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  #21  
Old 12-04-2014, 04:27 AM
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Bastien Bastien is offline
 
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Location: Vannes, FRANCE
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I had my fuel tanks made by a company specialized in RV fuel tank which I will not name in this thread.
I found the reverting quality really poor and when looking inside the tank itself I was able to see that the stiffeners edges were not demurred at all.
Anyway, I installed them painted the airplane flew and then figured out that both fuel tank were leaking on several rivets...
E-mailed the guy who told me that the warranty was voided and that I should have checked if the tanks were leaking or not prior to install. Well my fault but I thought that a serious company would have leak tested the tanks prior to sending (overseas). So basically I had to redo the work and repaint the wings.
If I had to do it again, I would simply do it by myself, not such a bid deal.
In any case, if you have your fuel tanks assembled by a third part company, do the leak test, it can avoid you some trouble.
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  #22  
Old 12-04-2014, 04:47 AM
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BSwayze BSwayze is offline
 
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Molalla, Oregon
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Default My version of a Sealant Gun

Here's my version of a sealant gun for ProSeal. Best of all, it was FREE! And, reusable. The cured ProSeal peels out when you need to use it again. I found these at Target, but I'm sure there are lots of places to get them. I went to Target and asked a pharmacist for some syringes, minus any needles. He was curious why I needed them. The ensuing conversation resulted in him giving me a few for free!



Also, I'll second some earlier comments about the faye sealing method. It greatly reduces the mess. I went through less than 1/2 a box of gloves for both tanks and never ruined a garment.

One more comment... you don't necessarily need to slather gobs and gobs of material in there to do a good job. I don't think the pros do. Here's a photo of the inside of my tank. It held an inflated balloon for over a week, so I'm confident there will be no leaks. The syringe made these nice clean filets a breeze. It also made it very easy to cover each rivet with a sealing blob.



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Last edited by BSwayze : 12-04-2014 at 05:22 AM.
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  #23  
Old 12-04-2014, 10:09 AM
pastranafan5 pastranafan5 is offline
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: jonesboro, ar
Posts: 63
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Thanks everybody for the comments. After reading all of these and the previous posts I have decided to tackle it.
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  #24  
Old 12-04-2014, 01:45 PM
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longranger longranger is offline
 
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Location: 45G, Brighton, MI
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pastranafan5 View Post
Thanks everybody for the comments. After reading all of these and the previous posts I have decided to tackle it.
Good for you Dennis! The VERY hardest part is gettng started.

The tongue depressor is only good for mixing IMHO. For applicaton to flanges, I used acid brushes trimmed down to about 1/4" to 3/8" for stiffness. I also used these brushes to apply and smooth the fillets after riveting. 30cc syringes from drugstore.com worked great for applying the bead for the baffle. Mine aren't quite as neat as Bruce's, but I was pleasantly surprised how clean they came out. I haven't fueled mine yet, but they do hold air.

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  #25  
Old 12-04-2014, 02:09 PM
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wirejock wirejock is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Estes Park, CO
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Default Tanks

Quote:
Originally Posted by longranger View Post
Good for you Dennis! The VERY hardest part is gettng started.

The tongue depressor is only good for mixing IMHO. For applicaton to flanges, I used acid brushes trimmed down to about 1/4" to 3/8" for stiffness. I also used these brushes to apply and smooth the fillets after riveting. 30cc syringes from drugstore.com worked great for applying the bead for the baffle. Mine aren't quite as neat as Bruce's, but I was pleasantly surprised how clean they came out. I haven't fueled mine yet, but they do hold air.

Looks like how I did mine. Tape also.
Fay seal with a bead. I got the huge syringes from a pharmacy. The kind they use in hospitals for liquid food. They have a big nozzle perfect for laying a bead. Plus they fit in a caulking gun. They also work great for measuring primer. Just suck it right from the can. No mess.
For mixing I used plastic cups and sticks.
I did get a little carried away and used 100 % clekos and a 4-40 nut under every one for added grip. It added some work and mess but the parts were really held tight.
Details are in my blog.
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I cannot be, nor will I be, held responsible if you try to do the same things I do and it does not work and/or causes you loss, injury, or even death in the process.
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  #26  
Old 12-04-2014, 02:12 PM
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LettersFromFlyoverCountry LettersFromFlyoverCountry is offline
 
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Location: St. Paul, MN.
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You'll have plenty of things later to waste your money on.

The fuel tanks are not hard and you have a real sense of accomplishment when you are done. Even more so when they don't leak.

For me, the best part of my plane is looking at it and saying "I built THAT."
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