Pro Sealed Seams

[MWH265]

I have come to notice that the builder of my RV6A has used pro seal on all of the rivet joints when he put the plane together. So far it seems like he did it everywhere. What would be the purpose of this? Any one else done this?

Thanks,
Mike

[Paul Thomas]

More strength, weatherproofing, corrosion prevention. Not needed but some people do things differently. I wonder how many more hours/weight it added to the build.

[jibby212]

I am doing it on my RV7 fuselage. I am using a slightly thinner and slower setting Flamemaster sealant. I did it because corrosion terrifies me.

[rv7charlie]

Strength added? Questionable; depends on how tight you're able to make the joint. If the layers are moved apart very much, it can load the rivets in bending instead of shear.

[David Paule]

Time involved? I don't know about Pro-Seal, it would depend upon the actual steps used in the process. But I'm gluing my RV-3B fuselage together before riveting it, using a structural glue, and I can tell you that it adds a huge amount of time to the construction.

If the Pro-Sealing was done neatly and the riveted joints look even and smooth, you've probably got an exceptionally well-built airframe. If you ever need to repair something, though, I left a tank sealant removal thread in the Tips section that could come in handy.

Back in the BD-5 days, that airplane was built using Pro-Sealed joints and low-strength blind rivets. The word was that the sealant improved fatigue life of the riveted joints. That specific type of rivet, Avex, is not used on RVs.

Oh - why am I using glue? Two reasons. First, it acts as an assembly aid much like clecos except with zero shifting or moving. Second, if done right (which is something I'm still working on), it can result in an exceptionally fair and smooth skin.

Dave

[Taltruda]

Don?t they do this to homebuilts in England? I thought I read it being a requirement over there..yet they can buy out Cessnas and Pipers that were factory built without seam sealer..

[jdiehl]

Not sure the rationale, but we also lightly prosealed all of the rivet lines in the fuselage from the luggage bulkhead aft. Just seemed that it would ?tightenup? the fuselage.

[RVDan]

Our design team on military airplanes and helicopters typically called out pro seal on the faying surfaces as corrosion protection, and an added bonus when you cleaned up was to leave a faying radius at the edge of the sheet overlap. It helps the paint transition the edges without eventually cracking.
On pressureized airplanes prosealing the faying surfaces is done to seal up the pressure vessel (fuselage).

Certainly isn?t used for strength.

[MWH265]

Thanks for all the insight. It does seem to be well built. My mechanic seems to be happy with it. However, I just installed the "almost a 14" seat kit and I needed to run a sharpened putty knife in the joints after the rivets were drilled out to get it apart. Someone mentioned they may do this in England. My plane was built in Canada. Maybe required up there. Someone locally said it may lessen vibrations, but not so sure that would do it.

Mike

[SMO]

Originally Posted by MWH265

.......My plane was built in Canada. Maybe required up there........Mike

Good guess, but not required in Canada.