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Aerolab Gascolator

Freemasm

Well Known Member
First review. There doesn't appear to be much written on this.

Background:

Installing EFI into a Rocket. It will be an electrically dependent aircraft that utilizes dual electric fuel pumps and in a full-flow fuel system; so, a six-way fuel selector and dual pump module are incorporated. The OEM supplied prefilter is a single use cartridge type modified with AN flare type fittings.

I want to minimize suction losses in the event that 100LL becomes unavailable or too expensive to use in the future. A system design that would accept lower vapor pressure fuel was part of my concern, so minimize fittings, tubing lengths, bends, elevation changes (I know. It’s technically recoverable), component losses, etc.

The OEM supplied pre-filter could have been made to work; though, not without more tubing gymnastics than I wanted to tackle and any associated losses from such. Two@2” ducts will also be occupying the same area. My approach was to use an Aerolab Gascolator.

Pros:
- “Compact” design frees up real estate
- Tubing efforts (and associated losses) reduced. YMMV
- It appears to be very well made
- Automatic fuel shut-off (See associated “Con” below)
- Does not require fabrication of any mounting brackets. 0.032” skin is
sufficient
- Very easy installation though I still muffed it to a degree
- Sump-able and serviceable from outside the aircraft
- No associated fuel spills/leaks inside the aircraft related to servicing
- Finer filter beta. (This is not always good but it removes a lot of questions
for applications). See following bullet
- More filter effective area. Citation needed here as I haven’t cut apart the
original canister. That said, increased diameter beats the snot out of
length (talking filter elements, here) when it comes to surface area. This
should easily offset any concerns about fouling/blockage from too fine a
beta rating
- Adaptable orientation. On par with other gascolators but way better than
canister filters
- It shipped the same day. This shouldn’t be a “pro” but if you’ve dealt with
Andair, you’ll understand
- Element is (readily) inspectable/cleanable/replaceable versus canisters
- Probably more

Cons:
- It’s not cheap. Though it probably saved me enough fab time/anguish to
mostly justify on this alone. Price appears to very close to other
domestically sourced similar items; not the cheap stuff
- Not sold on the automatic cut-off. I’ve inquired and may remove this
feature. There’s only ~ 8” of fuel line between the selector (with off
position) and the gascolator.
- My system doesn’t require a gascolator, only a pre-filter so this is a bit of
overkill. As I understand it, one is required for our brothers in the True
- North.
- The cap protrusion may add some drag though probably unmeasurable

Other:
Some pix are included below from my feisability layout. Only the gascolator is hard mounted. Everything else to loose. The OEM canister filter is included for reference. The doubler is not required but the hole I cut in place did not meet my expectations for tolerance and appearance. I didn’t include pix of the collator proper but there are plenty in the supplier’s site.

I will do a total suction loss measurement when I’m far enough along. Link to US suppler

https://www.flyboyaccessories.com/product-p/72rr02.htm

I haven’t seen much reference to this component here or anywhere else. Anyone else here with some related experience they can share? Would love to hear it.
 

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Aerolab & 0-rings

I installed one in my carbureted -4 in 2018. The unit seeped fuel from the large 0-ring situated at the bottom of cap. The unit contains eight 0-rings of various sizes. I fiddled with it for several days, sometimes it would appear to be holding but the next morning I would have a blue fuel stain around the cap both inside and outside the fuselage. Flyboy's worked with me and Aerolab in trying to resolve the issue.
Aerolab thought the problem might be in a new batch of 0-rings my unit contained. Evidently the original sourced 0-rings were loosing elasticity over time. Flyboys sent a new 0-ring. Same results.
Flyboys then sent a new gascolator. I had the same seepage around the cap although it did take somewhat longer to present. At that point I gave up. Flyboys graciously refunded my money and I have been flying without a gascolator ever since.
Last I heard Flyboys was contacting those folks with PTFE rings in their unit and sending replacement Viton 0-rings. Flyboys were also going to test every unit before shipment. Steve S.
 
The Aerolabs gascolator is a nice unit, but does have its install issues. Nothing set for its install. You're pretty much on your own.

Tom
 
I found the install to be pretty simple and straight forward. I fabricated the output fuel line to the Andair fuel selector valve BEFORE positioning the mounting location. The steel drilling template was worth the money if anyone is wondering.
 

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@RotaVA. This is the first I’d heard but as mentioned, I haven’t seen much on line. Per the website, every unit is pressure tested. Of course, they don’t differentiate between a proof test and a leak test. Guess I’ll find out.

