CANARDAV8R Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 I have a bad neck and it's difficult to turnaround to see the site fuel gauges in the back seat of my Long EZ. Has anyone put electric fuel sending units in the strakes and a fuel gauge on the panel? I just purchased two GM fuel sending units with a float arms to send signals to the RWS monitor on the panel. I plan to put the sending units between the site gauge and rear back seat. Does anyone see an issue with this setup? I'm burning unleaded auto fuel in a 13 B rotary. Any comments? Ed Quote
Marc Zeitlin Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 Has anyone put electric fuel sending units in the strakes and a fuel gauge on the panel?I have electric senders (capacitive) in my COZY. Many folks have something similar. However, if all you want to do is see the fuel level on the gauges in the back, get yourself a small mirror and keep it in the map pocket. You don't have to turn around at all to see the gauges. I have one of those in the plane too. I just purchased two GM fuel sending units with a float arms to send signals to the RWS monitor on the panel. I plan to put the sending units between the site gauge and rear back seat. Does anyone see an issue with this setup?I'd use capacitive senders instead of mechanical ones - less to break and more reliable. I might put the senders on the inside wall of the strake baggage area, but that's 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other. Quote Marc J. Zeitlin Burnside Aerospace marc_zeitlin@alum.mit.edu www.cozybuilders.org copyright © 2024
Waiter Posted January 25, 2007 Posted January 25, 2007 One of the issues I had with sender units is where to mount them. As part of my retrofit, I was going to install capacitive fuel senders and have a display, like your planning. I don't like the idea of putting them in the passenger compartment, as this exposes them to the passenger in an already tight area (this is probably the easiest location to install them, BUT ). My next choice, and this is were I was going to install them, was high on the back bulkhead (not the outboard bulkhead) that separates the fuel tank from the strake baggage area. The capacitive probe would then be oriented so it points toward the back of the plane, and bent down so the tip of the sensor in very close proximity to the fuel screen just above the sump hole. My plan was as follows; 1) Use a 3 inch hole saw (looks like a round saw blade with a drill bit in the middle) Drill through both the outer glass skin, and inner glass skin (into the tank) BUT only saw through the outer glass skin , NOT the glass on the inside of the tank. 2) Clean the foam from this three inch hole. 3) Using a dremel and brush or wheel, carefully sand the inside surface of the inner glass skin for a good glass to glass bond. 4) On the outer skin, Clean the foam from under the outer skin to about a 1/4 depth, This is going to be a FLOX corner, the underside of the outer skin needs to be sanded, or dremeled so as to get a good glass bond. 5) ACS or Wicks sells a bulkhead plate for mounting a fuel sensor. Theirs is made of aluminum. (I used these for my fuel probe installation) If possible, I would make my own and do it out of steel DO NOT THREAD THE HOLES YET, you need a pilot hole only. Scratch the plate on both side so as to get a good epoxy bond. NOTE - the fuel sender hole pattern is NOT symmetrical, I temporally mounted the plate to the probe, then marked the "top" and "Points toward sender" on the plate so I would get it oriented correctly. 6) Test fit the mounting plate inside the 3 inch diameter cavity that you created. The center of the mounting plate should center up wit the drill hole that goes through the inner skin 7) When ready mix up a batch of flox. Flox the entire inside of the 3 inch hole, the exposed glass of the inner skin, the foam side walls of the cavity, and make sure the 1/4 corner for the outer skin is completely full of flox. 8) Coat both side of the mounting plate with flox, then gently press it up against the inner skin. 9) Lay up 4 or 5 layers of BID all the way around the inside of the cavity, covering the plate and up the sides of the foam walls, onto the flox corner of the outer skin. 10) Monitor the layups, when able. knife trim even with the outer skin. 11) Use a vacuum with a small diameter aluminum tube taped to it, bend the tube so you can put the end up near the sensor plate by reaching in through the fuel filler neck. The vacuum will now catch most of the residue from the following steps. 12) Drill the mounting holes up to their proper size and thread them. 13) Drill the center hole up to its proper size. 14) Test fit the sensor in the mounting plate. 15) Wire and test the sensor in a small container of gas, If everything looks good, then put a small amount of "Permatex Right Stuff" on the face of the sensor, and permanently install it in the mount. 16) Fabricate a cover out of 4 or five layer of BID. When cured, use a small dab of "Right Stuff" to glue the cover over the sensor. OK, WITH ALL THAT SAID. I mounted my sensors up inside the wheel wells of my retractable landing gear. I used the exact same procedures as I described above.Look at 13 MARCH in the following link; http://www.iflyez.com/LongEZ_Retrofit_MAR_05.shtml Here are a couple links to look at; http://www.centroidproducts.com/ and http://www.mpsadventurer.com/f-30_fuel.htm If your interested in the CRuz fuel guage, I have a brand new one I bought but won't use. My sensors are going to a Dynon EMS 10 instead. Good Luck Waiter Quote F16 performance on a Piper Cub budget LongEZ, 160hp, MT CS Prop, Downdraft cooling, Full retract visit: www.iflyez.com
CANARDAV8R Posted January 29, 2007 Author Posted January 29, 2007 Marc and Waiter, thank you for your response. I need to remember KISS, like the mirror suggestion and I will definately change the senders to the capacitive type. I'll also follow Waiter's suggestions on the installations. Thanks again...Ed Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.