My gas tank is melting...

[in2deep]

I noticed this last night. Some parts of the tank are deforming and the plastic is becoming clear. Other parts are still hard and opaque.

[ame]http://youtu.be/X5pOaAdbmwU[/ame]

[Rahulgaba]

Dang that seems like the muffler heat is getting to it. Any way you can use a silver insulator. I am new too. I am learning like you, but in gasser helis pics of other people I have seen this silver material covering the tank on the muffler side. Don't know what it is. But here is an example




Notice the shiny tank side in the background of the muffler

[fhu667]

Dang that helicopter looks familiar. That's just aluminum tape on that tank. It's available at your local hardware store and probably WallyWorld.

[Rahulgaba]

There you go.. You know that heli closely ;D

[fhu667]

edit. doublepost.

[in2deep]

My first thought was heat as well, but it doing it on the other side as well.

[LoveToFly1]

that heli with the foil tape really looks familiar to me! so does the room its in!

to the OP - my helix did the same exact thing. the tank never progressed any further than what you are showing there.....I don't think it will get any worse. I think its a mixture of the heat, and the gas in that tank meant for glow fuel...

I flew mine for a very long time and it stayed looking just like that...

[Rahulgaba]

Lol frank .. This is the guy who got me into gassers -- meet love2fly1 (and the builder of your heli )

Anywaz. That's a little concerning.. Does the manufacturer of helix acknowledge or know about this? I know it's an align tank. But the helix is using it

Just wondering

[rhodesengr]

is your tank vented properly? Almost looks like your tank is not vented and the edges are getting sucked in.

If the material is really changing though, you must have some sort of chemical incompatibility. Hard to believe though that a little of the sealant would do that. Anything unusual with your fuel or oil?

BTW, you don't need any goop to get good tank feedthroughs.
https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=559301 look at post #9 especially.

[in2deep]

I know the vent is doing its job, it will spill fuel from the vent if left on its side. Using Coleman fuel with Amsoil Saber Pro.

Weird huh? Lots of align conversions out there, so far just myself and Lovetofly that have experienced this. I ordered a new tank, going to try a different method to sealing the middle fuel plug.

[Gravity_Check]

Found an old thread on tanks in2deep…couldn't copy the link so I pushed it to the top for you.

[rhodesengr]

If is doing the same thing on both sides then it can't be heat. Maybe its the Coleman fuel.

[Gravity_Check]

I looked on mine and there is no deformation but it is getting clearer and softer in the front near the engine. Opaque and hard still on the back. I used no seal-all on my fittings. I have not been flying with canopy yet and have an air dam installed to push all heat out the side. Since it's only in the front perhaps heat from the crankcase and blowing back from forward flight is more concentrated on the front of my tank as well…

[LoveToFly1]

its not heat. my tank is doing it too. I am not running Coleman though, I am running non ethanol gas....so it must be the oil causing the issue with the tank. I did not use any sealant at all on the plug in the tank, I used the screw in pressure seal thing that most guys buy....

I promise you though, it wont get any worse....mine leveled off right there and has not got any worse at all....been like that for months now...

it does look like the vent isn't working, I checked my vent several times due to the way the tan was looking, it was always working...

Tin (HelixHeli) designer is aware of this, I emailed him about it when I first noticed mine doing it...that may be one reason the prototype I am flying uses a dubro tank...

[Gravity_Check]

Yeah I have been checking my tank and it's not hot at all when I come down. I have been using only pump gas with pennzoil 2-cycle oil in it also.

[KSHeli]

Originally Posted by LoveToFly1

I am running non ethanol gas....so it must be the oil causing the issue with the tank.

Where you are getting non-ethanol gas, anymore just about all gasoline (even if its not the 10% ethanol blend) has ethanol in it except for maybe aviation gasoline. Its being used as an oxygen substitute additive to help with pollution control.

[Sowa]

http://pure-gas.org

This site allows you to check for ethanol free fuel stations in your area.

[LoveToFly1]

Originally Posted by KSHeli

Where you are getting non-ethanol gas, anymore just about all gasoline (even if its not the 10% ethanol blend) has ethanol in it except for maybe aviation gasoline. Its being used as an oxygen substitute additive to help with pollution control.

all gas stations around any lake sell non-ethanol gas....from what they tell me, its horrible for boat motors....

there are several gas stations around here that sell it as well...

also, you can take the ethanol out of your gas with water....

[Sowa]

Originally Posted by LoveToFly1

also, you can take the ethanol out of your gas with water....

Really? I'm interested in how you do this. The closest ethanol free fuel station is almost an hour away from my place.

[LoveToFly1]

ethanol is soluble in water.

take a glass 5 gal water jug. put you .5 gal water in it, and mark the water level on the outside of the jug with a sharpie. then pour 4.5gal of ethanol gas over the water. let it sit for a few hours, and look at the water level. it will be over the sharpie line that you drew before. then simply pump the pure gasoline off the top of the water and you have non-ethanol gas. just be sure not to pump the water/ethanol back in.

honestly though, the ethanol gas that I have run when I didn't know about the non-ethanol gas that was available still here, didn't show any bad tendencies.