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Pauls Web Site
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Date: 10-19-2015
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Number of Hours: 4.00
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Manual Reference: G??
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Brief Description: Fuel Tank
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There has been a lot of discussion about the Sonex fuel tanks leaking. The leaks originate at the molded in fittings. People say that the molded in fittings "spin" or moves too easy in the plastic fuel tank. Once a fitting spins, or somehow loosens, it leaks.
Sonex has what are called "Oops" fittings to repair a tank that has leaky fittings. Some people have recommended removing all the molded in fittings, and replacing all five of them with "Oops" fittings. This isn't an easy process, but is MUCH easier to do before the tank is installed.
I had decided that I wasn't going to use the "Oops" fittings until the Sonex company announced last week that all fuel tanks will now be manufactured without the molded in fittings. The "Oops" fittings are now the standard. So I changed my mind, even though the company hasn't recommended changing all the fittings, I'd rather do it now, before the tank is in my plane, and hasn't had any fuel in it.
So now I'm taking what I thought was a perfectly good tank, and drilling out the aluminum fittings. The drilling is actually the easy part. The hard part is removing the plastic hump that held the fitting in place. This has to be done from the inside. I made a tool that I could feed from the inside to grind down the large. I used a standard grinding stone for the 4 small fittings.
What a pain. I feel sorry for anyone that had to do this while after the tank had been used. I just hope I did a good enough job, so the "Oops" fitting get a good seal.
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1" drill removing fitting
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