RE: Holes in Fuel Tank (in reply to AlStack) Report This Post | (Post No. 8)


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(Can you melt the plastic with a soldering pencil and seal it?)

Yes. If you need to add material to the area of the hole use the cover from a small butter bowl. When you heat the tank the area heated will turn clear add material at this point. Clean the area first however I have repaired fuel tank without cleaning and it seemed to make little difference.
When you finish the repair the tank will be as strong as new.

I made some test with a tank. I drilled a 1/2" hole in an old tank and after repairing the hole I cut the tank apart and tried to pull the tank apart at the repair. It did not fail at the repair. I could not separate it any easier the any other part of the tank.
I use a 60 Watt temperature control soldering station that i use for making electronic repairs works find and does not mess up the soldering iron tip

I have been repairing fuel tanks like this for approx. 35 yrs. I have never had one to fail. Some times I teach new flyers about the hobby of RC Modeling. One of the things I do is drill a 1/8" hole in a fuel tank. One for them to repair and one for me. I then demonstrate the method and let them make a repair. Almost all are surprised at how simple the process is.

Good luck

Lee