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DaveWelch

Well Known Member
I was meandering thru an aviation and defense-related "trade show" of sorts and noticed a company pitching a line of thin elastomer tapes for anti-corrosion and EMI gasketing. Hmmmm.....got me thinking. Has anyone found and considered using such a thing in place of the Pro-seal that we love to hate?

I suppose the ideal stuff would be (first and foremost) gas-proof, very thin, adhesive on one side, and compressible so that you could overlap it just a bit at corners, sold in rolls about 1/2 to 3/4 in wide. I'm thinking we would peel off a backing, apply it to a flange, mate the other flange, stick the rivet thru and nail it. Too simple.

The material these folks were selling was not gasoline tolerant and was also very UV sensitive. So no good there, but the concept is intriqueing.

Anyone seen such a thing? What am I missing on the downside?
 
Gore Skyflex seems to be worth a look

DaveWelch said:
Anyone seen such a thing? What am I missing on the downside?
Click to expand...

After some digging around and following a bunch of Google "rabbit holes", I came across a product announcement from Gore.

Their "Skyflex" product line looks promising. Check out the last few pages of the downloadable product guide.

Advantages would seem to be; no muss, long shelf-life, no mixing and no working life limit, no goo on our tools, available in a variety of thicknesses and widths, and can be used for other applications where a seal is needed.

I'm looking for anyone out there with a chemical and/or aviation maintenance background to explain why this wouldn't be a good idea! Really! It just seems too obvious, I must be missing something.

Might also be an advantage for the Vans gang in producing quick-builds, etc?

Looking forward to some lively and informative discussion and knowledge sharing.

Dave
 
Uh-oh...

(continuing the conversation with myself...)

Don't have my finish kit yet (that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it) but I seem to recall some discussion about putting the nasty goo on and around the pull rivets inside the fuel tank.

Ahaaaa...so we need to seal a potential leakage path thru the rivets themselves! Tape wouldn't do that. Rats!!

No charge for the entertainment,

Dave
 
DaveWelch said:
No charge for the entertainment,
Click to expand...

Hey, Dave: as long as you're exploring the experimental envelope, researching what's new and exciting, some of us are happy to follow along. Sure, there's a lot of deadends with that kind of work, but every once-in-a-while, neat stuff gets discovered. Who knows, even if your discovery won't work in a -12's tank, maybe it's still an option on the other models' wing tanks.

I know nothing about these tapes you found, nor much about chemistry, but if this or another tape was used between the tank rib flanges and the skins, that still wouldn't stop someone from encapsulating each shop head in a dollop of proseal.

There's nothing wrong if our different journeys in experimental aviation sometimes involve side trips to see an interesting tourist site.

--
Stephen
 
Good stuff yeah. Ballpark for 100 ft roll is about $2,000. Right now its a corporate jet market/military market they're looking at. Who knows, someday maybe enough will be made and used that economies of scale will bring it in line with our homebuilding pocket books. (I guess somebody could buy one roll and sell 1 foot pieces for $25 and make $50...Larry? lol)
 
I think I'm sticking to Proseal. It really is not that bad to work with. Just be organized and change your gloves often. ;)
 
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Dave,
Im always in favor of advancing the art of airplane building, but I didn't have any trouble with proseal.
I did go thru a lot of nitrile gloves, but it wasn't really a problem once I got going.
I guess what I'm saying is, that the price of the new system can't be much more than Proseal, because Proseal is something we love to complain about, but in the end, wasn't really that bad.
 
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Buy some syringes at a farm supply store. Filling them with ProSeal is a little messy. But a neat bead can be applied to the fuel tank as if using a caulking gun.
Joe Gores
 
All Right Gang!!

You've restored my faith in our community!
Thanks for the encouragement and grins.

I did use the "proseal" (acutally FlameMaster) from AC Spruce on the Fuse and Firewall. Stuff came in a neat single unit that was used to mix the two parts and then fit it into my caulk gun.

Still, I'd like to be able to measure and mix small amounts to use as needed. Where have you been buying it?
 
Proseal Small Batches

For early proseal work (before the tank) I used a small cartridge from AC Spruce that I had bought for another project (maybe 4 oz?). I separated the center plunger part that has the black material from the main part (has the white material}. Then marked on each with a Sharpy pen to show four equal parts. Then just pushed out one fourth from each as needed for four small batches. (Firewall, etc.)

Later, for the fuel tank, I ordered the quart from Vans along with a simple scale for measuring. The tank took less than half of that quart. I have been using the leftovers since then. Either way, it is easy to get small batches.

Keith W.
Milan, IL
 
Clever

Great idea Keith.
Wish I'd thought of it. I had bought the 4oz tube also, finished the firewall, and then sealed everything it sight trying to use up the leftovers. Works great on loose soles of old shoes!
Dave
 
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