Richard.
I can understand your concern.
Maybe it is good to know that I also have the bobber go only half
way up the glass tube. It depends all on age and deterioration of
the cork.
To check how much fuel you really got when indicating "full" or
half full in your eyes, just - on the ground- disconnect the hose
to the gascolator and redirect into a 5 Gallon can.
Then open the header tank fuel valve.
You should at least be able to fill that canister. It is also a
good way to measure and memorize the way the bobber looks when the
gas tank is half full and empty.
Hartmut
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2008 07:41:05 -0500
Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] Electric Fuel Pump
Rich responded directly to me and added information about his
problem:
> My real concern is whether my center tank is actually getting
> enough fuel. I wouldn't worry if I knew it was filling properly.
> I bought a new glass sight gauge for the center tank from
> Skyport and an only registers 1/2 way up the sight glass.
> Saw a UTube video and that Coupe had the same gauge
> and it was all the way to the top. I might be missing something
> of course, but that's my little fuel problem or gauge problem
> at the moment.
Rich,
That could be a variation of the gauge, fuel pump problems, fuel flow
limiter mis-sizing or a fault with the overflow return system.
Let's check.
It is important for the experts to know what is your plane's
original model
and serial number. This tells a lot about the original fuel system
configuration to the experts. There have been some differences how
the fuel
return was configured. Please include that in your next post to
the forum.
Checking the overflow return system:
Over-fill the nose tank up to the top then set the plane on level
ground and
wait five minutes for the extra to drain out. (You don't want the
wing
tanks to be too full when you do this.)
Then, use a dip stick and measure the EXACT distance from the top
of the
filler ring to the fuel and let us know. Also, measure how high
the top of
the sight gauge is from the bottom of its travel and report that
to the
forum as well. Mark that sight gauge spot for later comparison
when you are
up flying – it often stays higher than that when you are flying.
We've got a bunch of people who can tell if your fuel level is low.
Fuel pump:
It may be that your current engine-driven fuel pump is not pumping
well and
is about to fail. Was the disassembly and inspection really done
at the
last annual inspection? If it wasn't done, maybe it should be done.
Fuel flow restrictor:
I can't, off the top of my head, remember the orifice size of the
fuel flow
restrictor that should be in the output of the fuel pump. There's a
specific size that limits the fuel flow to what can be handled by the
overflow return system yet still deliver way more than the engine
can use at
full power. Sometime today an expert will post a message with that
orifice
size.
Main tank clogging:
Have you checked inside the main fuel tanks for gunk around the
outflow
fittings? (This ought to also show when you drain fuel during
preflight.)
It's good to "vacuum" out the tanks with a pipe and hose - start a
siphon
going and use the pipe/hose to vacuum up gunk from the bottom of
the tanks.
Fuel line clogged:
I don't know how to best check this possibility. Watch for
suggestions if
the easier stuff above doesn't solve the problem.
Ed
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