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Which proseal to order for empennage?

digidocs

digidocs

Well Known Member
I'm just getting started on my -10 empennage and am wondering which proseal to buy from Vans. They seem to have three options:

- quart of 2 hour for $40
- 3.5 oz cartridge of 1/2 hour for $17
- 1 oz of 1/2 hour for $10

Any other basic items I should order at the same time?

Thanks!
 
digidocs said:
I'm just getting started on my -10 empennage and am wondering which proseal to buy from Vans. They seem to have three options:

- quart of 2 hour for $40
- 3.5 oz cartridge of 1/2 hour for $17
- 1 oz of 1/2 hour for $10

Any other basic items I should order at the same time?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I would probably just get the 3.5 oz. it's better to have too much, than not enough. The fuel tanks are too far down the road to buy in quart quantities right now. It doesn't have a long shelf life.

The only options I have in my tail are Cleaveland static ports and Avery rudder fairings for the rudder cables.

There are also several third parties that sell cnc manufactured parts to replace some of the ones in the kit. The only one I would suggest is the replacement of the welded nut for the elevator trim cables. Sorry, I don't have the part number handy. There several other parts available, but they just save you time with not having to fabricate them.

A small supply of "oops" rivets to have on hand is probably a good idea too. You never know when you may need them. Murphy's law dictates that you'll only need them if you don't have any.

Bob
 
The B 1/2 sets pretty quick and you have to mix the whole thing at once, I would recommend the quart of B2, more time to work and you'll have plenty of uses for it while building.
 
Wait until you order your wing kit then order 2 qts. If you just have to have an oz for something until then, a local A&P or builder will probably have some. Oops rivets...I bought the min qty 1/8 oz from ACS. I did not use any of them. I only drilled out maybe 10 rivets the entire build. Again local builder's can help, especially ones that are about finished. Go volunteer to help. You will make good friends, learn a great deal and may walk away with some leftovers that we all have.

You may not be able to find any RV's in TX:D.
 
Proseal

I would also recommend the quart and 2 hour cure. When first starting, it was difficult to gauge how much to mix up and it is better to have too much than not enough once you start...
 
Another Option

You don't really need proseal for the trailing edges in the emp. The proseal is just used as an adhesive to to hold the skins and AEX wedge together while double flush riveting -- almost anything can used for that. I used some marine adhesive I bought at home depot and it worked just fine.
 
1ouncers all the way..

I recommend the 1 oz. containers for the trailing edges in the emp kit. The way my build went, I used 1 for the rudder, and 2 (one for each) elevators with trim tabs. It seems like a small amount, but it's more than enough. People talk about the quick cure, but smearing the trailing edge AEX wedges is quick and easy. My $0.02.
 
Freeze it

Whatever you buy, put both parts in the freezer and it'll last a lot longer. I agree with Todd, you don't need proseasl for the trailing edges, I used an Aeropoxy epoxy, can't recall the name of the product - on the advice of Wally at Synergy. Works great.
 
I bought the 3.5 oz. package for the rudder and elevator stiffeners on my RV-3. The trailing edge on the -3 doesn't get bonded.

It was fairly easy to open the container and extract the sealant, which I put in two different containers. The stem unscrews, and I cut off the end stub that had a bit of the white paste. Then I used the gray rod, supplied, to push the black stuff into a small (tiny would have been more appropriate, since there isn't much there) container.

That left the tube of the white paste. Okay, it's actually a cream color, but let's call it white for now. A dowel in the fat end of the tube and a firm push forced the white paste into its new container. It really needed a firm push. I used a piece of wood to back up the dowel and spread the load.

The entire transfer of both parts of the mix only took a few minutes. But it saved me from having to mix it all together at once.

Dave
 
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