My first strake leak test was done today before the tops go on. A certain well known canard builder and racer tested his strakes while open with solvent which seemed a great idea. At least I would know if the bottoms were sealed OK and if there were any other problems.

I checked in with Gary Hunter, glue guru for the canard community. He suggested water with a dash of dish washing liquid to get the surface tension down. Last time I did this sort of thing was in a bath tub with a little piece of balsa wood and a sliver of soap on the back. Instant motor boat as the soap dissolved the surface tension. My birthdays were still in single digits then.

Water is a lot cheaper than solvent and no flash point to worry about either.

I did the left side first after blocking off the feed tube outlet that goes to the sump. Just a piece of plastic over the opening with some hot glue. I had a hard time getting a seal and ended up using 5mt glue and micro on the opposite side… much easier but possibly no fun removing it later.

Oh, and the sight gauges all worked and they didn’t leak.

I was very surprised to find a puddle of water in the nose! It took quite a while to trace the leak to the feed pipe going into the sump. See a few drops here, those drops were constant drips running down the plane to the front.

Inspection with a torch and it looks perfect. However there MUST be a gap in between the pipe and the sump.

This is in the sump and I did allow a bit of lip to show through. I should have allowed for more. I think the leak which I still can’t see must be just inside that inner lip.  My plan tomorrow is to get in the sump and carefully remove material all around the lip on the inside. Then I’ll do a deep flox corner. If I try and just plug it up from the outside I’ll still probably have fuel soaking into the foam. If I try this lip idea it should do the trick.

It is VERY difficult to get into the sump area as I need to. Mirrors, the right angle dremel attachment and patience are on the list.

Meanwhile I transferred the soapy water from the left to the right side and this seems to be holding with no problems. I’ll leave it overnight and if nothing has changed, drain that side and call it good.