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D-180 Fuel Quantity

bobg56

Well Known Member
You guys out there with the D-180's, when the 19.8 gal. fuel tank is full does your D-180 show it at 16 gal. ? I have reviewed my settings and it is on 19.8 as full capacity, I have done the mod where I have removed the sight glass and installed the mechanical gage. BTW the gage shows full at around 16 gal. also. I have been flying this plane for almost 2 years and just accepted that 16 would be maximum until it burns off below that then its actually very accurate from then on. Just wondering if this is a common thing with a D-180 system.
 
RV12 fuel indication

That?s exactly how full fuel is indicated on my 12. I was not the builder so I don?t know why but when I bought it that was explained to me. As you reported, very accurate after you burn off the 3-4 gals not indicated
 
Yes, it is normal.
The reason is that with the tank shaped as it is, some of the fuel in the tank when it is full is above the float when the sender is in the full position. This causes the fuel level indication to not change until the level is burned down to where the float begins to move downward.
This is normal for all RV models to some degree.

It is not a problem because the fuel level indication is very accurate from 16 gal down to zero.
 
16? Our float maxes out at 14 gallons. It is, as you said, quite accurate from 14 down to fumes.
 
Yep, what they said. My RV 9 float tops out at about 16 gal but when tank is filled it holds 18. But very accurate as burn allows fuel to get below the limited 16 float position.
 
Mine also shows 16 gallons. BUT--you've always got the fuel totalizer on the maintenance page. Its always accurate within .3 of a gallon as evidenced by what the fuel truck says on a fill up. For instance, if the totalizer shows I've got 19.3 gallons left, the truck gage will show within .3 of 22.7 gallons put in. (Total 42)

In flight, if it says I've got 34.8 gallons, I believe it.
 
Mine also shows 16 gallons. BUT--you've always got the fuel totalizer on the maintenance page. Its always accurate within .3 of a gallon as evidenced by what the fuel truck says on a fill up. For instance, if the totalizer shows I've got 19.3 gallons left, the truck gage will show within .3 of 22.7 gallons put in. (Total 42)

In flight, if it says I've got 34.8 gallons, I believe it.

Could you please give more details about this? I've just learned to live with knowing I have full tanks and it only shows 16 per side but didn't know there's another place to see them full.
 
Sure----You know how you have the 6 buttons on the bottom. And as you push either the right most, or left most button, your 180 scrolls thru the various pages? One should be your "EMS" page. This page displays RPM, manifold pressure, oil Temp, oil pressure, EGT's, CHT's, fuel Press, fuel flow, AND fuel level. In the upper right hand corner of the screen, where you see the 2 vertical bars showing the 16 gallons, there should be a "number" showing "total fuel remaining". After filling up on gas, you push, I think its button 5, which automatically resets your 180 to the 42 gallons. (I assume your plane's total is 42 gallons.)

Now having said all this, maybe its something you've got to configure yourself. When I bought the plane from the builder, this was already all there. I "did not" get the users guide from the builder. Its something I discovered I could download. Its this:---Dynon Avionics FlightDEK-D180 Pilot's User Manual

This is maybe 50 pages long, but its invaluable. After reading it, everything you ever wanted to know or configure on your 180 will be answered.

If you like, I can run down to the airport, and take some pictures of my 180 showing this EMS page, and the fuel totalizer. But you'd have to send me your email, as I'm clueless on putting pictures here on VAF.:confused:
 
Sure----You know how you have the 6 buttons on the bottom. And as you push either the right most, or left most button, your 180 scrolls thru the various pages? One should be your "EMS" page. This page displays RPM, manifold pressure, oil Temp, oil pressure, EGT's, CHT's, fuel Press, fuel flow, AND fuel level. In the upper right hand corner of the screen, where you see the 2 vertical bars showing the 16 gallons, there should be a "number" showing "total fuel remaining". After filling up on gas, you push, I think its button 5, which automatically resets your 180 to the 42 gallons. (I assume your plane's total is 42 gallons.)

Now having said all this, maybe its something you've got to configure yourself. When I bought the plane from the builder, this was already all there. I "did not" get the users guide from the builder. Its something I discovered I could download. Its this:---Dynon Avionics FlightDEK-D180 Pilot's User Manual

This is maybe 50 pages long, but its invaluable. After reading it, everything you ever wanted to know or configure on your 180 will be answered.

If you like, I can run down to the airport, and take some pictures of my 180 showing this EMS page, and the fuel totalizer. But you'd have to send me your email, as I'm clueless on putting pictures here on VAF.:confused:

Thanks, I have the manual and I know of the pages, just never noticed the total gallons though. I'll go to the hangar in a few minutes and check it out and if it's not there I'll set it up so it is. Thanks.
 
One thing more. You know---in the "Installation guide" on page 6-11, it talks about the "K" factor. It says there " The "K" factor can be found on the tag that came with your "fuel flow transducer" This has got to as accurate as possible, to make your "total fuel remaining" accurate. mine happens to be 67100, but your's may be widely different. Its something you've got to fiddlef--k with to get it as accurate as possible. (Maybe your's is already configured):cool:
 
This screen has the Fuel Computer. You need to manually adjust quantity remaining in tank prior to flight to match actual fuel quantity in the tank. From that point on it uses the fuel flow transducer to calculate fuel quantity, fuel used, and amount of fuel remaining at next waypoint.

 
Mine shows 17 gallons when full. The wire on the float can be bent to reach its stop at the bottom when zero or the top when full. I thought it was more important to know if I have 7 or 4 gallons than to know if I have 20 or 17, so I bent mine to reach the stop when the float is on the tank bottom.
 
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