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which fuel sending unit?

J

Joe Casey

Member
I am a newbie, and am wondering which fuel sending unit (capacitive or float type) is a better choice? Vans offers both, and the price is comparable.. any thoughts from experienced builders?
 
floats or capacitance

I chose the floats. Why? Well, I can't really answer that question. The floats have been working in airplanes for years and years. The capacitance type have been used without problem as far as I know. It is a matter of choice. The biggest argument FOR capacitance is the "no moving parts" issue. The floaters can go bad as some time. I know a fella that has a C-150 with floats. Been flying for more than 30 years with no problems. If the floater goes bad, I remove the mounting plate from the inspection plate and replace it.

Once again, its a choice. Sorry I'm not any more help than this but I don't think that either is a bad choice. The QB wings ONLY come with floats.
 
Sending unit info

Thanks for the quick response....I am just starting this RV journey, and this was my first attempt at getting info from the forum. It sure is reassuring to find out there are other builders willing to share their experience.
Joe Casey
 
The capacitance senders are calibrated by the electrical characteristics of the fuel that you're going to use. If you have any intent of using mogas in addition to 100LL, go with floats. The capacitance senders will read differently if you mix.
 
Cap vs Floats

One thing that I didn't realise is that you may need converters for the Cap sensors to interface with your Engine Monitor, add another $200!

A friend has floats & a fuel flow meter, as his fuel counts down to zero, 30 secs later the engine coughs & he switches tanks. Good enough for me.
 
N57 OZ said:
One thing that I didn't realise is that you may need converters for the Cap sensors to interface with your Engine Monitor, add another $200!
Click to expand...
Not any longer. Dynon has capacitance converters[/url] for $50 each.

Click on picture for details.

BTW, these work great. I have a pair of their beta units and have had no problems of any kind with them.
 
Last edited:
Brad,

Contact Dynon. They are very responsive. Also check there support forum. The answer might already be on there.

Please let us know what you find out.
 
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