28 June 2014

Wings: Fuel tanks redo. Leak testing complete.

Because I'm redoing my fuel tanks, I'm really only posting progress reports rather than additional details.  See here for why I'm redoing my tanks.  Technique details on the original fuel tanks are found in their associated posts.
Both fuel tanks don't leak.  Mostly.  The right tank had a small leak at the ground screw on the sender.  The left tank had the same leak plus another on an adjacent screw.  I fixed the leak on the adjacent screw with some Loctite (removed screw, dressed threads, rescrewed).  I'll do the same on the ground screws once the tank is mounted and connected to the wires.  I'll probably dress each screw with some sealant where it contacts the sender plate, just to be safe.

Here is testing in progress.  Used a cup of very soapy water and a brush to "paint" the soap on every rivet and seam looking for bubbles.


Here's one of the leaky screws on the left tank.


No leaks on the right baffle.


And here's a little tip that's great.  Out-of-the-box, the fuel caps don't make a good seal with the fuel flanges.  On my first tanks, I simply duct-taped the heck out of the area to keep the tank pressurized whilst I checked elsewhere for leaks.  However, there is a small nut on the underside of the cap.  You turn that nut to control the tigthness of the seal.  Each of my caps needed about a full turn.  No leaks!  Many thanks to my blog reader Ken for giving me this tip!


Still using my locking caps.

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