Do you sump your gascolator?

[SwimmingDragonfly96]

Hello,

My 7A has a gascolator that's basically inaccessible to drain during pre-flight. Do you all sump your gascolators?

[Mel]

Originally Posted by SwimmingDragonfly96

Hello,
My 7A has a gascolator that's basically inaccessible to drain during pre-flight. Do you all sump your gascolators?

If you have a gascolator, it needs to be "sumped" before first flight of the day.

[Jpm757]

If a gascolator is installed it should be sumped prior to each flight ( just like the fuel tanks). Don't know where your gascolator is located, but if possible add an access panel of some sort to allow for draining AND cleaning the screen.

[MacCool]

My gascolator is the lowest point of my fuel system...therefore the most likely point where water is going to accumulate. Mine is very accessible so I always sump it as well as both tanks.

[Dugaru]

It’s a very important precaution. A flight instructor here was killed a few years ago due to water in the fuel tanks of a Tecnam.

Originally Posted by SwimmingDragonfly96

Hello,

My 7A has a gascolator that's basically inaccessible to drain during pre-flight. Do you all sump your gascolators?

[BoydBirchler]

My RV7 originally had a gascolator. It was useless! It would not drain fuel unless I would turn on the boost pump.

When I changed to fuel injection I eliminated it and replaced it with an AFP high pressure boost pump, with a high flow fliter. The filter gets serviced at each condition inspection.

I sump the lowest point in my taildragger's fuel system: which is each tank's rear inboard main tank drains.

There are a lot of us out here that feel the placement of a gascolator ahead of the firewall, in that hot environment, is perfect for boiling fuel and causing vaporlock.

[SwimmingDragonfly96]

Jesus you guys are frightening me. Should I get rid of the gascolator?

[MacCool]

Originally Posted by SwimmingDragonfly96

Jesus you guys are frightening me. Should I get rid of the gascolator?

That would certainly be an option, as long as you retained the ability to sump the lowest part of your fuel system.

I confess I'm a little baffled at the concept of not sumping the gascolator as an utterly routine part of the pre-flight. I've never found water in a gascolator either, but I've never translated that to meaning I don't need to check the rudder bolts or aileron/flap jam nuts just because I've never found them to be loose.

[tracy]

I have to remove cowling to access mine, so I strain it anytime the cowling is off. Never found water in it. Come think of it, I’ve never found water in the tanks.

[Richard RG]

Having owned a Mooney M20e for years found sumping the gascolator was a royal pain, having to climb into the cockpit each time, just to pull the little actuator ring on the pilot side floor to clear any water/debris that may have collected in the gascolator. Always, it came back clean.
Having gotten tired of this exercise each preflight, rationalized that checking the wing tank drains each time before flight would catch any contaminates, before they found their way to the gascolator. Wrong!
Apparently fuel injected engines are not tolerant of anything other than 100% clean fuel. It was no fun having the always smooth running engine start stumbling in the downwind leg to land. Luckily the loss of power was near a runway.
I mentioned my engine issue to an old timer pilot that has forgotten more than I can ever hope to learn and his first comment was, 'did you sump the gascolator?'
There was a wee bit of water/gunk had accumulated. Thereafter, I would not be comfortable to fly without first checking the gascolator.
The RV3 I now fly is carbed and maybe more tolerant of contaminates in the fuel? Though I have to turn the boost pump on then get down on my backside flat out on the floor to access the gascolator, would not consider flying without checking the gascolator.
My 2 cents