Thanks for your comments Syd. No corrosion on my tanks though. Only a deterioration of the sealant used to seal the rivets/ribs when the tanks were originally built in 1966.
Your right, the best way to solve the problem would be to disassemble the tanks and have them resealed from the inside. In fact, I may have a line on a set of good 9 gal tanks from another Alon converted to 15 gal tanks. If I can pick them up at a reasonable price I'll have them pressure checked, painted, and put them on next summer. For now the flying weather in Texas is just too good to be sitting on the ground. I've already missed about 4 weeks perfect flying weather. I'm truely hoping a $35 can of sealant under a fresh coat of candy apply red imron paint will get me by. Several A.P.'s I've talked with say this will work nicely for between two to four years if the plane is hangered (it is). Then the rivets will start weeping again due to the breakdown of the sealant, even under paint, caused by UV rays from that big ball of fire in the sky. I don't relish the thought of holding a torch to a fuel tank either. We don't have basements in Texas so I may have to join you in yours. Although, I've had several people tell me it's no big deal to solder/weld tanks. Getting the fuel to air ratio just right for combustion is difficult at best. If you pump carbon monozide (car exhaust or other inert gas) into the tank while welding I'm told it's perfectly safe. Even so, I'm hiding with you in the basement when the works done. Do you (does anyone) think soldering the rivets is worth a try. Seems to me if it worked (big if) it would be a more permanent solution for weeping rivets short of a total rebuild at $300 per tank or more. Thanks again everyone for your advise/comments. Bill DuCharme N6554Q Syd Cohen wrote: > > Remember, Bill, the corrosion starts on the inside of the tank due to > water settling out of the fuel. The corrosion then works it's way > outward. Corrosion proofing paint applied to the outside is just like > putting a band aid on cancer. Flame-soldering on a fuel tank??? Yikes! > Tell me when you are going to do it so I can hide in my basement. > > The best way to cure your problem is to remove the tank, drill out all > of the rivets, pull the tank apart, check how deep the corrosion has eaten, > (if it is taken over 10% of the thickness of the metal away the part is > junk) and if possible, reseal and re rivet the tank back together. My > tanks were really eaten away. > > To prevent this from happening we should all use a siphon hose at least > once a year to reach in to the inboard rear corner of the tanks and remove > any water that has formed there. Even with the tail at the right height, > water can pool in this spot. > > Syd Cohen > Wausau, WI > NC94196 > > William W Ducharme wrote: > > > Had a crazy thought yesterday. What do you all think about using > > aluminum solder to seal the rivet heads on wing tanks? I've tried > > Marine Tex. and JB Weld epoxy and neither gave me the results I was > > looking for. They will seal the rivets but, they do nothing for the > > appearance of the tanks/skins. > > > > The down side of soldering is that you'd have to take a torch to a fuel > > tank and that's obviously somewhat dangerous. If you pumped in a > > non-combustible inert gas at the same time you soldered the rivets, > > tanks drained of course, it should be safe. I've seen this done when > > welding gas tanks. > > > > Any thoughts? > > > > The previous owner of my plane recommended a product called Miracle > > Paint - Rust and Corrosion Inhibitor. It's available through JC Whitney > > for about $35 and comes in two colors and clear. Says on the label it > > can be used for fuel tank repairs. It's thin enough to brush or spray > > on and should have no detrimental effects on the appearance of the > > tanks. > > > > Think I'll give this stuff a try first and then look into soldering if > > the corrosion paint doesn't work. > > > > Bill DuCharme > > N6554Q
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