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Smoke tank fittings: Help

RV7Guy

RV7Guy

Well Known Member
Hi Everyone,

I'm going to make my own smoke tank that will go behind the passengers seat on my 7. I want to make removable and use quick disconnect fittings with check valves to reduce the possibility of leakage.

I'm wondering if anyone else has made a similar tank and what fittings you used.

Thanks in advance!!
 
Quick connects

Motion Pro makes some nice ones , also Beemer Bone Yard ( BMW motorcycle parts ) or your local boat store , outboard fuel tank connectors .
Tom
 
push the EASY button

Beemer Boneyard is a good idea (I have a set of those on my bike), but also look at tractor-type hydraulic fittings. Dunno, but I would expect there are smaller versions available.

Carry on!
Mark
 
smoke tank

Try Summit Racing fuel tank JZP-290-103-NF5 I have one in my "7" behind my pass seat, it takes up no room in the baggage compartment so I didn't make it removable. At 3.2 gallons it gives lots of smoke time with my high pressure/low volume system, (less than .5 gallon / minute. Has large aviation fill cap and you can see thru tank material to confirm oil level between flights and when filling.
 
Hi Darwin

These are the fittings I used to facilitate removing my custom tank from my RV8. No issues so far and they work really well. I also used these as my pitot/static disconnects on the back of my EFIS.
 
GeneL said:
Try Summit Racing fuel tank JZP-290-103-NF5 I have one in my "7" behind my pass seat, it takes up no room in the baggage compartment so I didn't make it removable. At 3.2 gallons it gives lots of smoke time with my high pressure/low volume system, (less than .5 gallon / minute. Has large aviation fill cap and you can see thru tank material to confirm oil level between flights and when filling.
Click to expand...

Pics and details on your system???
 
Brian, I will be out to the hanger latter today an will take a pic and try to post it. did you find the tank on Summit Racing's web site yet? Summit has about 3000 tanks on their site, but only 10 or 20 in the catalog. My part # will save you hours of looking.
 
this look perfect!

Gene! Please expand on your system and install. The tank that you found looks like the perfect solution for a -7.

I have been holding off on my smoke system trying to puzzle out a better tank volume than using up precious cargo space and would like to keep the CG as far forward as possible.
 
GeneL said:
Brian, I will be out to the hanger latter today an will take a pic and try to post it. did you find the tank on Summit Racing's web site yet? Summit has about 3000 tanks on their site, but only 10 or 20 in the catalog. My part # will save you hours of looking.
Click to expand...

Yes I did and like Stephen, I am very interested in seeing what you have done. I would love smoke but hate the pain that comes along with it. The tank looks perfect.
 
Thanks

Gene, the tank looks excellent. I also found the desirable fittings from Summit. Here's a direct link to the tank.

Gene, what pump are you using? Please, more info on your set up!!!
 
On the system that I built I used an oil tank for the two cycle oil used in outboard motor boats, about three gallons. For a quick disconnect I used the standard air fittings that you use on an air compressor and hoses also a piece of oil proof rubber hose to the fixed AL oil line from the baggage compartment to the engine.
 
Smoke system

My pump is a SureFlo SF 8000-143-260. Pump is similar to Smoking Planes but with better internal materials and higher pressure (70-90 psi). The pump is my spec. and should be listed buy SureFlo $88 when I bought it from Depco (online) about 2 years ago. System is great, however getting nozzles small enough to get flow down to less than .5 gpm is tough. 90 Psi generates a lot of flow if you do not choke the nozzles down. Do not try to throttle the system down before the nozzles as this will just lower the pressure at the nozzles. High pressure is what atomizes the oil (good smoke, low oil consumption, no oil on belly)!! My injectors (2) have .0015" slots to make the fan, I custom made them good luck.
 
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Gene's smoke tank

Here are some pics of my smoke install.



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Smoke tank

The reason I went with this tank is the front (that you can't see) is wedge shaped to completely fill the space behind the seat. The tank is actually a dragster fuel cell minus the internal foam and is very robust but not to heavy. This cap is non vented, the line with the filter going up is the vent.
 
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F1Boss said:
www.flambeaufluids.com/

Much less expensive tanks available here. Non-vented caps available, but be sure to make up a reliable vent line system too.

Carry on!
Mark
Click to expand...
Yep. I've bought a couple of Ace RotaMold tanks. Very well made with molded in anchors for feet and pump. Price around $50 for 5-6 gal.

http://www.denhartogindustries.com/wp-content/uploads/product-pdfs/SP0006-2P.pdf

This one above fits perfectly in the -8 baggage compartment.

No drip hydraulic couplings from Northern Tool works well for quick connect. Kind of heavy though. But the price and strength was right for me.
 
FWIW, the Swift I flew for a while had an STC'd smoke system that consisted of a (removable) 5gal metal outboard motor fuel tank, a Holly electric fuel pump, and standard outboard motor fuel fittings.

Charlie
 
Fumes

I don't think I get fumes in the cockpit, but it would be hard to tell since smoke oil has no smell. If it was a problem, I would just run a line from the 1/4" filter to the outside of the cabin. So far no problem, if I did negative G acro I would put a check ball below the filter in the blue line and notch the top fitting in the tank.
 
I was talking with Chris @ BoneHead composites about making something like this for the RV-7, I'll email this thread to him
 
Custom tank

I was thinking of making my own custom fiberglass tank that would fit behind the passenger seat to maximize the space. Kind of what was done with the great Bison Mountain bags.

My thoughts include making a base to go over the flap bar, then make the tank for the base. Foam would be used to make the mold.

I enjoy working with fiberglass so making something to get the most use of the space is no problem. I have hours of organized boredom at work to work on things like this.

Keep the ideas coming.
 
RV7Guy said:
I was thinking of making my own custom fiberglass tank that would fit behind the passenger seat to maximize the space. Kind of what was done with the great Bison Mountain bags.

My thoughts include making a base to go over the flap bar, then make the tank for the base. Foam would be used to make the mold.

I enjoy working with fiberglass so making something to get the most use of the space is no problem. I have hours of organized boredom at work to work on things like this.

Keep the ideas coming.
Click to expand...

Note the date on this email I sent to Chris, this is why patents were invented....just kidding, I don't care who makes the solution, I just want to use it!! I was also thinking of a tank on each side with a cross fill sump of some sort.

R02ztkD.png
 
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