Fuel drain valve leak saga

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Gagarin said:

As the tank ages there will always be small flakes of debris (sealant flakes) that do not float but that it can flow into the -53S causing it to jam/leak. This problem does not happens with valves that drain above the debris field.

If the valve seeps or drips, you remove it, clear the debris or replace the valve, you don’t put in the wrong one!

Clarence

[ArtVandelay]

Put me in the I want the drain hole as low as possible camp.

BTW, if drain gets clogged, is it possible to remove and replace with fuel in the tank. In other words, once loose by a wrench, do they unscrew by hand so I would be able to do a quick swap if I had a spare?


Tom

[Prior owner]

12 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said:

Put me in the I want the drain hole as low as possible camp.

BTW, if drain gets clogged, is it possible to remove and replace with fuel in the tank. In other words, once loose by a wrench, do they unscrew by hand so I would be able to do a quick swap if I had a spare?


Tom

Yes, you’ll just need an extra finger to hold the fuel from draining out! The threads on the nut plate (at least on mine) have some kind of elastic material at the top, presumably to prevent the valve from unscrewing completely and falling out due to vibration..

Edited October 27, 2019 by PilotCoyote

[EricJ]

36 minutes ago, ArtVandelay said:

Put me in the I want the drain hole as low as possible camp.

BTW, if drain gets clogged, is it possible to remove and replace with fuel in the tank. In other words, once loose by a wrench, do they unscrew by hand so I would be able to do a quick swap if I had a spare?


Tom

Yup.   Done it a couple of times.   There will be some spillage, your arm is going to get wet, and the less fuel in the tank the better just to reduce the column pressure on your thumb while you're plugging the hole while the other hand fiddles around with parts.

And be careful on first removal, especially if it resists removal.   If it's been in a long time it might break instead of unscrewing.   This happened to my airplane just before I bought it, and apparently caused a bit of an issue for the IA that was changing it out at the time.

Edited October 27, 2019 by EricJ

[jaylw314]

12 hours ago, carusoam said:

Peter,

not advisable...

Even In the most recent tanks from the Mooney factory...

The drain hole is not at the lowest corner of the tank...

The low corner is square in shape, and the drain is round and mounted a few inches away...

Sooo.... when getting water in the tank... there is some that isn’t going to drain...

water usually doesn’t stay forever... as some small amount will get adsorbed over time...

I usually jump up and down on the plane to mix up the fuel before every flight 

 

12 hours ago, Gagarin said:

As the tank ages there will always be small flakes of debris (sealant flakes) that do not float but that it can flow into the -53S causing it to jam/leak. This problem does not happens with valves that drain above the debris field.

Water ingestion might be uncommon but is a safety of flight issue.  Small flakes of debris that cause the -53S to seep might be common but are not a safety of flight issue.  Heck, if I can't fix it by flushing it with fuel, I'll gladly pay the $25 from aircraft spruce and ask my A&P to watch me replace it.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

Put me in the I want the drain hole as low as possible camp.

BTW, if drain gets clogged, is it possible to remove and replace with fuel in the tank. In other words, once loose by a wrench, do they unscrew by hand so I would be able to do a quick swap if I had a spare?


Tom

Only if you have a little Dutch boy willing to put his finger in the dike!

It can be done with fuel in the tank, but there is a risk of fire, loss of the plane, hangar and possibly ones life when playing with 100LL

Clarence

[tmo]

On 10/27/2019 at 4:41 AM, Gagarin said:

This problem does not happens with valves that drain above the debris field.

Till the debris level reaches new highs

[RogueOne]

Definitely drain the tank.  Having fuel run down your arm and onto your body is NOT good.  Let’s call that a “learning experience”.  There is NO way to prevent this if you leave fuel in the tank and are unscrewing and screwing a drain valve.  Been there, done that.  Never again.  Don’t be THAT guy.

[LucasC]

All fixed with no leaks now I'm happy to report.  They drilled out the rivets and installed new ones. That did the trick. 

[Andy95W]

Thanks for the follow-up!

[carusoam]

great follow up Lucas!

Best regards,

-a-