Bad day at the field

[Alan]

First flight of the year everything going well ( famous last words) 

when all of a sudden my undercarriage decided to land before the rest of the plane, was able to get rest down in one piece .

Then when fixing undercarriage i noticed a fuel leak when i say leak i mean the servo bay was soaking in fuel.

 

Would the servos,battery and also the Rx be ok?.  Got a bit off a soaking

The plane is the new ripmax WOT4 i think it might be a bit late but should i fuel proof it or would that all ready be done by manufacture .

 

Also what would be the best way to dry it out.

 

Thanks Alan

 

 

 

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Hi Alan,

I had this happen to me a few months ago when a fuel tank split - again the servo bay flooded with fuel

 

The problem is the oil in the fuel - it will leave a residue. I don't claim its the only solution - but this is what I did;

 

1. Chuck the battery pack if it got a serious wetting. If there is fuel in there it could easily cause a short - result you loose the whole plane.

 

2. Remove the Rx. Carefully remove the cover to get at the electronics inside. Really flush it out with IPA from an aerosol type can (iso propyl alcohol). The IPA will dissolve the oil and it itself will evaporate off without leaving a residue. But you really need to sluce away any trace of fuel or general "greasiness". Leave to dry naturally - wont take long.

 

3. Carefully re-assemble your Rx and reinstall. Obviosuly it goes without saying discard any "padding" that your Rx might have been surrounded by if it has had fuel on it.

 

One final point - do the slucing outdoors - IPA is extremely flammable!

 

My servos avoided a dousing so I didn't have that problem - but if yours did get wet then I would suggest the same treatment as the Rx.

 

Do not forget to do all your connectors as well.

 

Dry the inside of the plane as best you can with some kitchen towel or the like, then lightly "wash" with some IPA - don't go mad - just a degreasing is all that's needed here.

 

That's what I did and I've had absolutely no further problems since.

 

BEB

 

PS Oh yeah - and fix the leak!

[Alan]

Thanks BEB

 

Might have a problem taking apart the Rx as it is a sealed unit. But hopefully dry everything else out.

 

Alan

[ken anderson.]

hello alan-throw in some talc-that'll get the fuel out..the battery will be ok-once it's cleaned and dried also....the rx is a different kettle of fish--as BEB say's..gently take off the outside casing and dry off the innards carefully-the case can be washed in soapy water......and when you have sorted and assembled the plane--do a range test to the extreme's..........just to make sure........thing's should be ok...

 

          ken anderson..........

Edited By ken anderson. on 25/01/2010 17:22:20

[Ed Darter]

I seem to recall that to draw a lot of the fuel soaking out of the balsa you can mix talc and meths into a paste. Smear this over the affected area and then leave it to dry. Then it should pick / brush out. If you need to glue anything to that area, or attach covering you need to make sure its free of all the talc residue otherwise it has the same effect as having the model really covered in dust - the film does not take to it.

 

I did this for a Wot4 funnily enough ! bought it 2nd hand from a friend but while renovating and recovering it I spotted that the covering had come lose at the tail end and there was a lot of fuel residue soaking that made the rear skid mounting quite weak. Did the above procedure, replaced the skid and all has been well since (4-5 years of flying)

[Alan]

Was able to take apart the Rx the inside did not get soaked it was just the casing that got it as for the battery it got a realy  bad soaking not to sure about it.

 

The plane is not as bad as first thought will talc draw out the oily fuel from the balsa wood.  Do you just pour it round the affected area and leave for a day or two ??

Edited By Alan on 25/01/2010 18:12:46

[flytilbroke]

If you are concerned about your battery, a couple of things to do. Rinse in a mug with some meth or just replace it. It will not cause any danger due to the oil residue though.

 

For the Balsa, Talc and meth paste does work, takes a day or two, then clean off as well as you can. Another thing, after a day, before cleaning the Talc off, you can help it draw the oil out by giving it a gentle heat for an hour or so.

[Alan]

thanks i'll give the talc and meth ago. I think i'll just bin the battery also what would be the best tank to fit heard some good and also some bad reports about Slec tanks but nothing about Dubro tanks.

[Ed Darter]

Slec tanks are very good, I use them where possible.

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Alan,

 

In my case I chucked the battery simply for piece of mind. Mine had a right soaking, the foam I'd wrapped round it could be wrung out! My fear was the residue of any oil that may have got inside the shrink wrap cover leading to shorting. If that compromised the battery voltage and/or capacity then I was worried I might loose control at some critical point. For that reason I played safe. Ken and FTB are very experienced and may well be right in saying it'll be alright - but for me personally peace of mind was worth the price of a Rx battery pack!

