Tanks resealed at Wet Wingologists East

[Dammit Bill]

Can’t say enough good things about Edison at KFXE.
 
Bought my Bravo in Sept 23 and I knew there were leaks. Brian K did the best he could to patch the tanks up.
 
I made an appointment with Paul in MN Jan 24 and looked in my calendar for the Feb appointment. No joy. Called Paul and learned it’s Feb 2026. Ugh
 
Dec 30 I topped up and found leaking rivets in the wing walk area. Discovered bad weeping in both wheel wells. This was not going to work.
 
I called Edison on Dec 31 at 1500 CST. Said he had 1 slot last week in Jan, 2 in Feb, 0 in March and 4 in April.
 
I explained my dilemma in that the plane needed to be back in TX by Jan 31 for its annual. He said get it to him and he’d start it right away.
 
23 hours later, I pulled onto the ramp in KFXE. He planned on finishing by 1/26. It was completed 1/23. He was excellent in communicating the status, pointed out areas he found that needed attention outside the scope of the job quoted and even redid my sad looking wing walk area.
 
He only does Mooneys and can do 4 per month. I give him two enthusiastic thumbs up.
 
My quote, $6,800 per tank. He replaced both sump drains and repaired corroded areas. 28 nut plates, 432 SS screws and removed the interior panels to tighten L/R tank pickup fittings. $15,900. Seven year transferable warranty and $300 for any repair after that.
 
Not cheap, but competitively priced.








 
 
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[George Braly]

Nicely done.  Very.   

Do you know when your tanks were last sealed ?   If ever ? 

Or how old the sealant was before you had the tanks resealed ?

George

BTW - - one is at a loss for words to describe the difference in the quality of the workmanship - - "before" and "after". 

Unfortunately - - the condition of your tanks before being resealed is something we have seen before.  

[Dammit Bill]

Nicely done.  Very.   
Do you know when your tanks were last sealed ?   If ever ? 
Or how old the sealant was before you had the tanks resealed ?
George
BTW - - one is at a loss for words to describe the difference in the quality of the workmanship - - "before" and "after". 
Unfortunately - - the condition of your tanks before being resealed is something we have seen before.  

I believe original with MANY patch jobs. I looked in the logbook and it went to Wilmer (Weep No More) in its first 2 years for leaks. I don’t think they came from Kerrville with anywhere near the quality of what I just paid for.


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[George Braly]

46 minutes ago, Dammit Bill said:

I believe original with MANY patch jobs. I looked in the logbook and it went to Wilmer (Weep No More) in its first 2 years for leaks. I don’t think they came from Kerrville with anywhere near the quality of what I just paid for.


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I agree - - That looks like they did a nice job.  I think all three of the companies that do (re-do) Mooney fuel tanks do a much better job than was originally done at the factory. 

But there are several devils in the details that are not detectable from visual inspection.    Examples: 

A) Proper cleaning of the old sealant is extremely important;

B ) and then there is fairly detailed requirements for "surface preparation". 

C) Then there is normally a "recommended"  "adhesion promoter" - -  which very few shops use.  It is not mandatory.  But it sure does help in improving adhesion to the substrate.

D) Each sealant variety has a different "pot" or "useful working life" after the two parts are first mixed together.  If it is 30 minutes, and you are still putting sealant down at 35 minutes,  then the cross-linking of the molecules in the sealant with the substrate will be greatly degraded.

Those are among the several things we have learned as we investigated material compatibility issues with sealants over the last several years. 

[Hank]

Edison is great! He redid my tanks with crumbling original sealant and many patches. Near, clean, on time and trouble free.

[Pinecone]

2 hours ago, George Braly said:

I agree - - That looks like they did a nice job.  I think all three of the companies that do (re-do) Mooney fuel tanks do a much better job than was originally done at the factory. 

But there are several devils in the details that are not detectable from visual inspection.    Examples: 

A) Proper cleaning of the old sealant is extremely important;

B ) and then there is fairly detailed requirements for "surface preparation". 

C) Then there is normally a "recommended"  "adhesion promoter" - -  which very few shops use.  It is not mandatory.  But it sure does help in improving adhesion to the substrate.

D) Each sealant variety has a different "pot" or "useful working life" after the two parts are first mixed together.  If it is 30 minutes, and you are still putting sealant down at 35 minutes,  then the cross-linking of the molecules in the sealant with the substrate will be greatly degraded.

Those are among the several things we have learned as we investigated material compatibility issues with sealants over the last several years. 

And there is the expiration date of the sealant.  If it after that date, its performance will be degraded.

[Danb]

23 hours ago, Dammit Bill said:

Can’t say enough good things about Edison at KFXE.
 
