Its Leaking Again – From Astana to Karaganda to Balkhash

From Astana it was a short ride through good roads to Karaganda. 200 km approximately and I checked into a cheap local hostel for 2900 tenge a night. It was a clean hostel but it would be what I call a local hostel not really for international tourist but for local tourism. Then again there was nothing much to see in Karaganda hence the lack of international tourism.

I planned to stay one night in Karaganda and push off initially since it was really a simple town and after arriving early afternoon and walking all around, I figured I had given Karaganda a chance and hostel conditions was not really comfy enough to make Karaganda a place to chill and do nothing.

Mosaic Murals in Karaganda Downtown

Mosaic Murals in Karaganda Downtown

Next morning while packing up and loading Bragge, I noticed the wet patch on the floor and the tank leakage had started up again. It might have been the sudden cold rain overnight or the vibration or many other factors, but the fact was it was leaking again and the epoxy lasted me about 1000km from Zhezqazghan.

No choice and I checked back into the hostel and stripped Bragge again to check the leak. It was the same issue which was the epoxy had formed a weak point not bonding with the metal. I suspect it is due to vibration and contraction of the tank from cold and warm weather causing the bond between epoxy and the tank to weaken till a path form for the petrol vapour to go through.

Redoing the Patch on the Hairline Cracked Fuel Tank

After hammering off all the epoxy the leak was like a mini squirt. So, in fact the epoxy actually reduced the leak to a vapour minimum. I redo the patch with new epoxy, and everything was good. A whole day spend in Karaganda just redoing the tank bandage and waiting for the next day to push off.

Karaganda to Balkhash was a good 350km and I kept stopping and checking for leaks being paranoid. For the most part of the journey, there was no leak and the ride was through boring straight roads with not much to see or do.

On the Road to Balkhash

When I reach Balkhash and checked into the hostel, I could still smell petrol but there was no drip or any wet patch. I decided to strip Bragge again and do a check and it was there, a very small bubble every minute. Looks like the epoxy patch is really a temporary emergency band-aid and is not going to last me till I reach back Malaysia.

Traveled on : Aug 2024