REFLECTOR: Leak testing

Brian Michalk michalk at awpi.com
Thu Jul 7 10:49:00 CDT 2011


Yes, a water column works and is how I did it.  It is still sensitive to 
temp and barometer, but it doesn't leak like a balloon might.

On 7/7/2011 10:41 AM, jerry at jlbent.com wrote:
> Hopefully I have addressed the balloon issue with the use of a bubble 
> level as the pressue vessel.  I was think about creating a "barometer" 
> to set up along side this test rig so that I can compare the ambient 
> temperature and pressure effect to changes in the test rig.
> Does that sound like it would work?
> Jerry Brainard
> Jerry at JLBEnt.com
>
>
> 	-------Original Message-------
> From: Laurence Coen
> To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list
> Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Leak testing
> Sent: Jul 07 '11 10:30am
>
> I had trouble with the balloon method because I couldn't find a 
> balloon that didn't leak.  20" to 30" should be fine and see if it 
> holds pressure.  Just remember that changes in temperature or 
> barometer can run the pressure up or down.
> Larry Coen
> N136LC
>
> *From:* nmflyer1 at aol.com <mailto:nmflyer1 at aol.com>
> *Sent:* Thursday, July 07, 2011 9:55 AM
> *To:* jerry at jlbent.com <mailto:jerry at jlbent.com> ; reflector at tvbf.org 
> <mailto:reflector at tvbf.org>
> *Subject:* Re: REFLECTOR: Leak testing
>
> Jerry,
>
>  I did the old balloon test. Just to make sure I had a little 
> pressure, I put one big party balloon inside another, then pumped them 
> up with my air compressor.  I rubber-banded them onto the fuel lines 
> then added some tape. Spray the connection with soapy water to check 
> for leaks in the attachment.
>
> This method worked for me as I found two rather small leaks in the 
> outboard corner near the front of the bulkhead.
>
> There is probably a fancier method of doing it, but this seemed to work.
>
>  Kurt
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: jerry at jlbent.com
> To: Velocity Aicraft Owners and Builder list
> Sent: Thu, Jul 7, 2011 8:49 am
> Subject: REFLECTOR: Leak testing
>
> To the Collective:
> I am ready to leak test my tanks and was wondering what pressure 
> is appropriate.  Obviously, too much is distructive, so I was wonder 
> what others have used.  I see that the total height of the fuel from 
> the bottom of the sump to the top of the strake is about 20 inches. 
> Since the wt. of fuel is about 3/4 of water, to just meet the static 
> fuel pressure would seem to be about 15".  I have a water column that 
> I use to make the pressure anything up to about 70 inches of water.  
> So how far above the expected 20" of fuel should I test?
> Thoughts?
> Jerry Brainard
> Jerry at JLBEnt.com <mailto:Jerry at JLBEnt.com>
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