PIREP: Wet Wingologists East

[afward]

So my plane is now home with freshly resealed fuel tanks.  I cannot express how strange it is to sit in the plane in the hangar and _not_ smell fuel.  It's like a totally different machine! 

I called Edison @ Wet-Wingologists East on about the 25th of January and was surprised to find he had an opening for February.  We flew the plane down the following week, left it with Banyan (per Edison's instructions), and spent a few days on Miami Beach (not my style, but still nice) before flying back commercially.  Over the next month, I called for status several times to find that Edison's sealant supplier had him back-ordered.  He didn't actually open the tanks until the first weekend in March, but once he did...  Oh boy...

Apparently whoever did the last reseal wasn't fully knowledgeable in all the procedures required...  There were multiple issues found.  Edison explained each one and how he planned to address them.  All are now remediated or fixed (replaced) outright.  This did add some cost to the overall bill, but I think it was a reasonable increase based on what I have seen.

The one thing I would say is a negative: When the tanks are refilled, the fuel comes from the Banyan full service truck, and is not covered by the cost of the reseal job.  I was not prepared for the total bill there as they are _very_ proud of their fuel delivery service.  My fault, though, because I didn't check prices before calling to pay the bill.  Suffice it to say, I don't intend to refill bone-dry tanks to full there anytime soon.

I'm really happy with the work Edison did.  He's really a great guy and really cares about getting the job done right and taking care of his clients.  I'll recommend him to anyone that needs tank seal work done on their Mooney.

 

Now for the (funny?) annoying part:

While the plane was to be down anyway, I had the fuel system / fuel injectors cleaned again by the mechanic Edison recommended, Manny.  Manny is also great, and took care of it very timely and at a reasonable cost.  The one caveat is that the plane didn't have any fuel on board at the time Manny did the work, so no leak tests could be performed.  OK, no problem, I'll let you know when we get to that point.  Guess what I forgot to do?  So FXE has maybe two gallons on the ground it didn't previously.  Manny took time away from whatever he was doing last Saturday to come address the issue (fuel bowl o-ring not installed correctly) and finish the leak checks.  That cost me two hours on what turned out to be an all-day adventure (I'll share the rest elsewhere), but it's really fantastic that I was able to get going that day rather than have to stay the weekend.

[carusoam]

Nice pirep for Edison at Wet wingologists!

Thanks for sharing the details...

It really is enjoyable knowing the fuel goes in, and stays there until you use it...  

Best regards,

-a-

[Hank]

Edison did a great job on my tanks in 2009? 2010? Finished on time and on budget; drove me across town to airline home after a Saturday noontime drop-off. He also drove me to the (impressive!) Banyan FBO to pay the fuel bill, 52.2 gallons.

Now it appears I have an inspection panel screw leaking . . . . .

[afward]

Ha, yeah.  That's one thing I didn't get: The ride from FLL...  Edison was so swamped with work the day I arrived he wasn't able to get away.

Either way, I'm sure he will do a great job addressing that minor leak you have for a very reasonable price.

Banyan does have a very impressive(ly expensive to operate) FBO over there.  And to be fair, Stevo's videos really don't do it justice; it is really nice.  The pilot shop was pretty cool, too, though I'm usually still an "order it online" type for that stuff.

[ArtVandelay]

Does the process damage the paint underneath the wing? If yes, do they touch it up? How long to get an appointment? How long to do the job?

[Hank]

6 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Does the process damage the paint underneath the wing? If yes, do they touch it up? How long to get an appointment? How long to do the job?

My paint was undamaged. Time for an appointment varies. Edison can give you the current wait and a duration estimate, which will vary with tank size and what has been done to your tanks since leaving the factory. He is good, this is his entire business. 

[air cooled dad]

I agree.  Edison does a great job. Had my tanks done last year. Sooooo nice to not smell fuel.  I also recommend the restaurant next to Banyon. Yum!

Jason

 

[carusoam]

Great pirep for Edison at wet wingologists..!

And a place to eat...   

Best regards,

-a-

[Ragsf15e]

On 4/7/2021 at 8:08 PM, Hank said:

Edison did a great job on my tanks in 2009? 2010? Finished on time and on budget; drove me across town to airline home after a Saturday noontime drop-off. He also drove me to the (impressive!) Banyan FBO to pay the fuel bill, 52.2 gallons.

Now it appears I have an inspection panel screw leaking . . . . .

Inspection screw is pretty easy.  Probably do it yourself if you wanted.  Take screw out, clean, screw back in with proper sealant.  There’s a thread around here that had details.

[Hank]

38 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Inspection screw is pretty easy.  Probably do it yourself if you wanted.  Take screw out, clean, screw back in with proper sealant.  There’s a thread around here that had details.

Easy on top. My leaking one's on the bottom . . . .  

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

Easy on top. My leaking one's on the bottom . . . .  

That does sound worse, but I thought I read some guys talking about fixing them pretty easily. Can you run the tank out and make it easy?

[Hank]

4 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

That does sound worse, but I thought I read some guys talking about fixing them pretty easily. Can you run the tank out and make it easy?

That'll help a whole lot, yes. But I just topped off this morning . . . .

[bradp]

8 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

That does sound worse, but I thought I read some guys talking about fixing them pretty easily. Can you run the tank out and make it easy?

You can try permatex 3 on the bottom inspection panel - never worked for me, I wasn’t able to get it to set up with the tank wet.  If you’re going to try permatex I’d recommend draining the tank to below that level and allowing it to “cure”.  In the end we did it the right way- pulled the panel, cleaned and sealed it back using the inspection panel sealant (I can’t recall which Chemseal - there’s a list out there). Took about 2 hr for a single panel done the right way. 

[bradp]

https://www.rivetbangers.com/documents/tank_sealant.pdf

[mike_elliott]

If I am not mistaken, these are sealed nutplates that the seal gets blown out when too long of a screw or excess sealant is used on the screw threads, causing pressure on the seal when the screw is tightened, thus ruining the integrity of the seal. 

[bradp]

6 hours ago, mike_elliott said:

If I am not mistaken, these are sealed nutplates that the seal gets blown out when too long of a screw or excess sealant is used on the screw threads, causing pressure on the seal when the screw is tightened, thus ruining the integrity of the seal. 

You are correct Mike.  The repair with the permatex is anticipating that the sealed screw receptacle he’s been cracked.  Resealing the nut plate will take care of the cracked plastic if you do it the “right way”.   I believe dmax has an article on this.  

[Hank]

24 minutes ago, bradp said:

You are correct Mike.  The repair with the permatex is anticipating that the sealed screw receptacle he’s been cracked.  Resealing the nut plate will take care of the cracked plastic if you do it the “right way”.   I believe dmax has an article on this.  

One screw on the bottom inspection panel is leaking now, 10 years after reseal. It's one of the two closest to the sump, so I'll fly it as dry as possible, then slide a grounded washtub under it to collect fuel after opening the cap. Let it sit a couple days, clean up, goop up and put back together. Another day should be good to refuel.

Or did I miss anything important?