[pa38112]

I removed my tank to repair a leak. I verified the leak by pressurizing it with a balloon and then spraying a 50/50 mixture of Palmolive dish detergent and water. I then decided to test the rest of the tank too. When I wiped up the liquid I found that some "pro-seal" on a prior patch was wiping away like a thick grease. I can't tell if the soapy solution is dissolving it, or if it was a non-curing sealant.
I am looking for opinions:
Should I dry it off and see if it re-sets?
Remove all old patches and start over?

 

[fixnflyguy]

Start over

If Palmolive is disolving it, I would be horribly worried about whats in/on your tank. Proseal (and the likes) are just about indestructable when cured, and pretty hard to clean off when not cured. I work with the stuff in the industry by the gallons, and removal of it is a huge challenge in every way. Even the purpose designed solvents for cured proseal arent a simple "wipe away". I would certainly clean everything and start over. Be sure to pre-clean with a good solvent prior to re-sealing to remove every trace of soap, crud and whatever. I recomend MEK , Naptha or even better..my favorite choice..Coleman lantern fuel.

 

[Ralph Inkster]

Don't thing the soap is changing the sealant, search for threads on patched areas where sealant degraded (previous leak contaminating new sealant).

 

[rvbuilder2002]

Here is one VAF thread with a lot of info about the problem.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=122300&highlight=reversion

 

[flyboy1963]

soap solution

a teaspoon of soap in a quart of water is plenty to make bubbles.....
and unlikely to react with anything.
(you now may have soap residue on everything, so beware when doing further work on that surface!)