What I enjoyed about building my first tank

Being done....hahaha

Seriously, my right tank is all assembled save the access plate. As it stands, the tank is curing with the wood clamps on the rear baffle/skin joint.

How long should I leave these clamps on? I am a bit worried about the clamps being glued to the skin by some of the squeeze out.

Edit: One more question - Is it worth while (or a bad idea) to put nylon washers under the access panel and level sender screws to aid in sealing?



On a side note, the right wing is coming together well. My wife has been a great help, she really likes running the rivet gun!

Don't worry about the clamps, you can always whittle them off. Seriously, you'll be able to remove them.

As for the inspection plate and sender screws, the answer is 'maybe'. If you proseal the inspection plate, don't bother with washers there. If you use the gasket, like I did, I still wouldn't use the washers. I used Fuel Lube instead. Use the screw or a toothpick to put a small glob into the screw hole and coat the screw threads lightly and the ooze around the screw head will take care of the rest. Washers will just require you to get slightly longer screws.

On the fuel sender, I initially used the same method but discovered I needed to isolate the senders from common ground (BMA EFIS issue, not sure if other electronic units are similarly affected), so I sprang for the longer screws and nylon shoulder washers. In this case, I was careful to lube only the platenuts before locating the sender plate, rubber gasket, washers and screws. I don't know the electrical properties of Fuel Lube and didn't want to take a chance of grounding the sender plate via oozing Fuel Lube. No sign of leaks at 110 hours.

I don't think I'd trust just nylon washers to prevent leaking. I'd expect the washers to 'take a set' and allow fuel to seep. Washers of material similar to the sender gaskets, maybe, but not nylon.

Looks great ;-) you should have no problem wiggling off the clamps ..

On the issue of the washer under the screw ... I agree .. will not do much good as it will set ... IF you have used the SEALED nut plates ... you should not have any fuels going into the nut plates threads anyway ... assuming you have selaed well arround the nut plates .. From memory the sealed nuplates have a sealing ring on them as well ... Fuel lube should be ok on the screws ...

I had my tank pressure tested for one week ... with no change in pressure ....

Jan

Thank you very much for the input!

I will be using pro-seal for the access panel. I used the sealed nutplate on the panel and regular nutplates on the level sender. I will put some proseal under the screw heads of the fuel level sender.

Thanks,

Congratulations,

WingsOnWheels said:

My wife has been a great help, she really likes running the rivet gun!

Click to expand...

Your a lucky man! Is her name "Rosie" by any chance?
I have heard that frequently the ladies do a better job with the Rivet gun than many of us "guys."

WingsOnWheels said:

Thank you very much for the input!

I will be using pro-seal for the access panel. I used the sealed nutplate on the panel and regular nutplates on the level sender. I will put some proseal under the screw heads of the fuel level sender.

Thanks,

Click to expand...

For the sender to work, their needs to be good contact between at least one screw and the sender (and between the cover plate and the tank) to provide for a ground path. A good way to do this and not compromise having a good seal is to put an internal or external tooth lock washer on one of the screws. This will provide a good electrical connection even if their is tank sealant under the screw head.

rvbuilder2002 said:

For the sender to work, their needs to be good contact between at least one screw and the sender (and between the cover plate and the tank) to provide for a ground path. A good way to do this and not compromise having a good seal is to put an internal or external tooth lock washer on one of the screws. This will provide a good electrical connection even if their is tank sealant under the screw head.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the tip. I was thinking about adding a ground wire, but the lock washer is a great idea.

gvgoff99 said:

Your a lucky man! Is her name "Rosie" by any chance?
I have heard that frequently the ladies do a better job with the Rivet gun than many of us "guys."

Click to expand...

That might have to be a new nickname...haha

Why not replace the non sealed nutlates used for the tank sender with sealed type ???

One other thing ... if you hold the gun with two hands ...as you show in your photo .. Then I think you will get a smoother surface if you do not use the red rubber foot ... or have you sanded down the rubber foot ??

Try to just use a regular mushroom set ...same dia ...

JanRV6UK said:

Why not replace the non sealed nutlates used for the tank sender with sealed type ???

Click to expand...

I used the sealed nutplates because I already had them, but I only have 25 and at $4-5 a piece I'm not buying any more...haha

JanRV6UK said:

One other thing ... if you hold the gun with two hands ...as you show in your photo .. Then I think you will get a smoother surface if you do not use the red rubber foot ... or have you sanded down the rubber foot ??

Try to just use a regular mushroom set ...same dia ...

Click to expand...

Jan,

I have two swivel sets, one has the rubber cut down. There is no noticeable difference between the two keeping the skin smooth. I just don't think it is worth the risk of misalignment at this point. My wife is a riveting newbie and the swivel set is darn near foolproof.

The sealed nutplates are nice but totally unnecessary. When you proseal the screws, standard nutplates will seal fine. I've never had one leak.

Mel said:

The sealed nutplates are nice but totally unnecessary. When you proseal the screws, standard nutplates will seal fine. I've never had one leak.

Click to expand...

That was pretty much my take also. I just used the sealed nutplates since they came with the kit when I bought it second-hand.