[Paul Eastham]

I was all set to start up my RV-9A for the first time today, but I didn't get very far...no fuel! I put 3 gallons in one tank and disconnected the line at the carb to flush the tank. Electric pump on, lots of noise, but no fuel flow. Can that facet pump prime itself? Especially on a mostly-empty tank? One would hope it could...

I have checked:
- vents open
- pump facing the right way and correct polarity
- fuel is visible in the tank's line at the selector, and can be drawn out easily
- selector is opened to the proper tank

But:
- Can only blow a little air through the line from the selector to the pump, with gascolator open (pump off)
- No suction felt at the selector-pump line (pump on)
- No outgoing air pressure felt at the gascolator or carb line (pump on)

Based on the above I'm a little worried about this design, even if the pump is not broken. If I can't blow through the pump, and it can't self-prime, that suggests to me that it doesn't have a bypass (dangerous if it's motor fails), and that you might have a hard time recovering if you run a tank dry.

 

[Yukon]

Whe I ran mine 2 weeks ago, I couldn't get my Facet to draw fuel from my 5 gallon can, so I put a few pounds of air on the vent of the can and it started to work immediately. I'd be real careful not to put more than a couple of PSI on the tanks though!!!!

Are all the nuts tight?

 

[dwilson]

I had the same problem

Me too! Same problem. Until i wised up and realized that the standard vans fuel selector handle is backwards from what I thought it should be.

The long end of the handle is really the thing that points to the fuel tank selection and the little bitty "pointer" end points away from the tank select.

I bought the fancy red version that vans sells after that problem was solved. Now there will be no question in anyones mind as to which tank the selector is pointing to!

After I got the selector pointed right the fuel pump primed its self just fine.

Good luck. The thrill of hearing that engine come to life will get you going again!!!!

Duane

 

[cytoxin]

got that right

Whe I ran mine 2 weeks ago, I couldn't get my Facet to draw fuel from my 5 gallon can, so I put a few pounds of air on the vent of the can and it started to work immediately. I'd be real careful not to put more than a couple of PSI on the tanks though!!!!

Are all the nuts tight?

2.4 psi at max. maybe a loud mouth neigbor could help with that.

 

[Paul Eastham]

Nuts are tight, fuel selector is opened to the proper tank (I have verified this several ways including by blowing air through the selector after uninstalling it). I am a little reluctant to put the tank under pressure...maybe I'll just dump some more fuel in and see if that helps.

With tires inflated to the proper pressure, I guess the airplane is in a slight climb attitude, so I might try leveling it a bit as well.

 

[Paul Eastham]

Followup: I added another 5 gallons to the tank for a total of 8 in the tank, and the pump sucked it right up. You can bet I'll be testing the pump's dry-priming abilities carefully in the days to come...