I removed a leaking long range fuel bladder in my 182K today. The cell appeared in good condition except for a leak which developed in the upper forward wing root area. There are no provisions for a snap or clip in this corner, so every time 10 gal or so was used from a full tank, this corner would sag and cause a sharp V-shaped crease. Eventually it turned to a leak.
I am now faced with cleaning whats left of the old tape from the compartment. Instead of just re-taping, it seems like it would make more sense to cut the bottom out of the old bladder, cut out the reinforced snap and clip holders, sand the sharp edges and use the results to line the cell compartment prior to installing the new tank. Some tape in pertinent areas would help hold it in place.
Anyone ever try this?

Thanks,
Ron

Theres not a lot of room to spare in there. It’s hard enough to get re-clipped and snapped without fighting more stuff, not to mention that wouldn’t exactly be legal. Just man up, get out the alcohol to clean the old residue, and re-tape. take your time in taping process, get all sharp edges and try not to build up too many layers of tape around the sump area. Make sure to use the good tape that the bladder manufacturer sends. Make a sketch of the all the snap locations top and bottom so you dont miss any once you have the bladder back in and cant see them. Good luck!

X2 what Jered said. You need to tape the top and sides anyways. The bottom is the easiest part to tape, so just do it. Cleaning the old tape off is the worst part. And definitely use the tank tape, don't cheap out and use grey tape. It doesn't last long and is even worse to clean off. The top clips can be a major pain to get in, so I've used a small block on the bottom of the tank to help get leverage for my hand. Helps for the far corners.
Good luck and be happy you have LR bladders. The short range bladders are so much worse...


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My 54 180 has a cross vent tube that goes into a nipple in the top forward inside of each bladder. That holds the bladder up with no clip needed. Maybe you don't have a cross vent between tanks????

Yes, I do have the cross-over vent tube. Cessna engineers probably thought that the upper nipple for the vent tube would be sufficient to hold the tank up in that corner. I read an old post on this forum last night from someone who mentioned that every pre-mature "leaker" he has seen is from a failure in that area. So I guess I'm not the only one.
Yesterday morning when I started this project it was 10F in my hangar and I was hoping for a short cut. Since the answer I got from you guys was apparently unanimous, guess I'll head down and start scraping. Thanks guys.

Definatley can't do this job properly in a cold hangar. Especially when installing the new bladder, you need heat to aid in pliability. Even the tape won't clean or stick properly if cold.