized batches of proseal (or flamemaster) and applied it with a nitrile gloved hand over all the seams & rivet lines. I sealed and re-riveted the leak then also the tank suction line repair and finally the cover plates, which I pop riveted on with the same rivets called out to assemble the tank in the first place.
The tank fit right back on and does not leak.
You can do it too.
Otherwise, Curtis' Post #7 applies.
The "In Between" would be to remove the tank, remove the big round cover on the inner rib that supports the suction tube and the tank level sender, and inspect / clean as required. Then put a decent sized wire mesh strainer on the suction tube. This assures that the suction tube anti-rotation bracket has been installed, the inner bay of the tank is not full of loose 'slosh' bits, and you have a safe fuel strainer at the beginning of the fuel path thru your engine.

[JimWoo50]

From one of my rv6 tanks to chase a fuel seep. Not sure if the 4 has same tank design but taking the baffle out was not too difficult and allowed me easy access to the whole tank. Easier than building, fitting and painting a new tank.