crossman

I recall seeing infromation about using a plastic 35mm film can for a small fuel tank. Can anyone point me to the instructions for this?

Thanks,

SGC

Here it is

crossman

Perfect! Thanks

crossman

One question, do you glue the cap in place or is it tight enough to seal bay itself? I know the lock in place pretty tightly.

flyinrog

My Feedback: (1)

never made one myself, but I recall hearing one brand better than another...not sure what it was, but they snap down,,generally glue and fuel dont mix well...Rog

crossman

The Fuji cans snap shut pretty tightly, so it sould work fine. I used to put a little freon in them from canned air, snap the lid on and they would pop pretty loudly after a minute or two.

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

I use to use these. I never sealed the container lid and didn't had a problem with leakage. Like the picture above, I used Fuji film because they used clear film containers. Kodak works fine if your putting the tank somewhere you can't see. I've used them also, and had no problems.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

They snap in place to a perfect seal. You may choose to tape over the seam, or apply some heat shrink sleeve, like battery sleeving or large HS tube, over the junction for security.

If you hot-tube cut undersize holes (scrap of smaller tube, heat up gently, push through film can wall and keep going until you hit cool metal - important!), most any tubing you force fit through the hole will seal perfectly. The melting point is really low, be careful and practice on a spare first.

MJD

Andrew

I took a slightly different approach and used a continuous piece of tubing. On the pickup tube, I worked a short piece of brass tubing along the inside of the tubing, sort of like a shunt used in arteries, to the point where it passes thru the can. The short piece of brass keeps the tubing from collapsing and ensures a tight seal. You can see the slight bulge indicated by the bamboo skewer.

The tubing is the silicone insulation from a piece of 12 ga. noodle wire - the very flexible wire used by the car boys and on many lipos. The insulation is impervious to fuel and extremely flexible allowing the clunk to move freely. The clunk in the picture is a standard Sullivan clunk with the barb cut away and a short piece of tubing sweated into the hole. The barb is too large for most of out tubing sizes, but the tubing insert is just about ideal.

I got the idea of having no joints in the fuel tubing from CombatPigg, so just adapted it to a Fuji tank.

andrew

DICKEYBIRD

After using (Fuji) film canister tanks for years, the only changes I'd make to my original drawing (thanks SGC!) would be to recommend a change from brass to copper tubing (brass corrodes and turns funky green after a while) and to recommend a periodic inspection (yearly?) to check for cracks between the 2 holes. I've made probably 30-40 of them and have had 2 that developed cracks.

And no, there is no reason to add any sealant, tape, heat shrink or anything else to seal the cap. They don't leak.

Also, drill a hole (1 1/4" holesaw) in a soft block of foam and stuff that in the fuselage. That insulates the tank from the buzzy vibes from 1/2A engines and really improves the running characteristics.

MJD

My Feedback: (1)

I know they don't leak, they make a perfect seal. But, if you squeeze them or whack them in a crack up, you can pop the lid. I don't like fuel spills. Or if you use one with crankcase pressure, I'd say tape them up too. I agree normally it is not much of a problem.

MJD

small_rcer

Goop appears to be fuel and fool proof as a sealant. Smear a little in the groove in the cap before snapping on.

Jim H