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Fuel tank leak - fix, or replace?

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dabigboy

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My recently-purchased S-1S has sprung a leak. Getting some dye staining and drips near the fittings at the back of the tank. The seller mentioned it had been repaired before, which is also evidenced by the weld...actually looks like the lower fitting was repaired, which I don't think is the culprit this time (looks more like it's coming from the fitting just above that, for the fuel level sight tube).

FWIW I never do acro over 15 gallons, usually more like 7 to 12. Hardest pulls so far have been 4.5G.

Looks like Aircraft Spruce has new tanks for $825. Even with the shipping charge, I'm more than happy to junk my old tank if that's going to be a better long-term solution. But I've also read here about reinforcing the weak areas on the tank to make it more durable...maybe better to do that with my tank vs buying a new one that presumably doesn't have reinforcement patches?

I also read up on folks repairing tanks with JB Weld, and they even have a product/kit specifically for this. My spidey sense says "terrible idea", but I dunno? I really hate to have to tear into the plane and be down for any length of time this early in the game (been doing a lot of short acro flights, but still under 10 hours in this bird). I've been feeling really good about my landings and acro progress/conditioning, I'd hate to lose the momentum.

Matt
 

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