Annual Off to a Good Start

wrote:


"that would be stupid, why pay the up charge"

Well, let's see. Based purely on personal experience, the life of an
aftermarket tank is usually about half that of an OEM tank-primarily
depends on how good of a job the aftermarket boys did in "engineering"
the new tank.

Ah, no. You'll get 20-30 years from a bladder. The OEM gets their
tanks from the same people the aftermarket comes from.


The other reason might be that there are aftermarket
Bonanza tanks out there that will NOT fit in the applicable make and
model of A/C.


I'm only aware of the three aftermarket suppliers. I went with the
cheapest, which is currently FFC. The other two are Eagle and Hartwig.
One of those just buys from FFC and charges about $100 more per tank.
The other, Hartwig if I recall right, was about $500 more.






BTW, why did you charge yourself labor for changing out a bladder?

I didn't say I charged myself labor, only that there's less labor in the
Bo than in the 182.

I'd sure rather swap a bladder in a Bonanza than fix a leaking Mooney
tank. Working with very bad chemicals thru a small hole is no fun at
all.

On the Bonanza, doing the snaps in the correct order helps. You can
also snap them from the TOP of the bladder which is much easier than
working
through the fuel cap hole.

Bill Hale



Despite Jay's tale of woe, pulling a Cherokee wing tank is a matter of
removing some 10-32 structural machine screws and sliding the whole
thing out (in one piece) out of the wing. Repairs are just like any
other "wet-wing" structure, but you have the piece of wing laying on
the workbench, with ready access to the majority of the rivets.
Getting the screws out can be a real bitch, but it doesn't involve any
rivets, snaps or duct tape. The composite Cherokee tip tank is another
story-I'd rather have a bladder any day of the week.

BTW, why did you charge yourself labor for changing out a bladder?

TC

Newps wrote:
How do you
get a Cherokee tank out? Derivet? Remove a wing?



Cherokee tanks don't have bladders. The tank forms a portion of the
leading edge of the wing. It is held in by about 70 screws around the
edge of the tank. After taking out the screws the tank slides forward,
often with the help of a 2x4 place along the rear edge on top of the
spar and a rubber mallet. Assuming the screws haven't corroded into
place, it takes about a half hour to pull an empty tank off a Cherokee.

The tanks do start to leak at the seams sometimes. They can be resealed
by drilling out all the rivets, cleaning up the pieces and putting them
back together with new sealing compound at the seams, which is typically
done by a shop that specializes in rebuilding cherokee tanks.

How do you
get a Cherokee tank out? Derivet? Remove a wing?


Actually, it ain't bad. You remove the 48 structural screws that make it
a part of the wing (been there, done that to both tanks). If you can
spot the leak and it is one of the "usual" suspects (overflow hose or
sending unit gasket) you are home free. If it is one of the rivets you
have a little longer trip home. Jay was able to get at it and rebuck it
down. Most times, you send the thing out to get completely dismantled,
reriveted back together and sealed. Around $400 per tank.

Mike

"Mike Spera" wrote in message
hlink.net...

How do you get a Cherokee tank out? Derivet? Remove a wing?


Actually, it ain't bad. You remove the 48 structural screws that make it a
part of the wing (been there, done that to both tanks). If you can spot
the leak and it is one of the "usual" suspects (overflow hose or sending
unit gasket) you are home free. If it is one of the rivets you have a
little longer trip home. Jay was able to get at it and rebuck it down.
Most times, you send the thing out to get completely dismantled, reriveted
back together and sealed. Around $400 per tank.

Mike

Or.............................You get at it, rebuck it, reinstall
it..........then wait 5 weeks till it starts leaking again. Then you send
it out to be done correctly!

Karl

Jay - Put a drop of antisieze on the threads (and maybe under the head
too) of each screw that has to go back into a threaded insert. Don't
let ANY antisieze get near the Philips driver or the screwheads or
driver will cam out on reassembly.

Antisieze seals the thread from further corrosion and does wonders for
the next time they have to be removed. Stainless screws especially
need this treatment, as they too will corrode in the presence of
aluminum.

Antisieze seals the thread from further corrosion and does wonders for
the next time they have to be removed. Stainless screws especially
need this treatment, as they too will corrode in the presence of
aluminum.

Thanks for the tip!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"