Last night and tonight I leak tested the fuel tanks using balloons, a bike pump, and lots of soapy water. I didn’t detect any leaks, but I’m going to test it again using a nanometer, and let it sit for 24 hours.
The tanks are tested before being shipped out, but I have installed a couple of additional fittings and plenty of people have found leaks in quick build tanks, so I wanted to be careful. I taped over the fuel caps, attached the hose and valve, and used a rubber band to hold the balloon in place. There’s no easy way to measure that low of an air pressure (1psi), but the balloon gives you something of a gauge. The air pressure is just to ensure that air would be pushed out any holes, causing the soapy water ssolution to form bubbles.
I tested it on the balloon and saw how a small leak causes an in-missable amount of bubbles.
I didn’t detect any leaks, but I also couldn’t test the back side of the tank while it’s still attached to the wing. I don’t want to drop the tanks unless I have to, so I will probably just rig up a manometer and monitor the air pressure over a day or two. If there is any indication of a leak, I’ll investigate further. If not, I’ll call it good.