@TSflightlines. I found the installation instructions very straightforward. I downloaded from Flyboys and a hard copy came with the hardware. The templates made it super simple; not a single measure had to be made.

@9GT. I fab’d the same line first as you did used that for longitudinal placement. Mine is centerline. The tunnel is a bit narrow which more than anything, led me down this path/component selection.
 
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I wasnt dismissing the install instructions at all. What I meant was the plumbing side 'could' be alittle tough in some cases. Definitely work out the plumbing BEFORE you cut the hole in the fuselage.

Tom
 
I wasnt dismissing the install instructions at all. What I meant was the plumbing side 'could' be alittle tough in some cases. Definitely work out the plumbing BEFORE you cut the hole in the fuselage.

Tom

Especially if you are building an RV7 and have a "non-standard" Andair fuel selector :confused: :p Think between Tom and I we investigated nearly every possible option. I caved and finally bought the "Standard" fuel selector to which Tom has some options that will help with a tidy install in the 7

Here's what doesn't work IMO lol
http://garetsrv.blogspot.com/2021/03/bending-38-fuel-tubing-for-selector-85.html
http://garetsrv.blogspot.com/2021/03/more-messing-fuel-selector-1-hour.html
 
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Especially if you are building an RV7 and have a "non-standard" Andair fuel selector :confused: :p Think between Tom and I we investigated nearly every possible option. I caved and finally bought the "Standard" fuel selector to which Tom has some options that will help with a tidy install in the 7

Here's what doesn't work IMO lol
http://garetsrv.blogspot.com/2021/03/bending-38-fuel-tubing-for-selector-85.html
http://garetsrv.blogspot.com/2021/03/more-messing-fuel-selector-1-hour.html

Obviously I don’t know all of your difficulties from the blog post but a street L out of the selector with the gascolator rotated 180 wouldn’t fit? I had to abandon my typical linear thinking to get an easy acceptable fit. Too late/all theoretic now but would that have done it for you? It would reason (from your pix and 1000 miles away) the housing could have been as close to the spar as you wanted.
 
Garet and others, we spent a considerable amount of time thinking about this ans doing various mockup ideas, given the restrictions of space, the selector valve, the cover plates and dog house for the pump, etc. Most of those that asked us to do this install had the Andair 7T valve, and the AFP boost pump. I think I also did do a mockup using the EFii single pump. Did NOT do the Andair pump----very few RV7/9 builders use that pump in the US.

Anyway, the first constraint was the forward location of the pump, so it would fit under the stock dog house. Once that location was established, then we started moving backwards to where the Aerolabs unit could 'potentially' go. It discharges out of the top, so a 90* of some sort would be needed. OH---it also had to fit aft of the stock valve cover so the doghouse, the side panels and the valve cover could all be installed for the "stock" look. That closed the space considerably.

The unit inlet is lower and comes straight out of the body with a -6 Male AN fitting thats an intergral part of the unit, and cant be removed. That in itself eliminates several potential mounting options----to either side means hitting the sides of the doghouse panels of the spar brackets---forward might work BUT you would have to make some sort of 180* tube to enter the unit, turn it 180* aft (either right or left without hitting the unit or the covers) and then turn inboard and vertical to connect to the valve. On 7A/9A models, the brake lines are right there AND dont forget the valve to wing lines. If you think at making a little 180* tube with standard tube bending tools like Garet posted was frustrating, GOOD LUCK trying to make this little tube. Eat lunch FIRST, have lots of beer and pretzels, because you'll need it.

So we figured the best solution FOR US to make these tubes repeatable on the CNC bender was to have the unit inlet facing the spar. A modified Andair "J" boost pump tube was fairly close, but with some changes in height and leg dimensions we make things fit.

Next obstacle was connecting the unit to the boost pump. ON the AFP pump we found a 90* NPT/-6 Female AN fitting to connect to the stock male nipple on the pump. Yes you have to raise the pump height to make the connection but not alot. We also came up with a Straight -6 female AN/-6 O'ring boss fitting to screw into the pump, replacing the stock nipple in the pump, for those that wanted to use a AN822-6D in the unit outlet. Same ideas. Pump discharge hose was pretty much the same as our stock package.

This is NOT the only way to do this---but it was what we came up with to fit within the parameters given to us. WE did the one for Stacy Steffen, pics below. Also----the big question we get from builders is how to make the bend close to the flare? Well without buying an expensive CNC 3 axis bender and the special dies, and the flaring machine with its custom dies, you CAN do a similar job with a modified Imperial 364 bender, like mine shown below. Works well for one-off or prototype jobs or just messing around. Not the only trick to the tube, but usually helps alot.