Bought my Bravo in Sept 23 and I knew there were leaks. Brian K did the best he could to patch the tanks up.
 
I made an appointment with Paul in MN Jan 24 and looked in my calendar for the Feb appointment. No joy. Called Paul and learned it’s Feb 2026. Ugh
 
Dec 30 I topped up and found leaking rivets in the wing walk area. Discovered bad weeping in both wheel wells. This was not going to work.
 
I called Edison on Dec 31 at 1500 CST. Said he had 1 slot last week in Jan, 2 in Feb, 0 in March and 4 in April.
 
I explained my dilemma in that the plane needed to be back in TX by Jan 31 for its annual. He said get it to him and he’d start it right away.
 
23 hours later, I pulled onto the ramp in KFXE. He planned on finishing by 1/26. It was completed 1/23. He was excellent in communicating the status, pointed out areas he found that needed attention outside the scope of the job quoted and even redid my sad looking wing walk area.
 
He only does Mooneys and can do 4 per month. I give him two enthusiastic thumbs up.
 
My quote, $6,800 per tank. He replaced both sump drains and repaired corroded areas. 28 nut plates, 432 SS screws and removed the interior panels to tighten L/R tank pickup fittings. $15,900. Seven year transferable warranty and $300 for any repair after that.
 
Not cheap, but competitively priced.








 
 
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Nice Bill, great jobs are hard to come by, yours looks great.

D

[LANCECASPER]

On 1/26/2025 at 12:51 PM, Dammit Bill said:

Can’t say enough good things about Edison at KFXE.
 
Bought my Bravo in Sept 23 and I knew there were leaks. Brian K did the best he could to patch the tanks up.
 
I made an appointment with Paul in MN Jan 24 and looked in my calendar for the Feb appointment. No joy. Called Paul and learned it’s Feb 2026. Ugh
 
Dec 30 I topped up and found leaking rivets in the wing walk area. Discovered bad weeping in both wheel wells. This was not going to work.
 
I called Edison on Dec 31 at 1500 CST. Said he had 1 slot last week in Jan, 2 in Feb, 0 in March and 4 in April.
 
I explained my dilemma in that the plane needed to be back in TX by Jan 31 for its annual. He said get it to him and he’d start it right away.
 
23 hours later, I pulled onto the ramp in KFXE. He planned on finishing by 1/26. It was completed 1/23. He was excellent in communicating the status, pointed out areas he found that needed attention outside the scope of the job quoted and even redid my sad looking wing walk area.
 
He only does Mooneys and can do 4 per month. I give him two enthusiastic thumbs up.
 
My quote, $6,800 per tank. He replaced both sump drains and repaired corroded areas. 28 nut plates, 432 SS screws and removed the interior panels to tighten L/R tank pickup fittings. $15,900. Seven year transferable warranty and $300 for any repair after that.
 
Not cheap, but competitively priced.








 
 
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This is why you go to Edison or Paul to get your tanks done. Period.

Sure, anyone could figure it out and do it - but these guys do it every week. They aren't learning on your airplane.

[Slick Nick]

Those tanks look incredible 

[N201MKTurbo]

You could have saved a lot of money if Brian K had repaired them according to the maintenance manual.

[MikeOH]

7 hours ago, N201MKTurbo said:

You could have saved a lot of money if Brian K had repaired them according to the maintenance manual.

Exactly!  I've had my right tanks patched three times (left hasn't leaked) over the past seven years; maybe $1,000 total.

I just don't understand the rush to spend what is approaching $15,000 for a complete strip & reseal.  Leaks are going to have to get real bad before I entertain that kind of expense!

[Bartman]

I can't say enough good about Edison.  He did my tanks nearly 15 years ago, and I have had zero problems.  He finished the work on time, and I have no regrets.

[GeeBee]

Had Edison do mine 2 years ago. He is the bomb on leaky tanks.

 

[Ibra]

On 1/26/2025 at 7:51 PM, Dammit Bill said:

He only does Mooneys and can do 4 per month. I give him two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Thanks for the PIREP, I was discussing with co-owner if he is keen on stop at their shop later this year or next year (trying to reseal fuel tanks in middle of 10000nm trip ) 

[Dammit Bill]

On 1/28/2025 at 2:17 PM, MikeOH said:

Exactly!  I've had my right tanks patched three times (left hasn't leaked) over the past seven years; maybe $1,000 total.

I just don't understand the rush to spend what is approaching $15,000 for a complete strip & reseal.  Leaks are going to have to get real bad before I entertain that kind of expense!

Mine were bad and “patching” was no longer working. 

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, Dammit Bill said:

Mine were bad and “patching” was no longer working. 

Makes sense.

That's the scenario that will force me to do the same.  Hopefully, not in my near future!