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New member of the 'Sinker Club' (carb floats)

MS80-430 FLOAT KIT

It's time for the CI on one of my Rotax 912s. I have read every post in this thread and I want to thank everyone for their fantastic contributions. It appears that MS did what Jim (Piper J-3) suggested --- removed material from the top of the float to reduce the weight. I sincerely hope this long sad saga is over! I ordered two pair of MS80-430's today :)

I have two Rotax 912 ELSA powered airplanes. One with 277 hrs (2006) and one with 102 hrs (2005). Both were run exclusively on 91 Non-Oxygenated Mogas in Minnesota. The floats still meet specs, BUT as pointed out in this forum, one month after weighing them, they may sink.

As of October 2019, I have switched to 94UL Avgas (Swift Fuel) which is identical to 100LL without the lead. Unfortunately this fuel is not widely available, but hopefully that will change.

Thanks again.
Rob

BTW Jim, I learned to fly in a 1946 J3 C65 - N6848H. Your J-3 (N6841H) and mine must have been on the mfg floor at the same time in 1946 :)
 
As I continue my work on getting my new to me plane up to date, I ran across the 14-10-14 REVISION 1 Service Bulletin that hasn't been addressed.

According to my logbooks, looks like the prior owner installed floats three different times. The last floats were 861-182 floats in mid-2015.. Guess I'll soon be weighing the floats to see if I can join the Sinker Club too... Based on everyone else, I guess I can probably expect to be replacing floats.

Has anyone ever had a Rotax 861189 float go bad yet? I saw the one person mention it, but never reported back with further information, so I'm not sure.. Anyone else?

How about the Marvel-Schebler/McFarlane floats? Any of those gone bad or started getting heavier yet?
 
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I’m getting ready to install the latest version Marvel Schebler floats. I don’t need a show of hands to say they are good – I want to know if anyone has a concern about this newest version.

I have to assume this is the total fix Bing float problem…
 
Update: Marvel Schebler Floats 1 year later

As promised. One year later on the Marvel Schebler floats. Still within spec. I was a bit impatient and really only let them dry out a minute or two. Right side came in at 5.91, Left side at 5.77. Both under 7g combined.

Anyway, here's the 1 year weigh in: https://1drv.ms/v/s!Atwwakv8E39y1JhTE6exInAJ1cp5zA?e=BxCfov

Below is the original weigh in. Viton gaskets from Real Gaskets still going strong too with zero leaks.

Flew about 70 hours on them so far.

https://1drv.ms/v/s!Atwwakv8E39y1I4FXdwfiOSVU96LtQ?e=JTd2Eb

Did the carb float replacement today. Weighed both the Marvel Schebler and he new Rotax floats before installing the Marvel Schebler carbs with gaskets from Real Gasket. Video shows the weighing.

Marvel Schebler came in at about 2.83 ish grams for 3 of them. The fourth was about 2.9 ish. The new Rotax/Bing ones were all about 3.15g.

Anyway, airplane ran great after replacement. Flew for about 15-20 min. No leaks and smooth. Next steps are to check carb sync then prop balance.
 
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