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  #11  
Old 11-05-2012, 04:11 PM
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plehrke plehrke is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Defiance, MO
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Sump before every flight (over 500 times now) and never a drop. Due to never finding any water, I have wondered if they are actually draining the very bottom of the tank. Even thought of testing by putting in some water and seeing if it came out of the sump. (actually would never really do that).
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RV-6A - 14+ years, 950+ hours
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  #12  
Old 11-05-2012, 04:12 PM
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flyboy1963 flyboy1963 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Lake Country, B.C. Canada
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Default ...and how MUCH to sump?

...a great pic showing that if you only sump an ounce or 2, you can get a nice, clear, clean sample...........of NOTHING but WATER!
I'm a bit colour challenged, so I don't see the pale blue fuel tint we get here unless it's in really good light, so I hold the sample tube against the fuselage to see the colour.
I also smell the sample, but that only works for the first drain of the day...then it all has a hint of avgas aroma.

I rarely get a spec of water, even with old gaskets and sitting outside year-round, ( snow, ice, rain, rinse, repeat)
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  #13  
Old 11-05-2012, 04:25 PM
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kinger kinger is offline
 
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I wonder how long after a a fill up of fuel that one needs to wait for the contents to settle and any or all contaminates rest at the lowest part of the fuel tank/bladder.

I recall but cannot find the back up documents that one needs to wait :30 minutes. I'm sure that this would vary from tank to tank based on size.
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  #14  
Old 11-05-2012, 05:02 PM
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Toobuilder Toobuilder is offline
 
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Just as a point of ref... We filled up at that Hastings FBO, then spent 45 minutes on the ground eating lunch. My first sample was almost completely full of water, and it took 5 or 6 cups to get a clean sample. The other ship (an RV6) never picked up a drop.
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  #15  
Old 11-05-2012, 06:27 PM
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AltonD AltonD is offline
 
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Check the stem o-ring on the cap. Also, there should be a moderate amount of pressure with your thumb to cam-over the fuel cap tab.
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  #16  
Old 11-05-2012, 06:50 PM
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To be honest I didn't sump since Phase One. I don't even have sampler anymore. Looking at that water I probably should. I do fair amount of flying and burn some gallonage of premium car gas if available. Wet vfr happens once in a while. Every time I am in the hangar I drain a bit of fuel to clean something and that's all. Never found any water in gascolator during routine inspections. Maybe alcohol absorbs it?
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  #17  
Old 11-05-2012, 07:30 PM
wm708 wm708 is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: houston pmt 2014
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Default water

wow
They have these new gas filter funnel that lets the gas thru but not water.
At your auto store. Not sure how to make them work with a gas pump yet.
Bill J

Paid this year.
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  #18  
Old 11-05-2012, 07:30 PM
Spindrift Spindrift is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 298
Default A bit more to the story

The AvGas you see in the picture is actually from the right tank which had only a tiny bubble of water in it. That tank has a new cap that I bought as a backup before flying to Oshkosh in 2011 and installed when the tab broke on the cap. Rather than pouring back in, I waited to see what I would find in the left tank. I expected some water because I knew that the cap was leaking a bit when the tanks were full in hot weather, and I had plans to get a new cap for that side as well. I did not expect a full cup of water. To Toobuilders point, the sample would have been all water if not for the AvGas from the other tank. After pouring this out, I got another inch or so more of water, then shook the wing, waited ten minutes, sumped until it was totally blue, then took off on the other tank and switched over at altitude just in case.
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Last edited by Spindrift : 11-05-2012 at 07:32 PM. Reason: typo
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  #19  
Old 11-05-2012, 07:47 PM
cajunwings cajunwings is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: new iberia la
Posts: 768
Default Fuel contamination

Something to consider. The very low rate of flow thru the quick drain may not be enough to evacuate/flush the grit and debris that over time collects in the tank. I once replaced a leaking quick drain on a mooney using the "wet" method. That is go out on the ramp safe distance away from everything, put clean bucket under wing, ground the plane and bucket, quickly remove and replace the quickdrain. Was about to pour the collected 2-3 qts back in the tank but found a lot more junk and water than expected in the bucket. This plane i had flown a couple hundred hrs over several yrs and never saw a speck of anything come out of the drains. Now at annual time I remove the quickdrains and flow about a gallon of fuel. Usually collect something.

Don B
Rebuild in Prog
RV9
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  #20  
Old 11-05-2012, 07:52 PM
jongurley jongurley is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 94
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Not trying to be Mr perfect or Mr Paranoid, but why wouldn't you sump before each flight??? maybe I'm paranoid but I sump before every flight. To each his own I guess. It seems like 30 seconds worth of sump'ing is worth it.
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