Time for tanks to be resealed?

[Piloto]

If hard landings were the cause of the leaks then there is a lot of pilots to be a shame. Gyros are more sensitive to hard landings than sealant. You never see a FRAGILE HANDLE WITH CARE label on a can of sealant but you see them on the gyros. If leaks are a result of hard landings I would have all the gyros overhauled.

José

[aviatoreb]

I have wrote about it before.

They didn't have it finished when promissed, after I bought tickets to pick it up and took time off work.

They ruined the paint on the landing gear, wheel wells and portions of the wing and fuselage. It took me about 30 hours of work to fix it.

It started leaking within two weeks, I'm sure they would have fixed it, but the logistics and cost of taking it back were prohibitive.

I have done two repairs to the right tank, each one took about 12 hours of my time.

The right tank is now leaking.

When I was fixing the tank I noticed that there was no bead of sealant applied, only a brush coat. The Mooney service manual is very specific about this.

The only place there was the red liquid butal rubber applied was in the cells that you can see through gas caps, I can only assume they were trying to cut corners and decive me.

Wow that is a lousy story - thanks for the pirep.

[panther1400]

Has anyone else had the same experience with Willmar?

[Hank]

I went to Wet Wingologists last year:

• Edison drove me to the airport when I dropped off the plane;
  
• he completed the job on time;
  
• the warranty is good for seven (7) years;
  
• the price was as quoted;
  
• there was no damage to the paint anywhere;
  
• he put new screws into the access panels;
  
• the entire wingwalk was redone;
  
• there are no more leaks, and no more fuel loss in the hangar.
  

Mark me down as a very satisfied customer.

P.S.--some of my sealant [possibly original from 1970] was sandy in texture and crumbled to the touch. This is not caused by "hard landings" but simply time and temperature. Volatiles evaporate . . . Your Maintenance Manual gives criteria to judge leaks by, with specifics for judging airworthiness and need for repair.

[rbridges]

I have wrote about it before.

They didn't have it finished when promissed, after I bought tickets to pick it up and took time off work.

They ruined the paint on the landing gear, wheel wells and portions of the wing and fuselage. It took me about 30 hours of work to fix it.

It started leaking within two weeks, I'm sure they would have fixed it, but the logistics and cost of taking it back were prohibitive.

I have done two repairs to the right tank, each one took about 12 hours of my time.

The right tank is now leaking.

When I was fixing the tank I noticed that there was no bead of sealant applied, only a brush coat. The Mooney service manual is very specific about this.

The only place there was the red liquid butal rubber applied was in the cells that you can see through gas caps, I can only assume they were trying to cut corners and decive me.

when was it done. Wilmar says they will come to you for any repairs IIRC.

[Alan Fox]

Thats a shame , I hadnt heard any bad things about them.....The problem is that it is a job that is all technique not nuts and bolts..... Kind of like dope and fabric.... Except you dont know how well it was done until a few months later...

[danb35]

Thats a shame , I hadnt heard any bad things about them.....

Nor had I, which makes N201MK's story (whoever he is) suspicious to me. The fact that he's declined to answer (or, more accurately, ignored) questions in other threads where he's posted similar claims increases those suspicions. And when those questions raise inconsistencies between his story and observed reality (like why he didn't have Paul come to him to fix the leaks, which Paul says he will do as part of his warranty), the BS detector goes into red alert.

[N201MKTurbo]

Sorry, I was busy yesterday.

I need to check the logs to see when it was done, time seems to fly these days. And I have pictures to prove what i said.

I took my plane there because they were supposed to be the best, and I have heard good things about them sense. I had my plane done when they were just moving into their new shop at the new airport. I was the first airplane they did in their new shop and they were a bit disorganized.

The warranty I had said that all repairs would be done in Wilmar. All things considered, it cost about $2000.00 to deliver and pickup the plane from Arizona to Minnesota.

I should have contacted them, but I didn't have the time to take the plane back for warranty work, so I just fixed it myself.

[DaV8or]

Paul has apparently strengthened both of these terms of his warranty, however, since he took over the business.

This is my thinking on this issue. I remember reading how the tank resealing business was spun off from the regular FBO/MSC business. Perhaps change in the organization and or, management has resulted in a higher quality of work and customer service. N201MK's experience may have been with the old Willmar and the new Willmar, or Wet Wingologists is delivering quality product.

[marks]

Wilmar is no more. Paul Beck has improved the product and the warrantee. It's at the same airport, but for nearly ten years now it's been called Weep No More. According to Aviation Consumer, that's where Don Maxwell send his airplanes to be resealed when a reseal is what's called for. I had the process done to my J model and so far everything is great.

[jeckford]

We recently had our 82J resealed by Paul at Weep no More in Wilmar. Great guy and excellent customer service. Plane was ready on time and he provided pictures of the before and after process. No leaks and I will continue to highly recommend Paul.