Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
05-08-2005, 03:41 PM
#1
Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
I recently discovered the fuel tank in my latest plane had a leak. I've gotten maybe 12 to 15 flights on it, and it has been leaking since new, but I just now discovered it. At first I thought my exhaust and crankcase vent were causing all the oily residue at the front of the wing/fuse joint, but when I saw the foam around my battery and fuel tank were wet, I knew it was a tank leak. The ply in the front of the fuse behind the firewall and the front of the wing saddle got exposure enough to darken the wood some (oil evident). Since I replaced that tank and lines, the fuel has evaporated, and I wiped off as much residue as I could. It's not a big investment plane, just a Cap ARF (don't tell anyone I have an ARF in my fleet, OK?) with a Saito .72.
My question is, will the limited exposure to the fuel on unprotected wood weaken it significantly?
I know that to prepare for covering fuel exposed wood you can treat it with foaming carpet cleaner (can't recall the popular name brand) to "dry it out", but that is not a concern, as the covering seems to be adhering fine.
Thanks for your opinions,
Pilgrim
My question is, will the limited exposure to the fuel on unprotected wood weaken it significantly?
I know that to prepare for covering fuel exposed wood you can treat it with foaming carpet cleaner (can't recall the popular name brand) to "dry it out", but that is not a concern, as the covering seems to be adhering fine.
Thanks for your opinions,
Pilgrim
05-08-2005, 10:28 PM
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
Before I really got the hang of building, ALL my planes would become fuel soaked. I mean planes that were 7 or 8 years old and just rotten. I flew the P out of them. Fuel soaked wood does add weight. And I do believe the wood is weaker. But I believe you will be just fine. Just clean the wood as good as you can and try to keep it from happening any more. Sometimes that K2R is hard to find. But I have tried some of the other brands of spot remover and had success with them.
Nowadays I paint the fuel compartment with dope to fuel proof it. Sometimes I will paint the bottom and sides only and then sheet the top of the compartment. Generally the top can be reached thru the wing saddle. It adds a little insurance, just in case. And another thing I like to do, and that is to have the brass from the tank go thru the firewall. JUst one less way for fuel to leak into the airplane. Just a suggestion, there are no hard and fast rules. And I wouldn"t worry too much about your plane if you have only had 12 or 15 flights. You could probably just soak it up with some paper towels and let it air out. Sometime you can sweat fuel out of wood with a heat gun also. Good luck.
Nowadays I paint the fuel compartment with dope to fuel proof it. Sometimes I will paint the bottom and sides only and then sheet the top of the compartment. Generally the top can be reached thru the wing saddle. It adds a little insurance, just in case. And another thing I like to do, and that is to have the brass from the tank go thru the firewall. JUst one less way for fuel to leak into the airplane. Just a suggestion, there are no hard and fast rules. And I wouldn"t worry too much about your plane if you have only had 12 or 15 flights. You could probably just soak it up with some paper towels and let it air out. Sometime you can sweat fuel out of wood with a heat gun also. Good luck.
05-09-2005, 08:56 AM
#4
RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
If you can not find K2R is to use corn starch. Sprinkle some in there, rub it around and let it sit for awhile. Then clean it out and repeat. It will usually take several applications to get the oil/fuel out. A tip I got from someone else - use your heat gun on those areas. It helps bring the deep soaked oil/fuel up to the surface where the K2R or corn stach can pick it up and remove it.
After you have the wood cleaned, take some epoxy and thin it 10% BY VOLUME and paint the areas with it. It will fuel proof the wood. I do this on all my new construction and ARFs.
After you have the wood cleaned, take some epoxy and thin it 10% BY VOLUME and paint the areas with it. It will fuel proof the wood. I do this on all my new construction and ARFs.
05-09-2005, 09:08 AM
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
sprinkle some tacum powder, rub it in.
Sprinkle some more, and after a couple of days
the powder should soak all the oil after a couple of days.
