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Please tell me I'm obsessing with my tanks...

cderk

cderk

Well Known Member
Seems like I've been working on my RV10 tanks for months now. I'm to the point where I'm beginning to put them back together using ProSeal (or whatever brand name Van's is providing these days).

Everytime I look at my work, I wonder - "Is it going to leak when I'm done?"

So what inevitably happens is that next time I mix up some sealant, I go back over everything else I've done and wind up adding a dab here and a dab there. I'm never going to finish. I'm at the point where I need to start sealing/riveting the ribs in place and I don't want to do it...

Am I crazy or what???
 
cderk said:
Seems like I've been working on my RV10 tanks for months now. I'm to the point where I'm beginning to put them back together using ProSeal (or whatever brand name Van's is providing these days).

Everytime I look at my work, I wonder - "Is it going to leak when I'm done?"

So what inevitably happens is that next time I mix up some sealant, I go back over everything else I've done and wind up adding a dab here and a dab there. I'm never going to finish. I'm at the point where I need to start sealing/riveting the ribs in place and I don't want to do it...

Am I crazy or what???
Click to expand...
Yes!

No seriously, quit obsessing and get on with it. So what if they do leak? If that happens you will fix them! Right? Think about this. How are you going to know if you did a good job of sealing them and that they are not going to leak if you don't ever finish them because of this obsession. You have to finish them in order to really know if they will or will not leak!

As the NIKE slogan used to say: JUST DO IT!
 
Ha ha ha... thanks for the words of encouragement, Steve. I just hate the thought of closing this thing up only to discover that I've got a leak! But you're probably right, I need to move on.

RVbySDI said:
Yes!

No seriously, quit obsessing and get on with it. So what if they do leak? If that happens you will fix them! Right? Think about this. How are you going to know if you did a good job of sealing them and that they are not going to leak if you don't ever finish them because of this obsession. You have to finish them in order to really know if they will or will not leak!

As the NIKE slogan used to say: JUST DO IT!
Click to expand...
 
Please tell me I'm obsessing with my tanks...
Click to expand...

Let me tell you Charlie you are obsessing with your fuel tanks. Even if you find a leak during construction it's not a big deal to fix it. When flying it's a different story. You are grounded for three days :)


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You can always do a water test before you put the rear baffle on. I did it and am glad I did. I had missed a few little spots. Then the pressure test once complete. It's really not that bad.
 
majuro15 said:
You can always do a water test before you put the rear baffle on. I did it and am glad I did. I had missed a few little spots. Then the pressure test once complete. It's really not that bad.
Click to expand...

interesting - i hadn't heard of that before, but maybe my searching skills are not what they need to be. that sounds like a good idea.

thanks
 
100% Agree with Tim

That's what we did. Got them done, filled with water before the rear baffles were on. Found a couple leaks, fixed them, no big deal. That way, you've eleiminated anything but the rear baffles as a leak point. We sealed ours up, pressure tested and good to go.
80 hours in and all good.
 
Not so fast

majuro15 said:
You can always do a water test before you put the rear baffle on. I did it and am glad I did. I had missed a few little spots. Then the pressure test once complete. It's really not that bad.
Click to expand...

While water will catch some large diameter leaks I have had situations where water would not leak out of a tank but avgas did. I think it has to do with molecule size.

Gary Specketer
 
You can check my blog for pictures and details.

Lots of folks will say that 100LL will leak through small holes that water won't. May be true, but at least you've taken care of the bigger holes. It's free insurance other than 60 gallons of water and an hour outside.

The pressure test with balloon and soapy water in a spray bottle will find anything else.
 
pressure test

Just a word of caution on the pressure test. The ballon is there to make sure you don't over pressurize your tanks. The soap and water will find the leaks. I have talked to some people that think that the inflated balloon is the test.

The temperature variance from afternoon to evening is enough to affect the size of the inflated balloon, unless you are in a climate controlled , temperature stable room. Sure wouldn't want to be looking for a perceived leak that really isn't there...
 
cderk said:
Seems like I've been working on my RV10 tanks for months now. I'm to the point where I'm beginning to put them back together using ProSeal (or whatever brand name Van's is providing these days).

Everytime I look at my work, I wonder - "Is it going to leak when I'm done?"

So what inevitably happens is that next time I mix up some sealant, I go back over everything else I've done and wind up adding a dab here and a dab there. I'm never going to finish. I'm at the point where I need to start sealing/riveting the ribs in place and I don't want to do it...

Am I crazy or what???
Click to expand...

It's so funny that you post this...! I have been feeling the same way. I have one rib and the baffle left to install on each tank at this point, and my second-guessing has gone off the charts! I did a 3 hour session last night where I installed the outboard capacitive sender plate and outboard rib in each tank. the rest of the time was spent adding a dab here or there, beefing up this fillet or that, or obsessing over whether I have enough sealant left to finish the tanks... I am truly driving myself crazy!

This is my second set of RV tanks, having built a set of RV-6 wings almost 20 years ago. I don't remember this level of trepidation over the details, though...and those tanks came out beautifully, with NO LEAKS!
 
Some progress made...

Ok, I bit the bullet and began with the ribs. Thanks for all the encouragement. You're all correct, its not as bad as it seems. Really no different than the leading edge - just a little messier.

I have found that a 30mL syringe works pretty well for applying the sealant. I've got pictures on my blog for those that are interested.

Thanks again!
 
I'm almost at the stage with my tanks to install rear baffles. Here's what I plan to do.

I will tape the rear baffles on with aluminum duct tape so as to be airtight. I will then pressurize the tanks and spray for leaks. If I have leaks other than the baffles, I just saved myself a lot of work and can easily remove baffles and fix them. Then I proseal and rivet the baffles on. If those leak, I deal with it. I plan to add extra proseal to try to avoid baffle leaks, whereas I was a bit more conservative with the proseal elsewhere, knowing that I will have easy access to fix any non-baffle leaks.
 
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