Tanks Tanks Tanks

[stressedout72 2]

Ok all I thought I would start a post regarding issues with older “pre 2004†wing tanks. I say pre 2004 because after a few years of testing I began manufacturing tanks for a few companies.

 

Here is a Fix that some have tried. "SLOSHING"

 

I have many issues with "Sloshing" a tank sealant in any fiberglass tank.

 

#1. If the tanks are in the wings already you have to rotate, flip the entire wing just too hopefully etch it. This is no good in my book because you will never get the whole tank covered with the etching material or sealant.

 

#2. The manufactures of tank sealants do not know what types of resins the tanks are made of and it’s pretty much an educated guess on their part if their materials will truly work.

 

#3. If the tank being sealed is not "abraded" I.E. sanded at least with 80grit for the sealant, 9 times out of 10 it will not adhere to the surfaces. If things are not perfect the materials typically peel off within a period of time. I have witnessed this more than once. You cannot use screws, bolts, nails of any other thing to try and abrade the tank surface other than by hand sanding every area.

 

My final thought on tank sealants, Bad Idea.

[stressedout72 2]

Here is another Issue, "my tank is leaking and what should i do?

 

If you have a leak greater then a pinhole you might want to consider repalcing the tank.

 

if you have a pinhole somewhere, this is typically from air bubbles in the resin and from the manufacturing process, then;

A. Sand the area about 3/4" around the hole (using a 36 grit sanding disc) and slightly in the pin hole, BTW us extreme caution not to go to deep,

B. Clean the are with acetone,

C. Finally use Hysol E-50CR  with some glass to repair.

[EDMO 1078]

Another leak stopper?  One of our members cut a hole in his tank and used Hysol 9430 to coat the inside where he had a leak.

If I have a pinhole leak, I am going to try drilling thru with about an 1/8" drill, and using the deburring tool to champher the inside and outside of the tank, then inject 9430 or 9460 into the hole so there is enough to spread itself on the inside - after smoothing the outside, I will put some tape over it to keep it in place until cured.  Hoping that this will work.

Comments welcome.

EDMO

[Bandit 286]

This is where my tank was leaking. Hard to repair something like that.

[SuberAvid 617]

This is where my tank was leaking. Hard to repair something like that.

Mark,  What did you do to fix it?

 

Another question to anyone; how hard do you think it would be to add a tank to a finished plane with only one tank, to the wing with no tank?