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RV-9A: Left Fuel Tank - 9/14/2006
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Allrighty! It's time for the tank balloon leak test!Allrighty! It's time for the tank balloon leak test!
This is reminiscent of the old rabbit test. I'm hoping for the best. I went to Target and bought a bag of balloons and laid out everything in preparation. Here's the air intake thingy that goes into into fuel drain hole, and the cap for the fuel pickup line.
Taped up the fuel tank capTaped up the fuel tank cap
Apparently this dude leaks during the balloon test. I duct taped it up and then installed the valve stem into the tank fuel drain hole, where I will use my bicycle pump to pump air into the tank.
Attached the party balloonAttached the party balloon
The instructions say to tape the balloon on to the fuel tank vent line. I added a pull-tie to insure the fit.
Time to pump it up!Time to pump it up!
I started working on the old bicycle pump waiting for the balloon to inflate. The balloon initially stood straight out with no sign of enlarging. Then all of a sudden it sprang into life and got really big, really fast. Needless to say, I stopped pumping. I grabbed my spray bottle of Windex and starting spraying around where the balloon was attached to the tank. Bubbles, bubbles, everywhere.. leaks, that is. I grabbed another pull-tie and put it around where the balloon was attached. That stop the air leak around the balloon. Next I sprayed the Windex around the valve stem, and sure enough, more leaks. I had to remove the valve stem and put some teflon tape on it and reinstall it into the fuel tank drain hole. This fixed all of the initial leaks. Then, I made the rounds with the Windex, squirting the tank all over. And to my gleeful surprise. NO LEAKS! YEEEEEEE HAAAAAWWWW! Did ya' notice the "Happy Birthday" balloon? After a succesful balloon test, it feels like a birthday party to me. As far the where the rest of the balloons went, me and my son had a water balloon fight in the backyard for the rest of the evening.
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