Deciding when to reseal/bladder vs patch

[MBDiagMan]

Maxwell repaired the tanks when I bought the plane 5 1/2 years ago and they were sealed well until some leaks appeared last summer.  I left it at Dons for a week or so in the Summer and they repaired both tanks and they haven’t leaked a drop since.  They did it for a fixed price of $750 per tank.  I can live with $1500 every five years.  I know there are no guarantees that it won’t end up being every year, but it also might go ten years.

”You pays your money and you takes your chances.”  Flying isn’t cheap.

[Pinecone]

For all the tanks that the top shops do, there are few that leak.

[Huckster79]

On 1/18/2024 at 8:04 AM, MBDiagMan said:

Maxwell repaired the tanks when I bought the plane 5 1/2 years ago and they were sealed well until some leaks appeared last summer.  I left it at Dons for a week or so in the Summer and they repaired both tanks and they haven’t leaked a drop since.  They did it for a fixed price of $750 per tank.  I can live with $1500 every five years.  I know there are no guarantees that it won’t end up being every year, but it also might go ten years.

”You pays your money and you takes your chances.”  Flying isn’t cheap.

yea I sure hoped to do the repair, but seeing the sealant condition once we started scraping I wasn’t comfortable with just a repair… 

im doing good though, this is third bird I’ve owned and this is the first repair that snowballed on me… 

[hammdo]

On 1/18/2024 at 7:04 AM, MBDiagMan said:

Maxwell repaired the tanks when I bought the plane 5 1/2 years ago and they were sealed well until some leaks appeared last summer.  I left it at Dons for a week or so in the Summer and they repaired both tanks and they haven’t leaked a drop since.  They did it for a fixed price of $750 per tank.  I can live with $1500 every five years.  I know there are no guarantees that it won’t end up being every year, but it also might go ten years.

”You pays your money and you takes your chances.”  Flying isn’t cheap.

$1750 per side now…

-Don

[EricJ]

14 hours ago, hammdo said:

$1750 per side now…

-Don

Dang.   It was $600 when they did mine a little over six years ago.    I will admit that I thought they were undercharging at the time.

[hammdo]

That includes materials and shop supplies…

Makes me wonder if full reseal is better…

-Don

[MBDiagMan]

Wow!  $750 to $1750!  Now there’s some inflation for you!

[hammdo]

Nature of the beast:

$1450 flat plus supplies/tax

[Huckster79]

On 1/24/2024 at 9:39 PM, hammdo said:

$1750 per side now…

-Don

What are they doing for 1750 a side? Like a “top coat” over what’s there?  I’m thinking that’s what was done to mine… 

[EricJ]

32 minutes ago, Huckster79 said:

What are they doing for 1750 a side? Like a “top coat” over what’s there?  I’m thinking that’s what was done to mine… 

When they did mine it was find and repair the leak.   That's actually a fair bit of work for each of those steps.   I've always liked that they have a flat rate for that, which I think is commendable.

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, EricJ said:

When they did mine it was find and repair the leak.   That's actually a fair bit of work for each of those steps.   I've always liked that they have a flat rate for that, which I think is commendable.

Yeah, searching for the actual spot leaking and then just fixing that spot is the hard part and probably the only thing short of full reseal that will be effective.

[Huckster79]

On 1/31/2024 at 9:30 PM, EricJ said:

When they did mine it was find and repair the leak.   That's actually a fair bit of work for each of those steps.   I've always liked that they have a flat rate for that, which I think is commendable.

Right, that is nice, especially with it sometimes being a “gremlin-y problem” to find right spot.  I was just curious, i re-read my post and it could be taken snarky- that wasn’t the intention. 
 

[jcolgan]

I am in north Alabama.  Is anybody reputable doing Mooney fuel tank sealing closer than Ft Lauderdale?

[Ragsf15e]

8 minutes ago, jcolgan said:

I am in north Alabama.  Is anybody reputable doing Mooney fuel tank sealing closer than Ft Lauderdale?

I think some people have had success at Houston tank specialists, but it’s not a lot closer…