wirejock

wirejock

Well Known Member
Hi again. I love this forum.
It's almost time for tanks. I found this thread giving tips for tank construction.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=7602&highlight=proseal

There is a tinyurl pointing to some sort of mini caulk gun.
Does anyone know where to purchase it?
Who sells the Proseal in the tubes to use in the gun? I assume it's premixed.
How many tubes to seal a tank on a 7a?

I don't mind working with the stuff in bulk and mixing it but if it's available ready to use and I can apply a nice bead to the fay surfaces, it would make things easier.

Thanks in advance
 
Vans is the place to get the tubes and the gun.

http://www.vansaircraft.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?ident=1380898132-452-672&browse=misc&product=proseal

cat-med_sealant-gun.jpg
 
Last edited:
There are more than one seller of the Pre-Measured Pro-Seal but Aircraft Spruce typically has fresh at beginning of shelf life product. I do no recommend using out of date Sealant on fuel tanks.

I only use a pneumatic gun to install the sealant. Try to buy a used one to save lots of money.

Follow instructions on the package for mixing. You use the entire package and it must be used in less than 2-hours after mixing. About 20-years ago, I used 6 or 8 tubes to do both tanks on my RV-6. It was twice the price in material to use the pre-measured tubes but IMHO, well worth it.
 
Here's the better tip. Go to your local feed store and buy a few veterinary syringes. They cost about $2. You can fill them with the amount you need and can reuse them a few times each before they need to be replaced. The disadvantage with the sealant cartridges from Van's is they have a limited time to use once you mix the components. Trust me, you will need more time than that and small jobs will waste a lot of sealant that will set up before you can use it.

IMG_8019-M.jpg


Mix up the amount you need by weight on a paper plate, mix thoroughly and use some craft sticks or plastic knives to fill the syringe. Worked great on my tanks and is easy to get into tight places where the larger proseal gun would be hard to get to. You can lay out a nice bead of sealant along the flanges of the ribs, then use the plastic knife to spread out the bead. The serrations on the knife act like a small "notched-trowel" to evenly distribute the right amount of sealant along the flanges. Cleco everything up and wait a day, then come back and rivet. After riveting, use the syringe to put another bead along the edges of the flanges and cover all of the rivet heads. I taped off all of my interior surfaces that got sealed and after I pulled the tape off, I had nice clean tanks with minimal mess.

Tank build photos are here.
 
proseal

Thanks everyone.
Bruce
I've got several.
Did you have to drill the tip?
Do you remember how many quarts you used?
 
This is one of my favorite tools and the only thing I'll use to dispense proseal.

IMG_0439.JPG


It's a Semco Model 250-B. The Model 250-A is the exactly the same except it has a handle and trigger instead of the flat paddle trigger. I tried both and much prefer the paddle trigger. I can get into much tighter places like the fuel tank when sealing the ribs. I got mine from ebay and they were so cheap (3 years ago) that I bought one for my Tech Counselor who couldn't believe how easy it made sealing the tanks.

More about it. http://larrys-airplane.blogspot.com/2010/07/semco-sealant-gun.html
 
wirejock said:
Did you have to drill the tip?
Do you remember how many quarts you used?
Click to expand...

No, the tip is large enough. A little proseal goes a long way...
As the proseal started to get stiffer, it does require a bit more squeeze to get it to flow out of the syringe.

I used more than 1 quart on the tanks, so get 2 and expect to have plenty left over for the various minor things on the fuselage that proseal is useful for.
 
Syringes

I bot a dozen dental syringes on ebay, $5.00. They are reasonably large, 200cc and I cut the tip to make a 1/16th bead. Mix the proseal and then use a baby spoon to put it into the syringe.

Works pretty well and it is great if you make a lot of small batches cause you only have an hour or two at a time to work.

Mark Jackson
 
1 box of quart size zip lock bags,

a short session watching a 'pro' decorate a cake,

~half a 100 count box of nitrile gloves, and a 1 quart kit of proseal:

2 main tanks + 2 leading edge aux tanks.

Charlie
 
I can get syringes, applicators, and all sorts of similar stuff for free... but i still choose to use a plastic baggie with the corner snipped off!

The baggies are CHEAP, work well, and it's easy to turn the baggie inside-out, put the mixed up blob of ProSeal on the surface, then turn the baggie right side out while wiping off your mixing utensil so virtually none gets wasted.

I also use a disposable acid brush with the bristles trimmed off to about 3/16" long to evenly spread the Proseal around rivet holes.

This is so much cheaper than the pneumatic and other dispensing syringes that it's a no-brainer for me.
 
The guy that taught me showed me how to measure the two components onto the bag, reverse the inversion, & mix in the closed bag. No mess at all. A short piece of dowel or pvc pipe works well to knead and mix, and to move the mixture around in the bag so it's ready to squeeze.

Charlie
 
Larry, lots of good ideas here. I went into a Target store and got to talking to a pharmacist there about my project. He was very interested, and he gave me some syringes (minus the needles) for free! They worked very well for dispensing the proseal with precision and much less mess. Plus, they're easy to clean and re-use! I have pictures on my web site.

I agree with the idea of mixing up small amounts. You'll have much less waste. I would typically mix up about 25 to 30 grams at a time, using a small digital scale to weigh the stuff. MUCH less than the 2 or 3 golfball size batches recommended in the directions from Vans. You start running low during a work session, it's easy to mix up some more. I had almost no waste.

One other data point. I bought one quart of proseal, and it was more than enough. You can always get more if you run low, and it won't sit there and get old on you. I actually had quite a bit left when I was finished. Hang onto the leftover material. It's very useful! I'm still using it for odd jobs (non-fuel related) several years after the expiration date.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.