 

BEB

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

I prefer SLEC tanks too and try to always use them. Never had a problem with one. The tank I had split was not a SLEC it was a "no brand" that came with the model.

 

One thing to be aware of with SLEC tanks is that you do have to tighten up the "bung screw" just right - not too tight, but not too loose either. I always test a new tank with the "blow into it whilst under water" test.

 

BEB

[DAVID CLIFFORD]

Alan is the tank busted or is it just the bung thats loose?

 

[Alan]

The bung loosened most likely due to vibration, but for my own piece of mind i am going to change the tank.

Still in two minds what to do about the battery also the servos got a bit wet too cleaned the fuel off hopefully they should be OK.

[flytilbroke]

If the servos have not been steeped in a puddle of fuel and did not get a big "impact" they should be fine. Most club size IC models' servos get splatted with various stuff and still perform. One item that gets forgotten is the on/off switch, I have known them to fail. If it was "dry" then no problem.

[Keith]

I would go with B.E.B's suggestion and just chuck the battery pack Alan, it's just not worth the risk of losing the whole plane.

 

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[DAVID CLIFFORD]

If you are going to take the time and effort to change the tank, swapping the battery is no hardship. and as Eric says its not worth the model. this is my favourite I.C plane in a long time and i would be kicking myself for a long time if i lost it due to something i did not do.

And use a degreaser on all the servos and Rx and change the switch as a just in case. All bases covered there.

D

[Alan]

OPPS

Yes i completely forgot about the on/off switch like the servos and Rx it looks as if the casing got most off it.

Taken everbodies suggestions into account I think i'll bin the battery it is just not worth it. 

 

Once i clean the balsa wood up what would be the best fuel protector to use. I heard people saying that yacht varnish does a good job.

[Craig Spence]

Hi Allan,

 

I had the same problem with one of my planes, receiver that is.

I know you have a wealth of experience on this website but here's my advice, replace your receiver and your battery.

 

Reason being is I had this happen to my receiver and took the chance after cleaning and drying, I was very lucky to get the plane back, I had alot of problems, lets put it this way I had to chase my plane before I could controll it and this was after a range check at long distance.

 

Then the battery pack I thought was fine?, wasent and lost power, the plane I was flying flew into the ground at full throttle and it was bound to go back to idle.

 

Theres my two pence worth lol, when it comes to something that controlls or powers your plane, take no chances yourl regret it, £50 quid for ne radio gear or hundred's for new plane and radio gear?.

 

Good luck whatever you do.

[Marko]

Hi All l will show you a BAD DAY AT THE FIELD  !!!

having a realy good day flying my extra 300

then after this happened................... dead stick ........ to far away and to slow to recover

and this is now what ive got       

goods news .........the wings ok !!!!!!!!!!!  boo hoo

they dont build em to crash do they ..................sad mark

[DAVID CLIFFORD]

OUCH!!

 

So sorry for you Mark, great shame.

 

D

[Djay]

I had one of my bad days at the field last week.

Went for the day, so took 3 helicopters, 3 aircraft.

 

first heli, a TT mini titan, ran up the engine ready to hover and two linkages that hold/operate the blade grips broke,no damage luckily to the heli.

 

Heli 2, T Rex 600 NP, new for xmas, on its first flight, 30 seconds in the hover and it started spinning like crazy.

Found the tail drive plastic bevel gears had sheared some teeth off, inside the fuse.

No damge to heli.

 

Heli 3, TT raptor 50, my old faithfull, first flight good, second flight engine started at full throttle, and the throttle would not respond, burnt the clutch out. Found the plastic throttle arm had come loose.

 

Airplane 1, GWS ME262, receiver would not bind with the T/X, fine before I left home, and a well flown plane.

 

Airplane 2, Showtime 50, whilst low and inverted over the runway, suddenly dived into the tarmac, totally obliverating the plane, never seen a plane so destroyed, especially at such a low speed. The engine an OS50Ax was smashed into loads of small pieces, only the front bearing, glowplug and Top of piston reusable.

 Airplane 3 had retract problems.

 

So after an hour I was home again.

 

All but the showtime repaired the same day though and all flown successfully since.

 

Darryl

 

[Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator]

Oh Boy, Darryl you don't do things by halves do you!

 

I think after the third heli I'd have decided that fate was trying to tell me something and called it a day - but of course hindsight is a wonderful thing

 

Tough luck mate - but look on the bright side, you've probably got a year's worth of gremlins done in one day - the whole rest of 2010 will be perfect for you

 

BEB

[Alan]

And i thought my day was bad.

 

I think Darryl has won first prize for the worst day   .

 

 

Edited By Alan on 28/01/2010 19:54:06

[Marko]

I think your right alan that count makes mine look minor lm hoping to replace my plane but lm having trouble finding one cheers ...........mark