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N420PW Fuel Valve

bkervaski

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Testing
I was reviewing the NTSB report for N420PW and noted that they indicated the fuel valve was half way between the L and R tanks.

On the Andair fuel valves that most RVs have, would this turn off the fuel flow completely?
 
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I was reviewing the NTSB report for N420PW and noted that they indicated the fuel valve was half way between the L and R tanks.

On the Andair fuel valves that most RVs have, would this turn off the fuel flow completely?

Did the report specify which manufacturer of valve it had?

If Andair, it would depend on how the valve is arranged - 180 degrees between L&R or 90 degrees? Mine's arranged at 90. If I place the selector in between, it feeds from both tanks (no, I don't run it this way, but did test it on the ground). I suspect those arranged at 180 would draw from neither when placed in the mid position.

There certainly might be other ways and/or configurations that Andair has built, I don't know.
 
I was reviewing the NTSB report for N420PW and noted that they indicated the fuel valve was half way between the L and R tanks.

On the Andair fuel valves that most RVs have, would this turn off the fuel flow completely?

Sounds like in this case, fuel was likely to have been fed from the left tank while the selector was in that condition.

Examination of the fuel selector revealed that the selector was between the left and right fuel tank. Pressurized air was supplied to the fuel selector and it was discovered that when positioned between both tanks, fuel was only supplied from the left tank. The fuel selector was placed in the right tank position and pressurized air was supplied through the lines and the air moved to the right fuel tank line as noted on the selector. The selector was placed in the left fuel tank position and pressurized air was supplied through the lines and the air moved to the left fuel tank line as noted on the selector.
 
Andair fuel valve question

I?ve noticed it difficult to feel the detent on my fuel valve when I change from the left to the right tank or vis versa. However, I also noticed that if it?s not exactly positioned in the detent it still feeds fuel to the engine as long as it?s close to the correct position between the left and right tank. Is this normal for Andair fuel valves?
 
When I built my RV-10, I did not like the way the Andair valve selector lever could easily rotate out of the indent without having to lift the safety knob, so I filled the pin channel with JB Weld and drilled it out for the pin at the Left/Right/Off positions. That gave me positive position locks in all three positions and the only way to change it was to lift up on the safety knob first. No way it would accidentally move by being bumped . Doing the same on my RV-9A.
 
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