Everyone,

 

First, thank you so much for all the input on my 2 fuel leaks in my left wing.  I had so many good ideas that came to me on and off the list.  I had one drip from one of the screws of the fuel probe.  I had another drip from a screw holding on the aileron bellcrank.  This made me worried there might be more or cracks or worse so I thought I better somehow inspect the inside of the fuel tanks.   I didn't want to spend a ton of $ on a fancy scope so here's what I did: 

 

Of course if I wasn't anal,  I would have fixed the 2 leaks and been done but I wanted to inspect more.

 

Here's what I learned:  First of all, you have to clear the fumes.  I lit a match to make sure.  Kidding - and don't try THAT at home - :) 

 

I air'd out the tank, washed it out with water and put fish in it to make sure there were no fumes - once they stopped dying, I knew it was safe -  (Kidding again)

 

Okay okay, I just air'd out the tank and purged it with carbon dioxide and air'd it out some more - another suggestion I got from you guys and the local auto repair shop who does the same thing when working on gas tanks.  In fact, the manager came over and did it for me just to see the plane!  He also had a special meter with a probe to guarantee no dangerous fumes.

 

I got a great idea from one of you who said to use a web cam from the computer and take it apart a tape it to a snake or wire ($30).  I got a sink drain snake and wrapped it with 100% cotton cloth so it wouldn't scratch anything.  Then I used a small LED flashlight I got from Oshkosh (16 year consecutive history) Fly-mart and it was plenty bright to light up the inside of the tank.

 

Then I put in the LED light and inspected the wing tanks.  I was able to see easily all over the wing tip bay through the fuel cap.  I was also able to see the other two bays easily through the fuel probe hole.  Manuevering the light small camera was no problem at all.  The only area a little difficult was the fuel transfer tunnel which had no leaks or cause for concern.

 

I learned never to use a fuel sloshing compound of any kind.  It is a cheap temporary fix which is SURE to cause problems later, especially if someone puts in anything other than 100LL (bad idea).    The sloshing componds have a history of coming off and flaking and causing more problems.  There are LOTS of accounts of this from Lancairs to military aircraft.  Maybe if worked for you but I chose not to go down that road.

 

So, I sealed up all of the screws (1 at a time) for the fuel probe and the aileron bellcrank.  I sealed the shafts of the screws, not just the threads and wha-la  - NO LEAKS anywhere!  I did see a thin spot that concerned me with no squeeze-out when the wing was closed.  I was easily able to use a small paint brush duct-taped to a round dowel and paint more Jeffco fuel tank sealer on Jeffco fuel tank sealer.  I am now happy.

 

I did panic when I heard someone say they had fuel leaking under the main spar into the D-section where the strobe wires were so I definately wanted to inspect the tanks AND to be sure I would KNOW if this ever happened in my future, so I drilled a 1/8" hole in my BL-50 rib D-section (at the very bottom rear area) because the fuel would drip out of there due to the dihedral and then I'd know because the blue tint would easily be seen on my white paint.  Better to find out that way than - ka-boom when I turn the strobes on.  I'd probably think - Wow, these strobes are powerful. 

 

So, all in all, I learned a lot from all the input and I'm confident and happy that my fuel tanks are leak free.

 

I also learned from Mythbusters that you should touch your wing and ground before opening the cap after hooking up the ground wire from the truck to your nose-gear or something metal and always keep the fuel nozzle touching the fuel cap - that's the best you can do - even in an E-glass plane unless you used some metal particle fuel sealer or primer.

 

Thanks to all!!

 

Matt