Hello everybody interested in this topic,
According to my own experience two phenomenon happened to the HDPE material
in my tank; it swelled but also became very brittle.
I had to remove the tank in pieces. During that process I observed several
small cracks in areas, outside bonding areas, that had been subjected to
bending stresses due to bulging. I could easily make a crack in the material
with a sharp knife. The material was no longer the tough one I learned to
know when drilling several small holes to make the hole for the fuel level
sensor.
Therefore I think this phenomenon is a contributing factor to the cracking
of the tanks. The swelling will not necessarily lead to an even expansion of
the tank. Therefore bending stresses in the material can occur without any
external forces acting. And since the material has become very brittle, it
can crack and make a leakage.
Best regards
Arnold Kr. Hansen
LN ABM
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Fra: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] P vegne av spcialeffects
Sendt: 28. mars 2014 21:42
Til: europa-list@matronics.com
Emne: Re: Europa-List: XS Fuel Tank Kiwi Mod
Hello stephan. Well I put off bonding in my cockpit module because of this
very subject as it seemed that quite a few reports of tanks splitting we're
emerging just as I was about to bond in my tank. I filled my tank with fuel
for 6 months prior to bonding it in and yes it does swell by quite abit but
I think this is not only due to fuel getting into the actual material but
the weight of the fuel. What I gathered from everything I read was that the
tanks were splitting due to being bonded into the module tight against the
cockpit wall this giving the tank no we're to swell once filled with fuel. I
made a cradle for the tank to sit in and bonded that to the cockpit so my
tank is actually "floating" in place. I will post a few pics later. Hope
that helps. Frank
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