Wing - Left Fuel Tank

2004-04-10 - Assembling and sealing the tank - Ribs 3-4. (3.0 Hrs).

Two more ribs today. Looks just like the others, only, this one has the holes for one of the capacitive fuel senders.

This is the outboard sender, with the ring terminal crimped and soldered to the wire that goes to the next sender. The ring terminal is bolted to the capacitor plate, and sealed with ProSeal. Note, that you have to attach the terminal to the plate before you bolt the plate to the rib; otherwise, it is close to impossible to attach the terminal. Also, notice that I did not get ProSeal all the way around the bolt (I fixed it after this picture). This is starting to get messy, and there is not a lot of room to work inside the tank.

This is the BNC connector bolted to the inboard rib. Here I am making sure that the BNC center pin is not shorted to the case and has a good connection to the terminal. Initially, I put ProSeal on the inside and outside of the hole that the BNC bolts to. After a little thought, I decided that it would be a good idea to have a good electrical connection between the BNC case and the tank ribs, so I cleaned off the ProSeal and tightened the BNC directly to the rib. ProSeal will go over the inside of the whole BNC connector and up the wire a little to insure that the connection is sealed.

This is the outboard sender bolted to the rib.

Not a good picture, but this is where you have to connect the two terminals to the inboard sender. The capacitor plate has to be inside the tank because the wires will not reach any further. It is a PITA to do, and the rib on the right has wet ProSeal on it. Also, the terminals have to be oposed; otherwise the washer will not fit, and you cannot tighten the nut.

This is what it looks like with the plate bolted to the rib when you forget to put ProSeal on the connection, so you have to take the whole thing off of the rib again, and the bottom screw head is starting to strip because you can only get a little screwdriver in there because you have the inboard rib clecoed in place to prevent the wire from being yanked out of the BNC, because the BNC has to go on first. This is not fun.

Ok, here is what it looks like after you remove the plate, ProSeal the connection, put the whole mess back in the tank, and bolt it down. Finally, you are done with the stinking capacitive senders for one tank, or are you? You still have to put the vent tube in place and wrap the wires around it, and dab some ProSeal on the wires to keep them in place, so I guess there is still more to do. After this, I went on to install the fuel vent and the inboard rib, but I was too tired and messy to take any pictures.

	Two more ribs today. Looks just like the others, only, this one has the holes for one of the capacitive fuel senders.
	This is the outboard sender, with the ring terminal crimped and soldered to the wire that goes to the next sender. The ring terminal is bolted to the capacitor plate, and sealed with ProSeal. Note, that you have to attach the terminal to the plate before you bolt the plate to the rib; otherwise, it is close to impossible to attach the terminal. Also, notice that I did not get ProSeal all the way around the bolt (I fixed it after this picture). This is starting to get messy, and there is not a lot of room to work inside the tank.
	This is the BNC connector bolted to the inboard rib. Here I am making sure that the BNC center pin is not shorted to the case and has a good connection to the terminal. Initially, I put ProSeal on the inside and outside of the hole that the BNC bolts to. After a little thought, I decided that it would be a good idea to have a good electrical connection between the BNC case and the tank ribs, so I cleaned off the ProSeal and tightened the BNC directly to the rib. ProSeal will go over the inside of the whole BNC connector and up the wire a little to insure that the connection is sealed.
	This is the outboard sender bolted to the rib.
	Not a good picture, but this is where you have to connect the two terminals to the inboard sender. The capacitor plate has to be inside the tank because the wires will not reach any further. It is a PITA to do, and the rib on the right has wet ProSeal on it. Also, the terminals have to be oposed; otherwise the washer will not fit, and you cannot tighten the nut.
	This is what it looks like with the plate bolted to the rib when you forget to put ProSeal on the connection, so you have to take the whole thing off of the rib again, and the bottom screw head is starting to strip because you can only get a little screwdriver in there because you have the inboard rib clecoed in place to prevent the wire from being yanked out of the BNC, because the BNC has to go on first. This is not fun.
	Ok, here is what it looks like after you remove the plate, ProSeal the connection, put the whole mess back in the tank, and bolt it down. Finally, you are done with the stinking capacitive senders for one tank, or are you? You still have to put the vent tube in place and wrap the wires around it, and dab some ProSeal on the wires to keep them in place, so I guess there is still more to do. After this, I went on to install the fuel vent and the inboard rib, but I was too tired and messy to take any pictures.