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12-13-2011, 07:28 PM
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 133
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leaking fuel tank rivet
Hello all,
I've got a single rivet on the left tank weaping every time I fill it up. It leaves a stain about the size of a quarter around the the rivet. The rivet is located about three rows out from the wing root and half way between the leading edge and spar. Any ideas on how to fix? I'd like to fix it before I paint.
Thanks,
John
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12-13-2011, 07:55 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 571
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Kinda like .....
You mean one that looks like this  This appeared at about 30 hours and I now have 90 on it. Never drips, just weeps while flying. Vans says to cut out the back baffle and reseal the interior flanges with proseal.... then reseal with a plate, proseal, and sealed pop rivets. Before I do that, I think I am going to try to just drill it out, proseal the heck out of it, then use a selfsealing rivet. If that doesn't work, I'll cut it open and rivet again and completely reseal that bay.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
It's a pain but that's exactly why I didn't paint it to start with. The reason it now has 90 hours and no paint instead of getting it fixed is that darn RV Fun Factor...... Just tooooo much fun to stop and fix :-)
Right now, the fix is to just wipe it off every couple of flights!
Bill S
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12-13-2011, 08:01 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 3,646
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Before you remove and crack into an otherwise perfectly good tank, try the self-wicking (green) loctite solution that Van's calls out for in the plans. It may or may not be a permanent solution, but you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by trying. You can always take more drastic measures later.
Good luck.
__________________
Steve M.
Ellensburg WA
RV-9 Flying, 0-320, Catto
Donation reminder: Jan. 2021
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12-13-2011, 08:09 PM
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Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 133
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That was what I was thinking but with cyanoacrylate. I thought I might try to encourage it to flow around the rivet by pulling a slight vacuum on the tank using my wife's seal-a-meal (shhh!)
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12-13-2011, 08:09 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: santa barbara, CA
Posts: 1,682
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Yup, fairly common problem.
You can try a couple different methods. First one is to put a SLIGHT vacuum on the tank and apply some Loctite 209 to the rivet so that it sucks it in and hopefully seals. Search the forums/Internet for 'weeping rivet' to get the details.
2nd method is to purchase the smallest volume of Proseal available, or it's equivalent, and put a tiny dab over the rivet. If you keep this to the bare minimum, you will be able to paint over it and not even know its there. Vans sells a $10 container, which is still 100 times what you will need.
I did the first method prior to painting and it worked for about 3 years, then started weeping again. A week ago I did the2nd method and it seems to be working just fine, although I now have a rivet-head size circle of grey on my otherwise white wing, although its on the bottom, so not typically seen.
If you don't like either of these methods, you will have to open up the tank and seal from the inside.
Erch
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12-14-2011, 10:53 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Lake St. Louis, MO.
Posts: 2,346
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BillSchlatterer
You mean one that looks like this....
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Verified with a manometer or toy balloon, I'm guessing you successfully pressure tested your fuel tanks before installing them. I mention
that because a simple pressure test does have its limitations and you probably have no idea how many words and diagrams I posted on the paint blistering thread in an effort to convey to some skeptical builders why it is entirely possible for the rivets joining the rear baffle to develop blisters even though that particular rivet pattern is located outside the wet area of the fuel tank. As graphically demonstrated in your photo, we can see that any rivet set into the rear baffle can most certainly weep fuel. Given that undeniable reality, it is all the more reason to suspect that IF your fuel tank was painted, by now it may well have started to exhibit the nasty paint blistering around it that so many other builders have reported. BTW, yours is an excellent example of why some builders prefer to hold off on that custom high dollar paint job until after the plane has flown for some period of time and squawks, if any, have been dealt with.
A viable solution, I believe in your case the repair can be a relatively easy fix with the careful installation of a sealed blind fastener you mentioned in your post. Because your isolated weeper is located along the rear baffle, I believe your plan of action is sound and there is next to no need to take the draconian measure of opening up the fuel tank to attempt an internal repair. For the random weeping rivet that occurs in other locations, the downside of the blind rivet repair strategy is dealing with FOD that is inevitably generated during the solid rivet removal process. The rivet shop head will fall inside the tank and unless the loose remnants are dealt with, there is nothing to stop the debris from potentially migrating.
__________________
Rick Galati
RV6A N307R"Darla!"
RV-8 N308R "LuLu"
EAA Technical Counselor
Last edited by Rick6a : 12-14-2011 at 02:51 PM.
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12-14-2011, 01:10 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,346
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alpinelakespilot2000
Before you remove and crack into an otherwise perfectly good tank, try the self-wicking (green) loctite solution that Van's calls out for in the plans. It may or may not be a permanent solution, but you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by trying. You can always take more drastic measures later.
Good luck.
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This worked for me.
Had to sand off a bit of paint over the rivet, but it sure beat the alternative.
__________________
Mike W
Venice, FL
RV-6A. Mattituck TMX O-360, FP, GRT Sport EFIS, L3 Lynx NGT-9000
N164WM
N184WM reserved (RV-8)....finishing kit in progress. Titan IOX-370
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12-14-2011, 03:26 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Friendswood, TX
Posts: 68
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leak along the rear bafle --- easy fix
The leak is along the rear baffle. Remove the tank from the wing. Drill out the rivet. put a dab of proseal in the hole and set a new rivet with a hand squeezer. Wipe off the excess proseal that squeees out with an old rag. Done. Add a dab of proseal to the shop head along the rear baffle for good measure. Pulling the tank is not a lot of fun but not very diffcult. It would not be a bad idea to have an oops rivet handy just in case you over size the hole slightly when drilling out the old rivet.
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12-14-2011, 03:55 PM
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Senior Curmudgeon
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Dayton Airpark, NV A34
Posts: 15,420
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaTango
The leak is along the rear baffle. Remove the tank from the wing. Drill out the rivet. put a dab of proseal in the hole and set a new rivet with a hand squeezer. Wipe off the excess proseal that squeezes out with an old rag. Done. Add a dab of proseal to the shop head along the rear baffle for good measure.
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I have one weeping rivet in my QB tanks in the same area.
I have considered doing the repair as described above, but am hesitant to do so, as I have concerns about the actual path of the leak not being sealed up this way.
I wonder if you could use a syringe with the tip cut off just enough to make the diameter fit the major diameter of the rivet dimple, block off the back side of the hole in the skin/baffle assembly, and then force some of the proseal into the void that must be leading back to fuel area.
Hope this makes sense, to put it another way, the fuel is leaking past the fillet between the rear baffle, and the tank skin. Just sealing at the rivet does nothing to seal the pathway the fuel is following to get to the rivet area.
Thoughts out there???
__________________
Mike Starkey
VAF 909
Rv-10, N210LM.
Flying as of 12/4/2010
Phase 1 done, 2/4/2011 
Sold after 240+ wonderful hours of flight.
"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it."
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12-14-2011, 07:53 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 571
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OK but ....
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeltaTango
The leak is along the rear baffle. Remove the tank from the wing. Drill out the rivet. put a dab of proseal in the hole and set a new rivet with a hand squeezer.
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Have to admit I thought the baffle flange was on the inside and no way to get a squeezer on the rivet from the outside. If the flange faces out, then that would seem to be the best first effort
Thanks, checking plans on next trip to the hangar!
Bill
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