Fuel Fitting into Fiberglass Tank

[HS-JAT]

Noticed a little discoloration spot of the Stewart System paint under my fuel fitting going into the tank. Nothing to the extent of any noticeable dripping or smell, but obviously some fuel has seeped from there over a period of time.

I re-tightened the fuel hose fitting, and have left it at that for the moment. I wanted to find out how exactly these fittings are put into the fiberglass tanks before going into it further. The build manual does not show any clues.

I was wondering if that metal fuel hose fitting actually screws into the tank by use of a female fitting inside the tank, or it basically sealed in there with resin or another material..Hysol?

Thanks for any insight

[jak]

The brass finger strainer simply screws into the fiberglass tank. A sealant is put around the threads when assembled. Jak

[HS-JAT]

Thanks for the reply and answer Jak. What type of sealant do you guys use or recommend?

[danerazz]

Somebody on here (Wes?) epoxied in brass female fittings for the finger strainers. Seriously considering this myself. That way when you remove the strainers you aren't wearing out the soft fiberglass of the tank. It would be much easier to do that before you finish everything than to repair it later. I had thought about adding sump drains, then thought about C-150 tanks. If the tanks are level, you can have a couple of gallons of water in them and not draw any when you sump the tanks. The only chance you would have to trap the water is the gascolator, and a cup o' water would fill that up. I think the highlander sump in the header should do a better job of catching and trapping water.

Now, about those fuel vents...

[Ewalk02]

The fuel strainers are threaded into the fiberglass like stated before. When installing the strainers I used Loctite 567 thread sealant to make sure there were no leaks. So far so good but I haven't seen much action in my plane just yet.

[HS-JAT]

My obvious concern is unscrewing the fitting to re-seal it, and having the fiberglass crack in the process. Since I don't know how strong the tank is there, or how strong the sealant is.

[Gil T]

I just used something called EZ Turn Fuel Lubricant and I haven't had any leaks in 6 years and over 600 hours. And I changed out the original tanks for a couple of the 13 gallon ones. Is Loktite something thats going to make it difficult to remove the strainers if you ever have to. The only time I removed mine was when I took out the original ones and installed the larger tanks which have a much larger strainer in them.

Gil T

[HS-JAT]

Thanks for the info Gil!

[Tralika]

EZ Turn Fuel Lubricant, AKA Fuel Lube. This is an excellent product. It can also be used on gaskets. I've never had an oil leak past a gasket treated with Fuel Lube. I've removed gaskets treated with Fuel Lube after years in service. The gaskets are in such good condition they could be reused. This stuff just never dries out. It's very inexpensive and not-toxic.

[jak]

fuel lube is what those fittings were put in with at the factory when this plane was built we now use a Teflon product with ptfe its by permatex I believe. Jak

[HS-JAT]

As always...Thanks Jak for the exact info!