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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