In Line Facet Fuel Pumps.

[Geico266]

I ran into a guy that questioned my fuel delivery set up on my -3 and I thought I would throw it out to the VAF crew for comments / suggestions.

I bought my flying Gene Nelson RV-3 with an 0-235. The accessory case has no place to install a mechanical fuel pump. It came off of a high wing / gravity feed Colt or something. Any-who, it has dual Facet electric pumps (dual / seperatable batteries) that are pumbed in parallel (connected in line, using the same line), . The guy says this is bad because if the 1st pump fails it could take out the second pump. No pump, no big fan turning.

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/facetpumps.php

Looking at the Facet web site it seems this is a customary way to plumb the pumps. the plane has 500+ hours on it. Might be a good idea to replace the pumps due to age and hours, they are cheap enough. I am comfortable with the electrical system having dual batteries so that is not a major issue.

I normally run the pump closest to the carb as the primary pump anyway, I guess I just don't see a problem, but I'm open for suggestions.

What do you guys think?

 

[breister]

Those are the same type pumps used to transfer fuel from the wings to the header tank in Lancairs.

They have a built-in check valve, so losing one will not affect the other in any way.

It's also easy to tell if they are both working on the ground before starting the engine - they are moderately noisy.

 

[n5lp]

...it has dual Facet electric pumps (dual / seperatable batteries) that are pumbed in parallel (connected in line, using the same line)...

If plumbing is anything like electricity, the term for this would be plumbed in series.