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At 10:46 AM 9/5/02 -0700, Hartmut wrote: >If you manage to have water freezing inside your gascolator, that will >end your flight no matter if that gascolator is made from glass, metal >or plastic. No, not necessarily. As you have pointed out yourself, the water collects on the bottom while the fuel moves across the top of the gascolator. Of course if it's FULL of ice, that's a different story. >Your preflight should discover that. It is, on occasion, somewhat cooler at altitude than on the ground. (By the way, I've seen a glass gascolator cracked by ice that came down from the header tank in an Ercoupe.) >But now someone tell me how I detect frozen water in a metal gascolator ?? When you open the drain to drain it, nothing comes out. When that happens, you investigate by removing the bowl. The ice is in the bottom. >I think, being able to see >the quality of the gasoline is adding a safety value to my preflight >inspection, which I won't want to miss. I do find my fuel tester to be quite handy for that purpose, indeed. >To say it again. The gascolator is not necessary a fuel filter, it is >the lowest point of all your fuel lines. Correction: it is a device which, by its nature, creates a low point. It is a sump. Since fuel comes in the top and goes out the top, anything heavier than fuel doesn't make it out so readily. > It is designed to collect any >water from your fuel system. And this especially when all the fuel comes >to rest and your plane stands still for a week or two . Without the >gascolator, this water would collect in your Carburetor. Regardless of whether the gascolator is above or below the carburetor, water will reach the carb if (and only if, in theory) there is more water in the gas than the gascolator has capacity to 'collate' it. >One more thing. I love my Coupe, because several things on it are >special , different than other planes. If someone has the desire to have >everything like the other planes then he/she should go and buy a Cessna. You should understand that there are design factors in the Coupe which weren't so hot, just like in the J3 and the early 150. It doesn't mean you throw out the whole plane, but perhaps they are worth fixing, hmmm? Greg ================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE go to: http://ercoupers.com/lists.htm
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