Fuel tank leak test

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Pdxsling
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:24 am
Location: Portland Oregon

Fuel tank leak test

Post by Pdxsling »

I’m building a sling 4. I’m getting close to sealing the fuel tank. I’ve seen a few people mention you can do the leak test by filling the tank with water. Im just curious if anyone has tried this method and what were your steps? Thanks!
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ibgarrett
Posts: 192
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:22 am
Location: Westminster CO
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Re: Fuel tank leak test

Post by ibgarrett »

I'm right at the same point you are with regards to the fuel tanks on my Tsi. I wasn't going to do any sort of water test and ONLY do the pressure test that are on the Sling videos, however, if you watch BuildFlyGo at all, he had what makes like a very sane argument for doing a water test. If you do a water test before you put the back on the fuel tank, to verify any leaks up to the back, then it is much easier to resolve any leak issues neatly and quickly rather than if you test the entire sealed unit after it's all done and find you have a leak, then you've got a harder job ahead of you.

ie: if you do the water test and find any leaks below the back (or in this case "top") of the tank, then it's a simple matter of either drilling out the rivet should that be necessary, or just applying a little pro seal to the back to resolve the leak that way.

If you only do a pressure test after it's all been sealed up, then resolving the leak becomes a bit more of a bigger deal over a wider area.

If you do the water test and everything is good and then find a leak when you put the back on - you know the issue is going to very likely be limited to just the new area/back of the tank.

So - water testing it is for me.
Brian Garrett
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