Mine did not have a spigot. Mine is just a 1 gallon "jar" with a big round lid at the top. I did use RTV Blue to seal the lid, but I only fill it to a couple of inches below that. That's plenty of fuel for three good days of flying. I didn't want to pack it in there, especially after I read about the probs you were having. Also, I'm not at all convinced it was the RTV that did it. Maybe you had some kind of residue in there from the manufacturing process. Maybe your fuel was tainted from the factory. Maybe you are right on the money and the plastic doesn't hold up well to nitro fuel. I just don't know so I'm not claiming to. All I can say for sure is mine "appears" to be the same kind of plastic made by the same company and I have not had any problems. I think I will try that test I was talking about if I have some RTV laying around. I'll post results when I get them. Later!

Cool! Look forward to the results of your experiments!

Have found that a Michelob Big Mouth cap is threaded the same as the spigot cap, but needs to be shortened a bit to get a seal on the neck (of course, I may have to sacrifice myself and it may take several beers to get it right!! )

Given the concern about RTV, plan to build it without RTV... maybe could use the old Permatex gasket sealer - the funky brownish stuff out of the tube... should resist just about anything...??

Cheers!

Jim

Jimmbbo,

Ask me how many beers it took to get this far.....?

This is the "Wall Mart" box that I am working on........

Pic #1 is of the top lid. I have installed a Cermark Plus power panel with an analog volt meter for comparison....(Old Engineers like Analog meters...can anyone say Simpson...?) Should have cropped those toes out of the pic....hell I go barefoot and in shorts year round in the shop...ask me how I know Exacto knives always fall POINT first....!

Pic #2 is of all three components separated...bottom has a 35 amp/hr battery (talk about overkill, but everyone wants to charge their stuff on it) and a one gallon fuel jug. The foam keeps everything in there tight...! The top holds two transmitters, and a ton of room for other stuff, and the tray which you can load up also. I had to put a small notch in the tray handle to miss some of the wiring, but it does not create any problems.

Pic #3 shows the underside of the lid and some of the wiring. The two wires that are not connected go to the fuel pump, and will be soldered to the banana plug tabs for the fuel pump connection. This allows me to keep gas in the internal tank and glow fuel with an external pump through the banana plugs. The switch controls both, and the gas is just recycled to the internal tank when I am pumping glow fuel.

Pic #4 shows the jumpers from the top to the bottom or base for the 12 volt power. There will be another set added for the pump leads. I am going to also add one more set for a Triton charger. The yellow bag on the front holds the starter, and a bunch of other stuff.

This thing has more room than I probably will ever use, it is truly a rolling shop, which is very compact.....!

I will post more pictures when it is completed, and hopefully this added to this rather LOOOOOONG thread......have fun and spring is around the corner....!

Heli001-

I've killed a six pack and a bottle of Zinfandel

Looking good - Nicely designed and engineered!!

Cheers!

Jim

Heli001. What kind of jug is that? I got one of these boxes and don't want to put a jug in it that will mess up the fuel or anything.

Chris

Chris,

It is a one gallon Antifreeze "jug"......This is the second one of these I have built, and the jug holds the gas just fine......haven't tried glow fuel in it, but it should be fine, as it is the same material that glow is shipped in. The problem was finding one that would fit in there and not be two tall. I will be posting some more pictures over the weekend of the plumbing and finishing touches......there is plenty of room over the battery to store MORE stuff, with a divider on top of it.......[X(]

If for some reason I burn more than a gallon, I keep a five gallon container in the back of the truck....! A gallon for me is a great day at the field....!!!!!!!!!

I'm thinking maybe an orange juice jug. It's Plastic #2 like the fuel bottles. It fits well but the only problem is it has OJ in it at the moment. I know i'll have to wash it out really really well but do you think that should work?

Chris

Chris,

Next time you are at the grocery store, look at the liquid detergent refill bottles, like Tide, they would make great bottles also, and are pretty heavy duty......I've got a 300 oz (2.34 gallon) one here, that I am going to use on the next box I build, as it fits perfectly in the bottom and still leaves plenty of room. Also thinking about adding a 300 watt inverter, hell you never know when you will need a short burst of 120.......

Finally - finished the bottom of the Walmart/Stanley field box!! Time for a beer (or two!)!!

Final pics of the bottom - Fuselage cradle next!!!

My RTV test is underway. What can I say? I have an inquiring mind and just wanna know. This is pretty scientific but I'll try to break it down for you. I put some RTV blue in a clear glass then filled the glass with Duratraxx 20% nitro fuel. I didn't want to waste my airplane fuel. Then I covered the glass with plastic wrap to keep the fuel fresh simulating the closed Rubbermaid "fuel cell". I did not use a lot of RTV. I tried to approximate how much might have come in contact with the fuel in the Rubbermaid container spigot plug. After very careful calculations, I think I have the proper amount. Good thing I have a scientific calculator... Anyway, this test may take some time. I don't know how long because I don't know how long it took for whoevers' fuel cell to cloud and get stinky. This is what scientists refer to as an "unknown variable". I will give updates as the test progresses. But be warned, breakthroughs don't happen over night... usually...

Ah, I love the pursuit of knowledge!!

I was able to get a good seal on the holes in my Rubbermaid "fuel cell" without any goop, so this could work as a sort of "control", fuel plus Rubbermaid without RTV... Let the games begin!

Cheers!!

