TimC

I was helping a friend with a new plane he had built. It passed all the usual checks and I was about to take off when it stopped responding to signal input. I pulled the fuel line to kill the engine and we pulled the wing to check things over. The fuel tank had developed a leak so bad the bottom of the servo bay was awash in glow fuel. He had positioned the battery connection lying flat on the bottom of the bay. The fuel had entered the connection and opened the circuit. If this had happened a few minutes later, it would have been one of those crashes that you're not sure what happened. It would have been impossible to determine if the leak had occurred before or as a result of the crash. I'm going to check all my planes to make sure there are no connections located on the bottom of the bays. You never know when a tank might split.

Flyboy Dave

My Feedback: (21)

Tim....good tip. [sm=thumbup.gif]

I drill and install a couple of these grommets in the bottom of the fuse, towards
the back of the fuel tank compartment. If I get a fuel leak, I can see it dripping
out right away.

I had a bad tank leak, and pumped almost a gallon of fuel into a Kadet one time.

FBD.

Edwin

My Feedback: (2)

Yeah! Same as flyboy dave. You only gotta do that once before you figure out this trick. Better to let it out and notice it.
Edwin

TimC

Thanks for that tip Dave. I can see I have some drilling and grommeting to do. Watch me drill through a fuel tank and blame you.

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

One of the advatages of a hand crank fuel pump is that you tend to notice how much fuel is going into the tank. I've seen guys with electric pumps drain a whole gallon into the grass thru the muffler.

CafeenMan

Flyboy - Thanks for that tip. It never occured to me to put a drain in the tank compartment. I think that will become SOP for my future builds. Thanks again!

- Paul

the-plumber

With no models under 96", my tanks tend to be a bit on the large side, so I use an electric pump.

I use two DuBro fueling valves. One valve is installed normally in the line from the tank to the engine, for fuelling and defuelling. The second valve is installed in the tank vent line, and routes the vent line back to the jug when fuelling or defuelling.

I don't much care for throwing perfectly good fuel on the ground . . . asphalt and grass don't much care for it, either.

Runway

One of the best tips I've seen in a long time. Thank you!