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hgmckay
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 397
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 Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 4:34 pm Post subject: Allegro 2000 Wing Tanks - Fill/Drain Procedure |
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Gentlemen:
I have aluminum wing tanks on my Allegro 2000, but have not yet used them. I have a number of questions relative to using these tanks. If any of you have wing tanks, what is the procedure you follow to fill the two tanks. Also what is the procedure to follow to drain them back to the main belly tank? I assume you use the electric fuel pump to fill the wing tanks, pumping fuel from the main tank to one wing tank, and then to the other wing tank. How do you know when the tank is full? Can you see fuel returning to the main tank through the clear overflow line? How long does it take to fill one tank using the electric fuel pump? I also assume you do this pumping using the battery with the engine off. Correct?
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If you are flying and you need the fuel from the wing tanks, I assume you cut the electric fuel pump off and open each wing tank valve to drain back to the main tank. The two wing tanks combined hold aprx.10 gallons (5 gallons each). If you start draining the 10 gallons before you have enough empty volume in the main tank, what happens when the main tank fills? Does it fill over the lip of the fuel tank cap on the side of the plane? When you normally fill the main tank you can never fill the tank higher than the lip of the cap opening (i.e. this is a full tank!). I am somewhat confused about this whole matter, and would appreciate some guidance and direction.
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Hugh McKay
Allegro 2000
Rotax 912 UL
N661WW
[quote][b]
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Aero Siam
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 16
Location: Thailand
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| Posted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:48 pm Post subject: Re: Allegro 2000 Wing Tanks - Fill/Drain Procedure |
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Hugh
Your assumptions are correct.
The valve has 3 positions - 12 o'clock pump up, 3 normal flight, 6 drain down. I made a color coded decal for the 3 positions.
Fill the belly tank. Engine off, set valve to pump up and switch on pump. Open 1 wing tank valve. It takes about 10-15 mins to fill a tank. When full, the transparent tubes fill with fuel and recirculate back to the belly tank. Set valve back to normal flight and switch off pump..
In flight, open both wing valves and set to drain down. I think some of the fuel goes direct to the engine so the belly will appear to refill slowly.
I refill when my guage shows 25 litres or 6.7 gall and stop at 40 litres (10.8 gall) because my guage shows full at 40 litres. Do this twice in flight. Return the valve to normal flight.
We measuresd the usable capacity as 18.7 for each wing tank.
I have never overfilled the belly tank. I think it would overflow out of the overflow tube if the filler cap seal is good.
Note there is a recent Rotax mandatory about electric pumps and certain serial numbers of Rotax mechanical pumps.
The tanks are expensive and a little fiddly to use but give the plane huge range and a safety margin for a divert
Regards
Paul
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hgmckay
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:04 pm Post subject: Allegro 2000 Wing Tanks - Fill/Drain Procedure |
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Paul:
If it takes 15 min.+/- to fill one tank what is happening to the fuel that
is being pumped to the engine carbs. during these 15 min.? For both tanks
you will be running off the battery for a total of 30 min. +/-. Any problem
with this?
Hugh
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Aero Siam
Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 16
Location: Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:44 pm Post subject: Re: Allegro 2000 Wing Tanks - Fill/Drain Procedure |
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Hugh
Fuel does not flow into the carbs - the floats hold the needle valves closed.
I have not had any problems with the battery after using it for 30 mins
I enclose a photo of the plumbing in the pump area
Regards
Paul
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hgmckay
Joined: 23 May 2006
Posts: 397
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 6:48 am Post subject: Allegro 2000 Wing Tanks - Fill/Drain Procedure |
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Paul: Thanks for the photo; it looks just like mine. I assume you also keep
the choke CLOSED during the pumping.
Hugh
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