Leaking fuel tanks

[cnoe]

I'm not sure what process Edison used in the past but he currently uses chemical to soften the old sealant then uses rags to wipe most of it out. He stated that if there's a particularly tough or hard spot he might use a wooden or plastic scraper of some sort, but never metal on metal.

 

I absolutely agree that I wouldn't want somebody scraping out my tanks with steel putty knives or wire brushes.

 

He also pointed out that when he finds any corrosion he will clean it thoroughly with a plastic brush (I assume a nylon abrasive wheel) and then prep the affected area. The metal has to be well prepped for the new sealant to properly adhere.

 

Edison has been doing this for years and years and continues to offer a 7 year warranty on his work.

 

Note that this is absolutely no knock against Paul. From what I know he does outstanding work as well. I'm counting on my resealed tanks (by Paul) to last many more years.

 

Chuck

[Hank]

Edison did my tanks the fall of '10. I'm very satisfied with his price, service and drip-free performance. He told me also that he uses chemicals to soften the old sealant. By not running stripper out the drains, I had zero paint damage. He did a great job with the wing walk, which needed to be redone anyway. He put new sump drains in the wings, too.

Distance to him and Paul was the same, but timing and commercial tickets to Edison were much better. I have no hesitation recommending him

[wishboneash]

Any recommended Mooney specialists for fuel leaks in and around Northern California? Not sure if Top Gun or LASAR specialize in this work. The one I keep hearing about is Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale, OR.

[Bob_Belville]

Bob, your friend went to the wrong person to reseal the tanks then, plain and simple, but this is why there are so many failure stories out there about resealing your wings and why there is such an attraction to "not chance it" and accept a heaver, costlier fix to a leaking tank. Going to the right guy like Paul Beck to do a reseal completely mitigates this, as he is a pro's pro.

You might want to reconsider keeping your bladders full (heck I tried to get you to SNF to do just that with beer) because just like wet wings, heat is an enemy of bladders. They will dry rot even in a hanger in the heat a lot quicker empty than full. They do in race cars, I am sure they would in planes also. Whether it is more of an issue or less than with wet wings, I don't know, but believe it would be a better practice for either to keep the wings full than not to. What does O$N recommend, do you know?

Mike, Jerry Manthey told us yesterday in his Maintenance Class that there is enough fumes in a partially filled tank, sealed or bladdered, to prevent any deterioration. Makes sense to me. He said he never filled the talks on the J he owned for many years until he knew how fly he was going to fly so he didn't carry unnecessary weight. A completely dry tank sitting for months on the ramp... that would be a different story.

[amillet]

Its my turn. After owning N1084L for 14 years, the left tank has started leaking. I have an appointment with Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale next month. Greg seemed confident he could patch it without a complete strip and reseal.  

[rotorman]

11 hours ago, amillet said:

Its my turn. After owning N1084L for 14 years, the left tank has started leaking. I have an appointment with Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale next month. Greg seemed confident he could patch it without a complete strip and reseal.  

Let us know how you make out with respect to time and money involved. This is a problem most everyone owning a Mooney long enough experiences. I had one tank done around 20 years ago. It has held up OK. Not perfect but OK.

[jaylw314]

12 hours ago, amillet said:

Its my turn. After owning N1084L for 14 years, the left tank has started leaking. I have an appointment with Advanced Aircraft Services in Troutdale next month. Greg seemed confident he could patch it without a complete strip and reseal.  

Out of curiosity, where is your leak?  I have an '86J that has never been resealed, and the only (minor) leak is some seepage from one of the screws under the wing walk.

[EricJ]

12 minutes ago, jaylw314 said:

Out of curiosity, where is your leak?  I have an '86J that has never been resealed, and the only (minor) leak is some seepage from one of the screws under the wing walk.

Other common leaks are around the gaskets for the fuel senders.    It might not be the tank at all.

[amillet]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

Other common leaks are around the gaskets for the fuel senders.    It might not be the tank at all.

I had that checked last month during annual. No evidence of leak there. The leaking fuel is ending up dripping out of the belly pan

[EricJ]

23 hours ago, amillet said:

I had that checked last month during annual. No evidence of leak there. The leaking fuel is ending up dripping out of the belly pan

That could be a fuel line or the inner senders.    I wouldn't assume it's a tank leak until it's traced out.   It's not that hard to pop the belly pans off (although a little tedious).   It might be evident where the leak is and perhaps not difficult to fix.

[amillet]

2 hours ago, EricJ said:

That could be a fuel line or the inner senders.    I wouldn't assume it's a tank leak until it's traced out.   It's not that hard to pop the belly pans off (although a little tedious).   It might be evident where the leak is and perhaps not difficult to fix.

Thank you. I will check that 

[amillet]

On 5/26/2019 at 9:13 AM, EricJ said:

That could be a fuel line or the inner senders.    I wouldn't assume it's a tank leak until it's traced out.   It's not that hard to pop the belly pans off (although a little tedious).   It might be evident where the leak is and perhaps not difficult to fix.

Dropped the one piece belly pan this morning. Fuel lines all looked good. Blue trail of fuel residue is coming from the wing root/feel tank area.