Draining fuel for weight & balance?

[ArtVandelay]

I try to baby the Duke pump, but I’ve forgotten it till cruise, supposedly Aeromotors overhaul makes it continuous duty capable, I’m testing that theory.

[N201MKTurbo]

3 hours ago, jetdriven said:

I think they are ticking time bomb right out of the overhaul shop.When we first bought our plane I was overseas but the other two owners had to get some landings before they could fly solo.  POH does say fuel pump on for take off and landings and they’re doing taxi back landing so they pretty much left it on the whole time for an hour.  Sometime during that hour of the bearings seized up and the pump stopped working. Motor had amp draw, the motor windings had continuity, and the circuit breaker switch would not trip but the pump was not running. Sometime during that hour of the bearings either seized up or the nylon vanes inside   Disintegrated, but either way like fresh 900$ Dukes factory overhaul pump was toast after one flight.  After a few weeks of this thing being gone and still not returned to us and  ended up calling the Dukes factory out in California and spent a whole day messing around with this.i learned they were considering not warranting the pump because of abuse. I asked what kind of abuse is leaving a pump on for an hour with the engine running and they said it’s not made for that. I think its a garbage design personally. 

I have a Weldon pump.

In the 80s and 90s the Dukes pumps seemed to last forever, then they got way more expensive and less reliable. I don’t know what they did, product improvement I guess.

[MARZ]

My normal is wait until I'm about 20 gallons left - fill to 50, wash rinse repeat - typically just me and 1 passenger

If I'm going a distance check W&B load and fill the most - up to 64 gallons, the difference between 20 or 30 up to 64 gives a lot of flexibility for missions. 

[jaylw314]

14 hours ago, jetdriven said:

Same here. I’ve left it half full, full, and nearly empty and water has never came from the fuel drains in 8 years. And it sometimes rains in the hangar in Houston from the humidity and the plane is wet every morning from condensation. 

You win.  Houston is a sauna compared to here

[jaylw314]

13 hours ago, xcrmckenna said:

I use a 1/2 hose that’s about six feet long. I manually siphon the fuel out. As long as I don’t drink any it’s a non event.

Yes, drinking Jack Daniels while siphoning fuel is probably hazardous.  Oh, wait, your talking about the fuel.  That too

[SantosDumont]

I used this Flow n Go siphon pump to transfer fuel to 5 GAL cans. Takes forever though. Haven’t done it in a long time though, mostly now just to put gas in the tug from the wing. 

I usually keep my inner tanks full since my mission is 90% flying myself. I only fill the outer tanks full if I’m going on a long flight. 

[Bob - S50]

I just used two screw drivers.  Put one through the hoop on the gascolator pull pin and used the other to prop the handle up to keep it pulled.  Caught the fuel in plastic containers.  Took a long time to drain 35 gallons, but it was free and I didn't have to disconnect anything.

[kortopates]

I bring along this this shaker siphon tool when traveling in Mexico where fuel can sometimes be problematic. It doesn't weigh anyway and requires no sucking - just shaking the end to bring the fuel up and then gravity takes over. Clever and easy and best of all no fuel fumes in the mouth.

Shaker Siphon Hose

[N201MKTurbo]

1 hour ago, kortopates said:

I bring along this this shaker siphon tool when traveling in Mexico where fuel can sometimes be problematic. It doesn't weigh anyway and requires no sucking - just shaking the end to bring the fuel up and then gravity takes over. Clever and easy and best of all no fuel fumes in the mouth.

Shaker Siphon Hose

$8.50! you think we are made out of money?

[kortopates]

2 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

$8.50! you think we are made out of money?

Hah, hah! Now I feel embarrassed because I bought my original one from Bajabush for double the Amazon price, but over a dozen years ago so no telling what I paid then except he's getting $17 now. its been real handy on occasion. 

[xcrmckenna]

$8.50! you think we are made out of money?

No kidding, my hose was only $1.50 and I get a good high doing it manually....


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