Fuel Tank Vent Redundancy?

[dlomheim]

I am about to remount my 22 gal. fuel tank, and I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on the pro's or con's of Teeing the single vent line and running it to two bulkhead fittings. It would seem to me that having dual input sites would provide some degree of redundancy incase a large bug smacked into it, and plugged it up...

Have any of you out there gone this route already?

Thanks for your replies...

Doug Lomheim
RV-3 restoration

 

[java]

My first thought is that you already have redundancy in terms of having two fuel tanks, each with independent venting. Of course, if you had one empty tank and caught the bug on the vent of the remaining tank, you'd have a problem, but that is an unlikely scenario.

If you had only one tank (i.e. header) it might make more sense.

I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[Bevan]

+1

I once considered tee-ing the two vents together (RV7A with two tanks/vents) so that each may be a backup to the other. I didn't do it. A single tank/vent may have me thinking again.

I wonder how likely a single vent is to getting plugged after it's airborne in a VFR environment. Probably not much.

Bevan

 

[dlomheim]

Vent Redundancy

JAVA wrote: My first thought is that you already have redundancy in terms of having two fuel tanks, each with independent venting.

Nope...I have an early original RV-3 with a single 22 gallon fuselage tank behind the instrument panel; and that is why I started down this line of questioning in the first place. If I had a second tank to switch to (as in the 9A I've been building over the past 12+ yrs); it would never have crossed my mind...

Thanks.

Doug

 

[Flying again!]

Another approach

Tim was concerned with ice blocking the vent and implemented this solution.

http://www.myrv10.com/N104CD/upgrades/20090525/index.html

 

[rleffler]

Another potential solution from JD Air Parts. http://www.jdair.com There are two vents in each unit.

 

[RV3bpilot]

Fuel vent saftey

I gave it a lot of thought and made a safety tank for my fuel vent. If a bug hits my only vent tube the air can then be drawn through my one way check valve into the little tank. Also if the fuel expands so much after fueling the fuel will go into the small tank and not out on to the ground. The fuel in the little tank will all evaporate as outside air is drawn through to vent the wing tanks.

 

[fly.more.work.less]

On my -3, there's an alternative fuel vent internal to the cockpit, opened on demand only (i.e. if the sound up front goes away). It's located just forward of the throttle. The previous owner installed it after the main vent became blocked on his first flight.

 

[riobison]

Vented fuel cap?

These are all good questions and I have thought the same myself. How about a fuel cap that is vented? One way of course.