lcfitt(at)sbcglobal.net
Guest
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 Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: tanks and alcohol fuels |
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This is an interesting discussion and without a doubt something will come of
it I am sure. With the experience I have had personally and vicariously
throught the members of the list, it seems there are trade offs with any
tank. Aluminum will work under the movement of the wings and seams tend to
open up. The fiberglass tanks have the mentioned weaknesses and there have
been long discussions in the past on how to make the poly header tanks stop
weeping at the boss AN fitting.
Having had seeping tanks and resloshing after 500 hours of flight, I
personally will just go with the flow and if need be, reslosh the tanks
again. It is not fun, but certainly doable without damage to fabric or
glass and I did it solo.
My guess is that people with brains and bucks are looking at the potential
market for alcohol resistant everything and the solution will be forthcoming
as we need it. Thanks to Tim Vader for the tip on the alcohol resistant
epoxy slosh. I 'm sure with most of the kitfox fleet out there flying,
replacing the tanks is not a ready and attractive option. I just can't
imagine having my airplane out of service for the time it would take to
replace the tanks - new tanks, fabric and paint - not an option unless it
becomes the only opttion.
For what it's worth, I have been working on a simple effective low fuel
indicator for the header tank that uses a magnetic float that trips a dry
reed switch. I get to see the float from time to time and can readily
evaluate the effectiveness of resins, coatings etc. And if you think about
it, the float is in a much harsher invironment than the tank, because when
the float is at altitude if there is any breach in the coating, it will
de-gas and then once back down it will suck gas into the vacuum created -
wet floats don't float very well. In the early stages I would soak the
float several weeks in gas and then take it up to 15,000 ft in a bell jar
and look for bubbles. I threw out lots of floats. I've had one of the
units on my airplane now for about three or four years and I think the last
floats are pretty close to what I want. I definitely intend to try Tim's
recommended resin though.
Lowell
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