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-   -   How Much Fuel Can You Siphon from an RV-8 Tank? (https://vansairforce.net/community/showthread.php?t=180175)

Ironflight 03-05-2020 05:14 PM

How Much Fuel Can You Siphon from an RV-8 Tank?
 
Well, I’ll tell you!

I had the need to drain one fuel tank on the Val, and decided to see if I could make some of the process easier by not having to duck under the wing and shuffle four different gas cans around. I had succumbed to that carnival barker at SnF last year and bought one of those handy-dandy siphon hoses with the valve on the bottom (I use it to fuel the jet without hoisting cans high in the air), and it worked great!

However, of course, it can only go as far into the tank as the first rib in from the tip. Seems like a long way out from the root, and taking dihedral into account, I figured I’d still have quite a bit to drain.

Well the answer is that I managed to get 16 gallons of the 21 gallon capacity out through the full valve...way more than I thought I’d get.

Didn’t leave much to drain, and I only had to duck under the wing with one can.

Just a data point for the trivia experts (i.e., other engineers) out there.....

Paul

RV6_flyer 03-05-2020 05:34 PM

Good job.

I would have expected 1/2.

I have always drained my -6 by removing the drain at the sump and swapping gas cans. Yes I purchased enough 5-gallon containers to hold all the fuel on one side.

PaulvS 03-05-2020 05:53 PM

Safety margin
 
There's some benefit in not being able to easily siphon out all of the fuel!

Sadly, we lost two pilots who took off assuming they still had full tanks, without realizing that someone had apparently siphoned and stolen fuel while tied down overnight.

https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...aair199901340/

N941WR 03-05-2020 05:54 PM

Was this what you used?



We bought one at OSH for transferring water in our camper and it works amazingly well!

Ironflight 03-05-2020 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N941WR (Post 1412519)
Was this what you used?



We bought one at OSH for transferring water in our camper and it works amazingly well!

Yup - that?s the one! Felt kind of silly buying from what seems to be a very typical carnival barker....but hey, it does work! And no mouthful of Avgas (or Kerosene).

N941WR 03-05-2020 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironflight (Post 1412521)
Yup - that?s the one! Felt kind of silly buying from what seems to be a very typical carnival barker....but hey, it does work! And no mouthful of Avgas (or Kerosene).

I felt the same way about my purchase. Then I tried it on my own and was stunned at how well it worked.

Vlad 03-05-2020 08:57 PM

Turbo advised me on that sucking thingy. Works great. I am able to recover 10 gallons out of 18. RV9A.

dpansier 03-05-2020 09:18 PM

How Much Fuel Can You Siphon from an RV-8 Tank?


I got about 12 Gallons........ and then the owner showed up.

DeeCee 57 03-06-2020 12:38 AM

:D

Bought one of those some 20 years ago @ OSH, and I?m sure it is stashed safely away somewhere in my garage...
Assuming I find it, how does one get the device started?

Thanks 🙏

N941WR 03-06-2020 04:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeCee 57 (Post 1412574)
:D

Bought one of those some 20 years ago @ OSH, and I?m sure it is stashed safely away somewhere in my garage...
Assuming I find it, how does one get the device started?

Thanks 🙏

The ball acts like a check valve. You just jiggle it up and down. When the fuel or whatever starts flowing, you stop juggling. It really doesn't take long to get it to start flowing.


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