Tom
 

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Freemasam

Tom actually came up with that scenario without the 180 rotation..and it looked like it was going to fit well. One of the items that I was thinking about is what vibration with all those multiple connection points was going to do. While mocking up the fuel system, just the weight of me reaching down and putting weight on the floor causes the floor (and the gascolator) to deflect a bit. My thoughts began to circle to - will leaks be more probable with these more direct and rigid setups?

I do have very limited experience with aviation fuel lines, but I reasoned that Tom's custom "J" tube inherently will accommodate an amount of flex in the floor and will likely lessen leaks. Of course it also allows for the gascolator to be set further back to the spar. (More rigid location, fits better under the selector cover, etc, etc)
 
Freemasam

Tom actually came up with that scenario without the 180 rotation..and it looked like it was going to fit well. One of the items that I was thinking about is what vibration with all those multiple connection points was going to do. While mocking up the fuel system, just the weight of me reaching down and putting weight on the floor causes the floor (and the gascolator) to deflect a bit. My thoughts began to circle to - will leaks be more probable with these more direct and rigid setups?

I do have very limited experience with aviation fuel lines, but I reasoned that Tom's custom "J" tube inherently will accommodate an amount of flex in the floor and will likely lessen leaks. Of course it also allows for the gascolator to be set further back to the spar. (More rigid location, fits better under the selector cover, etc, etc)

A bit of thread drift but hey, I started the thread. You are correct.

Strain and stress are linearly proportional to each other. Strain being deformation (think movement for vibration) per unit length. So as you said; short and straight = stiff; something you want to avoid in light aircraft design/construction. Our structures are just not that rigid so the resulting stress/strain has to be felt somewhere. Reference my first pix, I could have made a compound curve "J" between the selector and the gascolator as you did. I even formulated a couple. Would have worked but the Andair nozzles come out radially, not down. Would have taken more room and more tubing (something I'm trying to minimize). I don't have Mr. Swerenger's tools, patience, or skills. The longer backdoor/retrograde line I used is a pretty fault tolerant approach (for the aforementioned reasons) and within the skill set of most of us. Lots of ways to skin this cat (an Americanism, my apologies).

My only point was I would have liked to take a stab at your layout. Would like to know if it was do-able in the hands of an amateur with your given boundary conditions. Getting back to the original post, I do like the aerolab component. I like the Andair selector as well. Both take some additional upfront work, obviously. Hoping the future benefits remain evident.
 
Any updates on leaks?

Is anyone using the Aerolab gascolators without leaks? I have installed one in each wing root but have not put fuel in the tanks yet.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Is anyone using the Aerolab gascolators without leaks? I have installed one in each wing root but have not put fuel in the tanks yet.

Thanks,
Mike

I have about 150h and 12m of service on a pair of them.
No issues to report. Have had them both out twice since first flight.
Once at about 2-3h and once at 100h. Nothing found in either one.
No leaks.
Very convenient. Beats the heck out of pulling filters out inside the plane. It’s a 30sec job.
 
I have 86 hours on mine and 10 months since it first saw fuel. No leaks and no issues with it at all.

I purchased mine very early, when they first showed up on the market. I had planned on having an Andair gascolator in each wing root (they fit, just!) because I just didn't want to be servicing anything to do with fuel inside the cockpit and I wanted filteration before my HP Fuel Pump. I'd often wished for something like this so when it was released the Aerolab Filter was a godsend and solved all my problems. I now have an excellent filter in the lowest point of my fuel system that can be serviced from outside the cabin. Too easy!

Installation was very straight forward and as noted before, the pre-cut template made it simple. I think it took me about an hour to drill/cut/fit, then about another 1.5 hours to install as I sealed it to the fuselage skin with proseal. Mine is located only slightly more forward than Tom's example and this made it a bit easier to manufacture the fuel line up to the fuel selector (also Andair) but having it slightly more forward also means you don't have to reach so far underneath the aircraft when doing a sump drain.

The threads on the body/cap are very fine and do take a little bit of caution when refitting the cap. As long as you're not ham-fisted you should be right. The cap has a couple of cut-outs in it so you can position it correctly with the airflow and it doesn't need to be screwed in super-tight as the o-ring seals it up nicely, not the applied torque.

I really like it and without doubt I would buy one again if I had the need. Its a very nicely manufactured product and its a practical solution to a problem we all have. I can't believe there are not more people out there using them.


Cheers,
 

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2 years on mine without any issues. Friend has a pair for about the same time without leaks.
I have a spare O-ring on hand.
 
