M

Mike Ice

Well Known Member
fuel pump, boost and primer sticking???

It has been 5 months since I have had the 9 out of the hangar, winter in Alaska:(, but today I finally pushed it out to go flying and the primer pump would not work.

I checked the fuse and it was blown, I replaced it and it blew again.

I have the standard Van's primer pump, I think it is a Parker unit.

I am thinking that the pump has become stuck from inactivity. Is this likely? Has anyone had experience with this before?

Thanks in advance.

Mike Ice
 
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After flying my RV for about 100 hrs, I had a few weeks of no flying and when I started it up, the fuse for my boost pump blew. I replaced the fuse and it blew again.

Back when I originally built the plane I picked a fuse amperage small enough to protect the wire and large enough to let the pump run (from memory - 3 amp).

I increased the fuse amperage to 5 amps (still well under the value needed to protect the 20 awg wire). All is well now 150 hrs later.

I think the inrush current can be high when the motor's grease has firmed up a little.
 
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Fuel primer, primer

Kevin,

Thanks for the reply. I will give that a try before yanking it out and instally a new one.

Mike Ice
 
Mixing Up?

Mike and Kevin, are you mixing components?

Mike is talking about the Parker primer solenoid, which is not really a pump, just a valve that opens and closes. Kevin, I believe, is actually talking about the boost pump??

Maybe I'm wrong...
 
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mixing primer and fuel pump

Don,

No, you were/are right, Kevin and I were/are talking about different pumps. I was speaking of the primer pump and he the boost pump.

But when he mentioned it I realized that the boost pump wasn't working either and hopefully his idea is the problem and it will fix both of them.

My other problem is the airplane is in the hangar which is 56 miles from here and I don't want to bring it to town just yet (well can't right now because of no fuel pumps) because of the darned volcano,
http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Redoubt.php
nearby that continues to clear it's throat and spew ash which has fallen on the city (Anchorage)a few times already. I don't want any ash on my 9 so the airplane sits in the hangar until better days.

Someday this week after work I will drive out to Wolf lake Airpark and see if Kevin's idea works. Has anyone else had any experience with the fuel (boost or other) pump sticking after a long idle period???

Mike Ice
 
Had a boost pump stick, however it wasn't after inactivity, it was 10 minutes into its life doing taxi tests. Thank god it happened before flight.

The fix was realatively easy once I got it out. Unthread the large nut where the fitting is, and the hole piston and chamber will come out. The problem was that the bottom of the cylinder where the piston bottoms out did not have a sharp enough of a lip and the piston was wedgeing in there and sticking. After a little finess on the cylinder lip I could tell pushing the piston in there that it was no longer going to stick. I put it back together and it has worked perfectly since. I think that when there is no fuel or pressure in the line the piston hits that little lip very hard until fuel is in the pump and pressure is built up.
 
Prior to first engine start...

My boost pump blew fuse after fuse when i was testing. After checking to make sure I had current input to the pump, I removed the pump, bench wired it to a battery and nothing at all happened. I returned it to Van's for another...installed it and have been flying since. In this instance though, when you have 100 hrs of time on the plane (I assume you turn the pump on for every takeoff and landing) it seems a little odd that it won't run. I'd also consider water in the system somewhere as a possibility...in the winter, in alaska...but you probably already ruled that one out.
 
boost pump blows fuses

Hmm!

Bob, good post. I initially had problems with this boost pump right from the beginning. It kept blowing a 3 amp fuse which I believe is the recommended size, I fixed that by installing a 5 amp fuse and that semed to take care of the problem for the 42 hours I have on the plane.

Since September the airplane has just sat in a heated hangar and it doesn't appear there is any water in the fuel. I really try to turn on the boost pump for every take off and landing but after too many years in high wing airplanes I am afraid I do forget:eek:.

I sent an email to Facet today and asked them if they have had any trouble with the pumps sticking, no answer yet.

I also talked with Ken at Van's and he said he had never heard of a pump sticking but he did not rule it out either.

jrvssgl, I have a new pump on order and I will take out this one this weekend and bench test it. If it doesn't work I will do as you suggest and take it apart to see what is wrong. Thanks for the idea. I am glad to hear your pump is still working just fine.

Thanks for the responses,

Mike Ice
 
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