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Sealing Tank Ribs

T

twpuls

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This might be a dumb question, but is it ok to run sealant all the way down to the rib tip? Or should I have left a bit open for flow? Maybe I'm being too aggressive on the sealing.
 

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Yes, fine, although not necessary at all. Your goal is just to seal the rivet. Cleanliness is ... the key to happiness with proseal.
What you're doing there is defense in layers (and some weight).
 
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...and make sure you don't obstruct the vent holes in the tops of the ribs, or you'll risk having very slow fuel fill times later on. There seems to have been a lot of discussion on that around here lately. But in general, it's better to have a little too much than not enough Proseal. Just don't go nuts.
 
twpuls said:
Yep, I've watched it a handful of times while I built my tanks. I just couldn't get a good enough view on how much sealant was actually used past the rivets at the end of the ribs.
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The idea is to seal around each rivet. Since there are no holes at the leading edge, there really isn't much need to sealant. Doesn't hurt anything though.
Some of us, fay sealed the ribs. Apply a layer to both surfaces. Cleko.
 
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I hit top of each rivet with seal as well. I guess my thinking was in case my layer between ribs and tank skin was a bit too thin or something like that, sealing around all the edges was some extra insurance. I don't know. Maybe it's overkill and I'm overthinking it because it's my first build, but sounds like those that have done this before that it's not an issue with what I did. And I also just resealed my 60 year old Cherokee tanks last month, so I have that in the back of my head. Appreciate the help everyone.
 
twpuls said:
I hit top of each rivet with seal as well. I guess my thinking was in case my layer between ribs and tank skin was a bit too thin or something like that, sealing around all the edges was some extra insurance. I don't know. Maybe it's overkill and I'm overthinking it because it's my first build, but sounds like those that have done this before that it's not an issue with what I did. And I also just resealed my 60 year old Cherokee tanks last month, so I have that in the back of my head. Appreciate the help everyone.
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No builder ever said too much proseal!
Build on
 
twpuls said:
This might be a dumb question, but is it ok to run sealant all the way down to the rib tip? Or should I have left a bit open for flow? Maybe I'm being too aggressive on the sealing.
Click to expand...
I ALWAYS seal ribs the way you are doing. Some mention only the rivet tails need sealing..but, leaks can start from the leak path being between the skin and rib up to the rivet shank. I seal in a manner to eliminate all leak paths , and fully fillet seal the ribs on both sides, as well as the rivet tails by brush coating with "A" class sealant over the entire flange/rivet tails. When installing ribs, I butter both the rib flange and a 1/2" wide area of the skin it mates to. Full cleco, let the sealant squeeze out for 10 minutes or so and then shoot rivets. Clean up the excess with MEK and then fillet seal as you are doing.
 
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