Sediments in fuel tanks

[hais]

Hi, this is my first post. 

I’ve been lurking around here for a while researching which model to buy. Thank you all for your informative posts which swayed the decision to a 1996 O1 that we now enjoy for 3 months. 
 

Question: I say sediments yesterday, I had to sump 5 full cups each side to clear them. After the flight, I sumped again and saw more sediments. I’ll ask a mechanic to look tomorrow. Wanted to ask if you have experienced anything similar, whether there’s something bigger to watch out for. 
 

The tanks were resealed 3 months go during pre-buy.

[anthonydesmet]

Most likely When I first bought my airplane I had same issue until I resealed tanks.  I had no weeping at first but did have sediment usually ever flight.  Then after the first year weeping started when I topped off the right wing.  Eventually I had to reseal.  After reseal, no more sediment.  Sediment is most likely the aged sealant getting crusty and flaking.  When was the last time wings were resealed. That’s also why you want to keep fuel in the tanks.

[Mcstealth]

Did you save the sediment for analysis? Put it under magnification. Is it organic or no

Congratulations on the O1. Anthony will be proud.

Please post pictures of your new acquisition. 

Welcome to the Forum. 

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard hais!
 

wait a minute….  Tell us more about the reseal… who did it, where, how much was actually done….
 

Good news / bad news…

Long bodies don’t typically suffer from aged sealant as often as the older birds do…

Mostly because it takes decades to run into the age limitations of sealants…. Most LBs have lived indoors…

Finally… the sealant and process for sealing used when Ovations were in the factory is the most modern of materials and processes…

Unfortunately, life in the hot sun can be detrimental to the sealant…

 

Lets see if we can identify what you have…got a white cloth?

Catch some of the sediments, take a pic…

 

It sounds like you may have had a patch job, not a strip and re-seal job…

So…. Find out  what work was done, why it was done, to what extent it was done….

Go O!   

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic…

Best regards,

-a-

 

 

[AerostarDriver]

Welcome @hais

I had a similar issue in my E model, what I elected to do was to flush the tanks and use filter funnel to keep cycling the fuel I had through the tanks. When I was finally happy and was not getting anything coming out of the tanks, I filled up with new fuel. For the next few hours I filled up at the end of the day, let the fuel settle over night, sump the next time I went flying until clean. It took about 14 fill ups but I now no longer have anything come out of the sump. While doing that I also pulled all the filters, cleaned them every 2.5 hours until I was regularly getting clean sumps when I returned to the normal mx schedule. With my mission and how I use the airplane, keeping the tanks full works for me.

 

[hais]

4 hours ago, anthonydesmet said:

Most likely When I first bought my airplane I had same issue until I resealed tanks.  I had no weeping at first but did have sediment usually ever flight.  Then after the first year weeping started when I topped off the right wing.  Eventually I had to reseal.  After reseal, no more sediment.  Sediment is most likely the aged sealant getting crusty and flaking.  When was the last time wings were resealed. That’s also why you want to keep fuel in the tanks.

They were resealed last year, however, pre-buy in May this year showed tanks were leaking, so the shop reworked them. I will follow up on the details of what was done.

[hais]

2 hours ago, Mcstealth said:

Did you save the sediment for analysis? Put it under magnification. Is it organic or no

Congratulations on the O1. Anthony will be proud.

Please post pictures of your new acquisition. 

Welcome to the Forum. 

Thank you, will post :). 
 

I didn’t save - will do so next. They were black, I suspect organic.

[anthonydesmet]

They may have resealed where you were weeping but your sealant overall might be old and degrading, I’d start in the logs and see when they were professionally resealed

[KB4]

Unlikely, but to eliminate 1 potential source, when you fill up, get some in a small gas can, pour it out into a clear jar and wait and see. Contaminants could be from fuel truck.