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Originally Posted by jdeas
Is it possible the proseal itself can outgas and cause these problems? The QB tanks seem to have it applied with a heavy hand.
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I am not at all concerned about the look of the proseal and while seemingly applied with a "heavy hand," it may not look pretty but will not cause anything other than additional weight.
I have had suspicions all along. In fact, I described those suspicions in a recent post to this thread and your detail photos tend to validate those thoughts. Good shop practice would have the builder
encapsulate the shop heads of the rivets and I do not see that in your photos. You should not be able to see a shop head. I enclosed photos of a tank constructed a few months ago for comparative purposes. Notice that you cannot see shop heads as they are encapsulated by proseal. If the builder did not seal the shop heads adequately and/or did not seal the countersinks prior to shooting the rivets, it seems very plausible to me that fuel fumes can eventually find a migration route through unsealed rivet holes, especially since some pressure occurs within the fuel tanks.
Van's fuel tank instructions can be a bit ambigious. I quote from Section 7 page 7-7 in the RV-8 manual:
"Dab a bit of sealant over every rivet head." Since the context was clearly addressing the
inside of the fuel tank, it may have better read "Dab a bit of sealant over every SHOP rivet head."
