dignlivn

Well the rubber stopper (bung ?) came loose
on me yesterday after one flight. So I packed
it up and went home. I pulled all the foam, the
tank and engine off . This is on my 40 size GP
Stick, when I assembled this Arf I put extra epoxy
in the tank area but i'm concerned that it is not
airworthy now ?? I sat the fuse out in the Sun for
4 hours hoping to dry it out. I guess the vibration
is what loosened the stopper.

Any thoughts on this problem are welcomed,

Bob

carrellh

You can pour some alcohol or other solvent into the area to rinse out some of the fuel and oil residue, let it dry, and see how much oil got into the wood. If the fuel didn't go past where you painted on the epoxy you are good.

If there is oil in the wood, this thread mentions a few ways to get it out.
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8695111
You can use google, or any other search engine, to find the products that are mentioned.

big max 1935

My Feedback: (9)

Try some floor dry (Kitty Litter). It works for me . MAX H.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Kitty litter, K2R cleaner is a spray that dries to a powder and wicks out oil. It takes the oil a long time to soak and rot the wood, your plane will probably just be a memory and old photos before the wood is rotted out. Now go out and replace that ARF tank with a Dubro or Sullivan, splitting tanks and leaking bungs is nothing new to ARFs.

mikegordon10

Gray Beard, you mean to tell me that ARF's, along with having 90% of the construction already done for you, that we should expect the included fuel tanks to actually hold fuel! Now that may be going too far! VVBG

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Yesterday the guys next to me were running along the pit line looking for some CA, seems there new ARFs tail feathers weren't quite glued on???? Funny part was, I was wearing my GOT GLUE!!! Tee shirt.
You know, for a hundred bucks you would expect these things to work correctly and last a long time wouldn't you???

dignlivn

Thanks for all the input guys.

grey beard,

The not so funny part is the tank that did this
is a Sullivan Flex tank. The tank that came
in the arf is used for my engine stand. My first
thoughts were that I over tightened the screw
in the bung and split the tank. It seems I did not
have it tight enough as it was half way out of the
tank when I disassemble it. Could exhaust pressure
contribute ? Or is more likely vibration that caused it ?

I did have it wrapped in foam and luckly I had
my Rx mounted up on some foam also. Other wise
it would have been soaking in fuel.

Bob

Stick 40

HI,

did you test the tank before putting it in? I put clean fuel line on mine and put the tank under water and blow into one line while pluging off the other line and look for air bubbles.

I also think that if you get the fuel out quickly, it may not be that big a problem. K2R is very good , but don't breath the dust or fumes. One of the reasons its hard to find is the health isses with it.Much like CA, I don't breath the stuff if I can help it.

I ordered my k2r from a hard ware store I think it was Ace hardware. Corn Starch can work also.

sticks

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

The floor dry works best if it is ground up into finer particles. Fill the fuselage over the soak and leave it for a week. Also a bit of heat from a heat gun will help drive out the oil.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

Dig, I really can't say anything about the why of the bung problem?? I use the Dubro most of the time for my own stuff and have never really had a problem. I have had to install a 4-40 screw instead of the screw they give with the tanks but that could be me over tightening the screw?? I have been known to strong arm these little screws and strip out the plastic back plate or break the screw. I always do the pressure/ water test to make sure my tanks don't leak but other then that nothing special.

mikegordon10

sorry

dignlivn

Thanks guys,

I'll do the water test, I thought i over tighten
the screw too Grey beard.

Bob

Luftwaffe Oberst

I use Kitty Litter and Corn Starch. It works but the only thing I don't like about Corn Starch that it tends to get messy and can be quite a pain to clean the plane. When I'm done with that I rub down the wood with Acetone and then I fuel proofed it.

I had the same kind of thing happen to me last year, my engine wasn't running right on my Goldberg Skylane and I aborted my take off. When I taxied over to the pit to take a closer look, my fuel line had a pin hole leak right where it was attatched to the nipple on my glow tank. I had a burr so it sprayed every where pooling up in my engine compartment. I did what I suggested to you just now and it did the job.