Fuel Drip Containment

"David Lesher" wrote in message
...
It might be interesting to take a container with some small quantity
of gas-damp kitty litter and ignite it safely -- ie well clear of
any burnable stuph and with a 6' pole to set it off.

The kitty litter won't burn. The gas fumes will, and I'd assume will
the heat will evaporate 'trapped' gas....but slowly.

Just use the fuel soaked kitty litter in the litter box. It will keep your
cat from smoking! ;-)

Avgas or auto fuel will smell better than the used litter box.

("David Lesher" wrote)
It might be interesting to take a container with some small quantity
of gas-damp kitty litter and ignite it safely -- ie well clear of
any burnable stuph and with a 6' pole to set it off.

Jim is "out there" in California.

He might want to hold off on the kitty litter fire, until the other fires
are put out.

--
Montblack

Jim Weir wrote:

Another thought is to put some sort of oven pan with a mat of some sort that
would let the gasoline evaporate slowly from under the mat. The problem is
finding a nonflammable mat that gasoline will not attack chemically.

My suggestion is to use one of the hot water heater overflow pans from Home
Depot (or the like) and fill it with a clay-based cat litter.

George Patterson
You can dress a hog in a tuxedo, but he still wants to roll in the mud.

Don't fill your plane before putting it away?

We turn the fuel valve off or turn it to left or right tank -- this seems to
mitigate the problem considerably, though I am not sure why it does this.

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
Don't fill your plane before putting it away?

We turn the fuel valve off or turn it to left or right tank -- this seems
to
mitigate the problem considerably, though I am not sure why it does this.

Because in any position besides the BOTH setting, it prevents fuel from
flowing between the tanks... or more precisely, from the (slightly) upper
tank to the lower tank and out the lower tank's fuel vent.

Eric

"Eric Miller" wrote in message
...
| "C J Campbell" wrote in message
| ...
| Don't fill your plane before putting it away?
|
| We turn the fuel valve off or turn it to left or right tank -- this
seems
| to
| mitigate the problem considerably, though I am not sure why it does
this.
|
| Because in any position besides the BOTH setting, it prevents fuel from
| flowing between the tanks... or more precisely, from the (slightly) upper
| tank to the lower tank and out the lower tank's fuel vent.
|

Okay, that much I knew, but why doesn't the lower tank just empty itself?
Does it need the pressure from the higher tank in order to start siphoning
out the fuel vent?

"C J Campbell" wrote
Okay, that much I knew, but why doesn't the lower tank just empty itself?
Does it need the pressure from the higher tank in order to start siphoning
out the fuel vent?

I think the lower tank does empty itself... but just until it gets to the
level of the fuel vent.
In the BOTH setting, they'll both empty to the level of their respective
vents.
Keep in mind that the right tank is vented to the left tank, and the left
tank is vented overboard, so if possible, it might help to make the right
tank the lower one.

Eric

Eric Miller wrote:


I think the lower tank does empty itself... but just until it gets to the
level of the fuel vent.
In the BOTH setting, they'll both empty to the level of their respective
vents.

There is only one vent, under the left wing. If fuel expands it runs in
a line between the left and right tanks. This line is above the tanks.
Fuel will also go thru this line if the selector is on both, the tanks
are full or near full and the plane is not level. Move the selector to
either right or left and this won't happen. If left on both the tanks
will level themselves thru the selector.

Hm. I guess I could rotate the whole airport so that my hangar faces lefthand
UPHILL instead of downhill, but it is going to take a moby-large bulldozer to do
it.

Jim



-Keep in mind that the right tank is vented to the left tank, and the left
-tank is vented overboard, so if possible, it might help to make the right
-tank the lower one.
-
-Eric
-
-

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

C J Campbell wrote:

Okay, that much I knew, but why doesn't the lower tank just empty itself?
Does it need the pressure from the higher tank in order to start siphoning
out the fuel vent?

It doesn't siphon, it flows. Without the fuel from the other tank it
can't flow.