Then clean it all off with water and soak.
Clean it off good!!!!
I had the same problem with my extra.
Hope it works.
Sprinkle some more, and after a couple of days
the powder should soak all the oil after a couple of days.
Then clean it all off with water and soak.
Clean it off good!!!!
I had the same problem with my extra.
Hope it works.
05-09-2005, 09:14 AM
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
I believe that it does weaken the wood but, I am more concerned about the glue joints and where engine mounts are fixed to the wood being affected. None of my planes have ever leaked 
but I did buy a used plane and got it home to find a wet mess that was probably years old. I cleaned it using K2R, a cornstarch / alcohol paste and ironing with kitchen towels, and it is holding up quite nicely. However this is a small low powered (OS40 FS) aircraft - you really don't want the engine flying forward into your hand or worse so make regular checks on the structural integrity.
but I did buy a used plane and got it home to find a wet mess that was probably years old. I cleaned it using K2R, a cornstarch / alcohol paste and ironing with kitchen towels, and it is holding up quite nicely. However this is a small low powered (OS40 FS) aircraft - you really don't want the engine flying forward into your hand or worse so make regular checks on the structural integrity.
05-09-2005, 09:59 AM
#7
RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
Good ideas guys. Thanks for all the tips. Luckily, it does not look like my exposure got too bad, and most of it is evaporated after I wiped the surfaces down right after I discovered the problem. It has been a lesson not to skip fuel-proofing the area in future planes, though! You never know when you'll have a failure/leak.
Pilgrim
Pilgrim
05-11-2005, 06:55 PM
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
This just happened to me!!! I was about to start a new thread about it but found this one. I have a twist that i got for christmas, been flying the P out of it since the day I got it. I had it to where I never had to take the wings off since it was a small plane and I had plenty of hauling room. I didnt notice anything was wrong until last sunday, i landed just like usual and it was a fairly soft landing, not hard at all, and the landing gear just came out real smoothly and didnt damage the plane at all. But i got to looking and there was nothing but nitro fuel everywhere, there were PUDDLES of it in corners. And the entire front end of the fuse was ready to fall apart, the bottom glue joints had already came apart. THE ENTIRE FRONT END SATURATED!!!! I dont know what to do, should I just try rebuilding (which I am not good at at all) or should I try some of those carpet sprays and spot removers and trying glueing it back together?
Thanks,
Adam
Thanks,
Adam
05-11-2005, 07:51 PM
#10
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
Hi,
The advise in this thread is as good as you can get from my experience. Combinations of heat, solvent and adsorbative materials such as talc, kitty litter et al will work over time.
Having had this happen many times I now always fuel proof the tank compartment and the wing saddle area. I also now run the brass tubing from tank to the motor side of the firewall so if the silicon fuel tube splits it doesnt leak into the tank compartment as recommended by Kingwood barney, Minnflyer and others.
Cheers,
Colin
The advise in this thread is as good as you can get from my experience. Combinations of heat, solvent and adsorbative materials such as talc, kitty litter et al will work over time.
Having had this happen many times I now always fuel proof the tank compartment and the wing saddle area. I also now run the brass tubing from tank to the motor side of the firewall so if the silicon fuel tube splits it doesnt leak into the tank compartment as recommended by Kingwood barney, Minnflyer and others.
Cheers,
Colin
05-12-2005, 01:06 AM
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RE: Fuel soaked wood, does it weaken it?
Yes, it does weaken the wood. I had a fuel tank leak in my Tower Hobbies .46 size trainer. I removed the engine and fuel tank and buried the front of the plane in a plastic pan of kitty litter.
But the kitty litter thing didn't work for me. I ended up having to replace the firewall and quite a bit of the balsa sheeting to get the strength back.
But the kitty litter thing didn't work for me. I ended up having to replace the firewall and quite a bit of the balsa sheeting to get the strength back.
