Andair gascolator safety issue

[Tom Martin]

I have 560 hours on my aircraft and I clean my Andair gascolator every annual. It is always clean and has done a good job in my aircraft; it is the "375" model. This year when I removed the bowl the little filter had come unthreaded and was laying in the bottom of the bowl. Thus for a while I had been flying with no fuel filter. I reassembled the unit but I have no confidence that the filter will not back out again. There is no method of locking the filter in the bowl. It is quite possible that with time the filter threads have perhaps lost a bit of "self locking" ability. Clearly this is a safety issue and I sent a note to Andair, from their website, three days ago, and have not yet received a reply. I will replace the filter, not cheap $54, but the unit no longer gives me a warm fussy feeling.
The blue filter sold by Van's is, in my opinion, a less expensive, better unit.
This is not a , no gascolator discussion, as in Canada it is required. I am disappointed in the lack of response from Andair.

[tim2542]

Andair makes a first rate product and this is not intended to slam them, however in my experience you will have zero luck contacting them by email. Try calling them during business hours in England, if they answer they will take care of you. I believe it is a small shop and they are not really setup to deal with the retail end.
We had a leak problem with their fuel caps, it took something like 3 months before we were able to get all 4 replaced and then we ended up with 2 extra before it was all over.

Good luck
Tim

[Walt]

That's interesting, I would have thought the filter would be captured by the bottom of the bowl and unable to back out all the way. Perhaps they need to make the filter a bit longer (or the bowl a bit shorter) to prevent that from happening.

[F1R]

The space at the bottom is a safe area for water. Keeping the screen above the bottom is a good idea. Some molded stand off fingers on the bottom of the screen would prevent the filter from backing off as described above.

As a small business owner that just had a family funeral I can say that it is challenging to keep all the wheels turning and answer emails in a timely manner. Some of my best customers have been waiting patiently for a couple weeks now.

Great products often evolve from very from small business.

I really like Andair products. I am sure he will look after this for you and others.

PS: The center tunnel in a Rocket is subject to considerable vibration from the exhaust pulse. I have the same gascolator and all was well at last inspection. Between the vibration and difficulty in reaching the location for service it is enough to make me consider other locations for mounting.

[WAM120RV]

Hi

Any thread that is self locking will loose its locking ability with repeated removal and reassembly. That is why in the uk they recommend not using nylocks more than twice. Personally I feel for an additional load when the nylock section starts to engage the thread over that of the bare thread going on.

This is what you should have looked for last time you refitted the filter. If it just span on with little or no resistance it should have been replaced at your last annual.

Having said that Andy is pretty much a one man band and will probably be gearing up for Sun and Fun so you will find him overworked and difficult to contact at this time. But, after you have thought about this you will probably realize this was a maintenance issue rather than product issue.


Btw I have the same bowl on my 9 and a vans on my 4. Both require proper maintenance.

[Tom Martin]

[quote]This is what you should have looked for last time you refitted the filter. If it just span on with little or no resistance it should have been replaced at your last annual.

Having said that Andy is pretty much a one man band and will probably be gearing up for Sun and Fun so you will find him overworked and difficult to contact at this time. But, after you have thought about this you will probably realize this was a maintenance issue rather than product issue.


Btw I have the same bowl on my 9 and a vans on my 4. Both require proper maintenance./QUOTE]

Ok, I have read the literature, checked out the video and the only mention of ever having to replace the filter is if it is damaged. I believe that I have followed proper maintenance and if it was too loose that last time I installed the filter I would not have put it in service. Here is a critical fuel system part that has no means of securing it in place, it has failed in service, and the supplier does not respond in a reasonable amount of time and in your mind this is completely due to poor maintenance on my part. I posted this note so that others could check this unit when they do their maintenance although I am not really sure, based on my experience what they should look for. The unit is put in place with finger pressure only and it still fits snuggly. I am a small business person, I respond to my emails and phone calls. I do not continue to do business with those who do not. This unit is nicely made but it is a premium priced product and it should not be constructed in such a way that the filter can simply fall out of place. Another poster suggested some stand off in the bottom of the bowl and I would suggest that that is an excellent and positive contribution to the discussion.

[WAM120RV]

Tom, you seem to have taken this as an attack on you where none was I tented only helpful advice and and a different view on the matter. The screen is secured as you say by finger pressure but acts in the same way as a nylock does,you cannot repeatedly use a nylock and expect to hold in place.

I wonder where you bought the unit was it directly from Andy or a supplier? The reason I ask is because normally I would go back to the supplier with a problem ?

Anyway to help you I will contact Andy when I return to the uk from California it may take me some time as well because as i say he could well be traveling to and from Sun and Fun. In fact I should be meeting a friend Whois going there tomorrow so will ask him to give him the heads up

[GusRV8]

In this day and age, and evidenced by you not finding anything in yours, what are the thoughts that the gascolator has gone the way of the dinosaur in today's applications? Am nowhere near installing the fuel system so this is one of the decisions yet to be made for my RV-8 but leaning toward no gascolator. Thx. Gus

[gasman]

Originally Posted by GusRV8

In this day and age, and evidenced by you not finding anything in yours, what are the thoughts that the gascolator has gone the way of the dinosaur in today's applications? Am nowhere near installing the fuel system so this is one of the decisions yet to be made for my RV-8 but leaning toward no gascolator. Thx. Gus

If you sump your tanks, that's where you will find water if there is any. I purchased my first airplane in 1979, and to date, I have never found any water in the wings or the gascolator.

A gasoclator is a heat sink and not even a good filter. A good in line stainless filter of about 100 micron that you can easily inspect would serve you well.

Filter example........ http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AEI-12316/

[Bevan]

Gascolators are required for Canadian built aircraft. To get around them being a heat sink, I put an Andair 375's between the fuse and wing under the gap fairing (RV7A). Not sure if it would fit here for other models. No engine heat here and lots of cooling air.

I put one in each wing root, thus eliminating the now redundant AFP pre-filter which is much harder to get at and messy for inspection/cleaning.

This way each tank has it's own Gascolator which is really just serving as an easily inspectable filter, located right next to the fuel tank. Total weight is about the same as one gascolator and the AFP filter.

Just another way. Not flying yet though.

Bevan