RV-12 Carb Drip Trays

[Chopkins]

Hi All

Can somebody help me....either to prove I am not going mad or to tell me where I have gone wrong.

The other evening I fitted my carb trays as assembled in 46-08 and 46-09. Both fitted well and were torqued up as specified. When I went to refit the carbs I ran into a problem. The carb on Port side of the aircraft fitted fine but the one on the other side would not fit becuase the throttle arm fouls the outer flange of the drip tray. Both of my trays are not handed. Vans agree that they should not be handed. I have emailed Vans who have sent me pics of their previous drip trays (It appears that the design has changed) and they have told me that theirs fit fine. - Great! - Mine were delivered in January 2014 so I don't know when the design change took place. They have told me that their fly away 12s have my drip trays and they have not had any issues so it looks like I am on my own.

I have filed quite a bit off the outer flange so that it doesn't get in the way of the throttle arm when it is fully against it's stop (see photos) . Can anyone spot if I have gone wrong or if the parts are wrong?







Thanks in anticipation

Anthony

[rvbuilder2002]

There was a design change made in the drip tray.
At the release of the new design, a few builders were inadvertently sent the parts without instructions for modifying the one side to account for the interference that you show in your photos.
A notification was sent to those customers. Possibly you were missed in the mailing or you lost track of it.... doesn't matter at this point.
I understand that someone in tech. support provided you with the proper info. The revised plans Section 46 is also available on the support section of Van's web site.

[Jetguy]

Boy I'm confused about this to!
Could you point out where on these pages it says how to modify the part he has? They are fresh off Vans web site.

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by Jetguy

Could you point out where on these pages it says how to modify the part he has?

Use THIS link

[AF_Alan]

Revision 3 to page 46-08 in January has the trim needed for the right side. See fig 4.

Good luck!

[rgmwa]

I assume the drip trays are there to catch fuel if the float valve becomes jammed and the fuel pump causes the fuel to overflow the float bowl. What happens then? I read recently that the drip trays should be fitted with drains. Is that correct?

[roger lee]

Drip trays for the Rotax are best when fitted with a drain with the bottom lip turned up so the fuel can't run out and a drain hose run down to the bottom of the cowl, but so long as the bottom lips extends well past the exhaust pipe then that will work. A few LSA MFG's only have an extended bottom lip and it hasn't been an issue.

I have trimmed the outside edge of each drip tray down on a few RV12's so the carb can be pushed back out of its rubber flange and float bowl dropped and inspected or more importantly for the pilot to do the same in case of an emergency landing for carb bowl debris. With the outside lips so tall you can't drop the bowl and pull the bowl out. You still have to push the carb back out of the socket, but you only have so much free play to raise it up high enough to get the bowl out. The tall outside edge lip won't allow this to happen.
This becomes important for a self rescue and to not be stranded for simple bowl debris. A Dremel tool with a cut off blade works well and only takes a couple of minutes and it won't decrease the effectiveness of the drip tray.


This simple procedure has saved a number of people from being stranded.

Here is a simple video to demonstrate.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XBT-yQ_X3N8

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by roger lee

I have trimmed the outside edge of each drip tray down on a few RV12's so the carb can be pushed back out of its rubber flange and float bowl dropped and inspected or more importantly for the pilot to do the same in case of an emergency landing for carb bowl debris.

Not S-LSA RV-12's I hope.... For the sake of the owners continued airworthiness.....

[Mel]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

Not S-LSA RV-12's I hope.... For the sake of the owners continued airworthiness.....

To expound on what Scott says; If any unauthorized mods are made to an SLSA, the airworthiness certificate becomes invalid and only the aircraft manufacturer can get the aircraft re-certificated.

[rgmwa]

Originally Posted by roger lee

Drip trays for the Rotax are best when fitted with a drain with the bottom lip turned up so the fuel can't run out and a drain hose run down to the bottom of the cowl, but so long as the bottom lips extends well past the exhaust pipe then that will work. A few LSA MFG's only have an extended bottom lip and it hasn't been an issue.

Thanks for the info. My plane has the older style drip tray, but apart from being stronger the new design looks to be about the same size. Vans obviously don't think a separate drain is necessary, otherwise I'm sure they would have put one in. Even so, it seems to me that if any fuel ever does overflow the right side drip tray, it's likely to finish up in the bottom of the cowl uncomfortably close to the exhaust pipe. While it might tend to be sucked out of the cowl outlet in flight, what about on the ground?