Dave, how do you pump the fuel out of the tank?
Do you use the aircraft's own electric pump? Btw, it's vital that the tank
is ventilated so that all petrol/gas fumes are evacuated before introducin
g any heat source or spark, as many a motor mechanic found out to his cost
when welding the fuel tank of a petrol engined car!
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________________________________
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com <owner-europa-list-server@matr
onics.com> on behalf of Dave Disney <davedisney@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent: Sunday, July 24, 2022 11:43:15 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Re: Fuel tank inspection plate design
Hi Will,
Sorry to hear about your tank problem. My tank developed a split back in 20
16, at first, I explored installing a bladder inside the tank as I really d
idn=99t like the idea of installing a new tank. I had studied the rep
air process and lots of photographs from the web and even produced the moul
dings required ready to install a new tank, but I really didn=99t wan
t to go that route.
I produced two or three bladders, but I couldn=99t produce a bladder
that didn=99t leak. The idea was to fill the bladder with explosion p
roof foam as used in racing cars, it would have reduced the tank capacity a
bit, but would prevent the bladder from collapsing when empty. I approache
d several bladder manufacturers, but they all wanted thousands to produce a
bladder which is why I went the DIY route. Although the bladder idea didn
=99t work out for me, I still think this is a great idea if someone c
an produce a bladder at a reasonable price.
Having spent a lot of time and effort on the bladder, I stumbled on the pro
cess of welding plastic fuel tanks in a youtube video. At this point in tim
e, I knew that my tank was split, but I didn=99t know where or how ba
d as I hadn=99t cut open the top of the tank. I figured that if I had
to replace the tank with a new one then cutting some holes in the tank top
wasn=99t going to matter, and if I cut the top of the headrests off
then any holes I cut could be easily repaired in the replacement process. T
here was already an LAA scheme for installing a fuel tank sender unit that
involved cutting an inspection hole between the headrests, so I knew I wasn
=99t breaking new ground doing this. Anyway, once the holes were cut
I could see the split in the tank for the first time and I thought repairin
g it was feasible.
I=99ve included some photos of the bladder for reference, a copy of t
he repair scheme that was accepted by the LAA in the UK and a pic of the in
side of the tank. It=99s pretty self-explanatory, but I=99m hap
py to help if something isn=99t clear.
I should add that my original welded repair failed earlier this year after
7 years, but it was only a morning=99s work to pump it out and reweld
it and it=99s been OK since. The repair approval dictates that I mus
t remove the inspection panels at annual inspection to inspect the repair.
I usually pump the tank out to do this which gives the opportunity to remov
e any debris from inside the tank and have a good look at it as well.
Good luck with your repair.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=507536#507536
Attachments:
http://forums.matronics.com//files/mod_8_redacted_1_114.pdf
http://forums.matronics.com//files/inflated_tank_rear_592.jpg
http://forums.matronics.com//files/bladder_top_180.jpg
http://forums.matronics.com//files/bladder_rear_116.jpg
http://forums.matronics.com//files/bladder_front_898.jpg
http://forums.matronics.com//files/2018_inside_of_fuel_tank_242.jpg
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