Jim

aaron2874 ,
I just pulled my cap off my old fuel cell and looked at the RTV around the inside,the rtv looks unharmed by the fuel looks and feels the same as the portion outside the cap. I think it has more to do with the plastic,I noticed the clear plastic getting cloudy after about 2 weeks.I continued to use the cell for several months with no problems of course I was using about a gallon a week.
I did not fly for several weeks and had 1/2 gallon just sitting,BTW the fuel stayed clear but the plastic got worse not soft just real cloudy
when I used the fuel next flight both of my engines would not fire,I had a new gallon with me I pumped the old out new in and both fired just like normal. I am using 15%

Jimmbbo , get back and post in 2 weeks on the cell. Maybe it was the yellow milk cap ?dont seem to be soft or eaten

SeacretsOceanCity -


Things that make you go "hmm"... I love a good mystery!

Am wondering how the acetic acid in the RTV combines with the fuel and plastic... With no apparent change to the RTV in your tank, maybe it could be a catalyst?

Will advise the status of my RTV-free "control tank" as time goes on... FWIW, am using 15% nitro 18% oil (synthetic and castor mix) Hobbytown USA fuel...

Cheers!

Jim

I just bought a Stanley box and I have a few questions. I dont have a power panel, so is there anyway i can make it easier to get to the 12v (its in the bottom with the fuel)? I would have to take the box apart and keep switching between the fuel pump and the starter. I was think of cutting a hole right in front of the battery but I would rather not. Did anybody set up there box without using a panel?

Also, im confused about how to set up the fuel lines, on my cap there is one piece of fuel tubing leading to the pump, and then theres another one that you use to fill the tank, it gets plugged in and out of the cap. Now i guess i could drill two holes and have a fuel dot in one of them to plug the fuel line into but what do i do with the original plug in the cap? Should i put some silicone in it to seal it up or what?

Test day two:

Observation:
I have not noticed any cloudyness so far.
There is however a very pungent smell. It smells like RTV on steroids.
My ofactory senses were somewhat offended.

Conclusion:
None can be drawn at this time. I still must factor in the "unknown variable"
and give it more time.

Side note:
My girlfriend says I have way too much time on my hands. What do you suppose she meant by that?

Stay tuned to this same Bat-channel for possible future developments...

If I may offer a suggestion - I would avoid checking the fuel tank on Valentine's day

Cheers!

Jim

nmtr13-

As far as battery location goes, I chose to put the "heavy stuff" in the bottom compartment to keep the overall CG low. The battery could just as easily go in the top box....

I'm confused about what you are trying to accomplish...[&:]

Do you intend to power a starter, fuel pump and glowplug driver with the battery? Without a power panel, one way to do that would be to install pairs of banana plug receptacles in the box wall (one for the positive lead, one for the negative) for each accessory you plan to use, and attach banana plugs to the end of each accesory's cables.. a little cleaner than one hole with a bunch of wires shoved thru, IMHO ...

The field box fuel cell cap should have two tube connections - one for fuel to the pump, the other as a vent (which could be used for filling the fuel cell although it will take a while to pass a gallon of fuel thru even a large tube - the Rubbermaid tank has a separate cap that I will be using for filling the cell) - I plan to run a tube from the top of the fuel cell to the sidewall of the box and install a fuel dot, which will be removed when transferring fuel (If I remember to do so )...

As far as using silicone to seal anything, I'd wait till aaron2874 finishes his test on the effect of RTV and fuel... It seems that the RTV and fuel have an interaction that at least creates some serious odor "issues"

HTH

Jim

What fuel are you using?

Jim

Ok Im using a Dubro fuel fitting on top and there is a hole in the center of the fitting that you plug the fill line into when its not being used. If i dont have the fill line plugged in there will be a hole. I just bought a Hobbico power panel and i have a few question. My starter has aligator clips so should i just plug the banana clips in and then clip on the aligators or do i have to cut the clips off? Also on the power panel theres a switch for the fuel pump but i dont under stand how that would work, you have to move the switch on the fuel pump to itself to get it going... It also has a glow ignitor charger, is that going to drain my 12v if i use it?

Depending on how much sloshing your fuel cell will see, to reduce spillage I recommend that you either leave the fuel line attached and stowed above the fuel level, or find another Dubro male fitting and either attach a blocked line to it, or solder the end closed, and place it in the fitting... You will still need to vent the fuel cell to allow air to fill it as fuel leaves when fueling...


I cut off the alligator clips and soldered on male banana plugs (Radio Shack for about $1.50) - makes a nice looking installation and fewer connections to go south


The power panel switch will provide power to the fuel pump. You can leave the switch on the fuel pump ON then use the power panel switch to turn the pump ON to fill or drain the airplane tank, then return it to OFF. The power panel switch just reverses the polarity of the leads to the pump.


Yep, but unsure what the drain would be when charging.... Glow plug driver state of charge is easy to check - if it lights up a good glow plug brightly, it's good to go! [sm=thumbup.gif][sm=thumbup.gif]

HTH

Jim

I am not using a fuel cell im using the jug the fuel comes in. Heres a pic i drew of what im planning on doing. I have a fitting that i think can fit into the dubro piece and im gonna have a piece of fuel tubing go thru a hole in the box and ill just plug the fill line into the fuel tubing from the vent ( the piece at the end of the fill line was made to slip into fuel tubing. So does this look ok?

When I was using an electric pump (before it crapped out after hardly any use... gggrrrr....), that's exactly how I did it. Worked fine for me. I did use one of those long lines that's coiled up for the actual fueling line. It's good cuz you will need some reach, but it coils back up so it's convenient. Here is a clicky:

[link=http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXL380&P=0]Recoil fuel tubing.[/link]

Yea I use the coil tubing too. If i leave the everything plugged in (the fuel pump, the starter, and the power panel) they are not using the battery right?

I just had to add my version of the ultimate flight box. I found this particular box @ Harbor Freight for $19.99