Scott's RV-14 Build

Manometer Setup/Flap Delivery/Proseal Curing

It's been over 96 hours (4 days) since I installed the fuel senders. I was hoping the Proseal would be cured by now but not yet. It's still tacky so I need to be patient. I've been keeping my garage heated to 73 degrees at night to aid curing. Pressure testing the tanks now would just invite disaster. There're various threads on the VAF forum on Proseal curing times. It seems to be dependent on how it was mixed, temperature, humidity, Coriolis, days ending in Y, etc. Curing times vary and it may be a week or more. But everyone says it will cure eventually. OK, I'll wait till then. But frustrating not being able to move forward and finish the tanks. I need to stay busy in other ways. UPS guy showed up yesterday with a large crate. I wasn't expecting anything, but it turned out to be my backordered QB flaps. I opened the well built crate and the carboard box inside to inspect them. Like the ailerons, the flap were very well packed. They looked good and appeared undamaged. Glad to have them and the many hours of work that'll save me. I started experimenting with my manometer test rig. I'll use it to pressurize the tanks to 1 psi to leak check them. It's pretty simple. Just a plastic tube connected to the tank vent with a water column. A difference in 27 inches between the 2 vertical water column equals 1 psi. I used food coloring to make the water easier to see. All tank openings are sealed and tape is placed over the gas caps. Soapy water is then sprayed all over the rivets and seams looking for bubbles. Hopefully there are none. Because of the interior surface area of the tanks one needs to be very careful not to overpressurize the tanks and blow out a seam. Supposedly they've been pressure tested previously by Van's. I'll just be double checking the tanks and the fuel senders. I discovered during my testing that slipping the plastic hose over the fitting didn't provide an airtight seal due to the deep threads. I need to get a small hose clamp. The annual EAA Copperstate Regional Fly-in is going on now over at Buckeye. Van's should be there as well as the Garmin folks. I'll be headed there tomorrow to check out all the vendors and wander around all the planes to get ideas for mine.

Previous post:
Fuel Senders Installed Fuel Senders Installed

This post is from Scott's RV-14 Build