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We looked at and did a mockup of using the Aerolabs in the wing roots. The issue that we had was the inlet and outlet being pretty elevated from the tank supply. Given the confines of the wing root, that made things somewhat difficult. We did have to use several block style 90*s to make it work.
Also----the unit had to be mounted on a fairly thick doubler, that was mounted to the tank and the fuselage, and just above the root fairing. Worked 'ok' as a mockup, but in reall life we could see some pretty difficult installs, with several colorful metaphors being expressed.

So we took that idea, and the Andair gascolator idea that we did on the RV14 and combined them to do our root filter package. While it may not be as easy to pull the screen as in the Aerolabs unit, generally speaking you are doing the service at conditionals, where the root fairing is off anyway for inspection. So an extra 10 minutes to service the filters while looking at the tank ribs, fittings, etc is maybe not a bad idea. We have actually had a client or 2 that found some leaking tank rivets during the filter servicing process.

Tom
 

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I worked on a 172M that had a slow drip leak from the gascolator. Airplane was left outside for a few weeks before I worked on it, with full tanks. Every bit of gas slowly dripped out of it. My personal preference on RV's is wing root mounted inline filters, something that is very unlikely to leak.
 
The issue that we had was the inlet and outlet being pretty elevated from the tank supply.

Tom[/QUOTE]

Can you say more about this?
 
On my 14 I mounted the Aerolab directly to the lower wing root fairing using a doubler. It turned out great. Flush, looks good, and easy to service. No need for shut off valves in the wing root. I can post pictures of the install if anyone is interested.
 
On my 14 I mounted the Aerolab directly to the lower wing root fairing using a doubler. It turned out great. Flush, looks good, and easy to service. No need for shut off valves in the wing root. I can post pictures of the install if anyone is interested.

Thanks Glenn!
 
On my 14 I mounted the Aerolab directly to the lower wing root fairing using a doubler. It turned out great. Flush, looks good, and easy to service. No need for shut off valves in the wing root. I can post pictures of the install if anyone is interested.

Pictures, please. Thank you.
 
Photos of AeroLab Gascolator

I am building a RANS S-19 Venterra. My build log has some photos of the installation of the Aerolab Gascolator. I have the link to my build log below. If you go to the "Wings" section of the log, there are photos in the entries for the following dates: 1/23/21, 2/22/21, 3/6/21, 3/18/21, 5/14/21, and 6/21/21.

Hope this helps! I will say that the Aerolab Gascolator is a "piece of fine jewelry"!

https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=mwtucker
 
I am building a RANS S-19 Venterra. My build log has some photos of the installation of the Aerolab Gascolator. I have the link to my build log below. If you go to the "Wings" section of the log, there are photos in the entries for the following dates: 1/23/21, 2/22/21, 3/6/21, 3/18/21, 5/14/21, and 6/21/21.

Hope this helps! I will say that the Aerolab Gascolator is a "piece of fine jewelry"!

https://eaabuilderslog.org?s=mwtucker

Thank you for the link.
 
Any concerns regarding the unit coming loose in flight and running out of fuel? Thanks.

Not at all. The cap has a spring-loaded locking device which prevents it from coming undone. You have to push this pin out of the way in order to unscrew the cap. Have a look at the information available online and you'll understand very quickly how it works.
 
Michael----I posted the dimensions in the pic---The installed height to the 90* AN822-6D fitting on the outlet is about 3.0 inches, the inlet is about 2.0. The supply port on most tank ribs is near the bottom, so we have about 1.75 inches to elevate the lines to the gascolator, then the outlet to the fuselage. Normally tight bends because of the root area.

Tom
 
Michael----I posted the dimensions in the pic---The installed height to the 90* AN822-6D fitting on the outlet is about 3.0 inches, the inlet is about 2.0. The supply port on most tank ribs is near the bottom, so we have about 1.75 inches to elevate the lines to the gascolator, then the outlet to the fuselage. Normally tight bends because of the root area.

Tom

Thanks Tom. I was under the impression that the engine and backup fuel pumps could each (operating independently) lift the fuel easily... But when I read your post, it sounded like you were concerned about a few inches of rise?
 
Michael, it wasnt the pump being able to pull the fuel, it was the close quarters plumbing, The unit can be installed in the little area forward of the flight controls, and plumbing made to fit. On our mockup, we dont have the flight controls, so thats the unknown for us.

Tom
 
Michael, it wasnt the pump being able to pull the fuel, it was the close quarters plumbing, The unit can be installed in the little area forward of the flight controls, and plumbing made to fit. On our mockup, we dont have the flight controls, so thats the unknown for us.

Tom

Thanks, Tom for the clarification.
 
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