Gascolator revisited

[Rich]

Good afternoon,

 

Here are a few pix's of my gascolator after approx. 12 hours since my last post of (resin nodules in gascolator.)

 

I'm still getting the resin like nodules along with some other debris caught in the gascolator.

 

Two Questions:

 

1) Could this be the resin coating from the fuel tanks breaking loose due to the 10% Ethanol mix?

 

2) Does this debris stay at the bottom of the gascolator during flight or is it sucked up against the filtering screen?

 

Rich

[Roger Lee]

Hi Rich,

 

I have found this type of resin or silicone in the wings of the CT. Just looking you won't see it. Pull the fuel bulkhead off and put your fingers back by the filter in a low crevisis there and you get it on your fingers. It is soft and gooey. What it is I don't know. It isn't the fuel tank because of the Kreme Wiess coating. It's almost like someone used too much of our Hylomar and it squished out from the gasket and fittings and sank in the low spot. The Hylomar stays soft like silicone would.

What this stuff really is?

[Rich]

Thanks Roger. Does it stay at the bottom of the gascolator or get sucked up into the filter screen during flight?

[Roger Lee]

On the ones I have seen it seems to stay put in the gascolator. It seems heavier than fuel and sinks.

[Rich]

Thanks again----R

[Dan Kent]

Hey Rich,

Of the half dozen times I've had my gasculator cleaned the mechanic (Mark at Sportair) has never seen this.

 

Also, when Jabiru put out their bulletin concerning ethanol (Feb 2011, banning any ethanol containing fuel), I sent this to Bill at Sportair to get his opinion. He said that he has not heard of one issue with any of TL aircraft (or any he sells) of which there are several hundred flying around the world and nearly 100 here in the US.

 

Just a couple more data points for your consideration.

[sandpiper]

Mine has always been clean. Lucky, I guess.

[Jim Meade]

Here is the Jabiru bulletin. It is worth reading carefully.

I visited the Jabiru plan in Tennessee when I was researching LSA. I talked with a mechanic who was discussing this issue. It seemed to particularly manifest itself in the header tank, where there was concern that higher concentrations of ethanol might occur for various reasons. Given that, one might think the CTSLi with it's header tank might be a candidate for close watching, although from what I observe (not based on my own knowledge) the header tank in the CTSLi doesn't give the appearance of being subject to damage by even high concentrations of ethanol.

Back in a much earlier life, I was a semi gas tank driver. It is true that although we try to drain the tank for each load it is possible some small amount of a different product might be in any given tank. The trucks typically have several tanks of various sizes. You might deliver 3,000 gallons of 91 octane and 5,500 gallons of 87 octane (has ethanol) to one service station and 5,500 gallons of 91 octane and 3,000 gallons of 87 to the next. Obviously the product goes in a different tank in the trailer so there could be a few gallons admixed, but I've never thought it was much. In any event, pulling from a station that pumps a lot of gas seems like a good idea. Maybe they will take a tanker of one product.

http://www.usjabiru.com/uploads/JSA-006_Auto_Fuel_Bulletin.pdf

[Roger Lee]

Unfortunately not all poly plastics are compatible with fuels and then add a little solvent and it gets worse. Fiberglass is definitely a bad choice. I never really understood why an MFG wouldn't coat a fiberglass tank with something that could with stand any fuel that may be used in their plane. What FD has done right is coated all our tanks with Kreme Wiess (or equivalent) . It is impervious to what we will see in a fuel we may put in our tanks. If other aircraft companies used a product like this they wouldn't have an issue. Kreme Wiess (or equivalent) would be a bad choice for tanks that can flex like a poly tank as it may cause cracking in the protection and I'm sure some surfaces don't adhere as well. Alcohol and other fuel additives are so wide spread now days and on the increase that you would think some of these companies would have been and should be more pro-active since their aircraft go world wide with different fuels.

[Rich]

Dan,

 

Thanks for your input and the input of others on the Forum.

 

I will forward the pictures to Mark and Bill for their opinion.

 

Rich