REFLECTOR: Water Condensation in Wing Tanks & Sump

[nmflyer1 at aol.com]

Dennis, 


Do you have the aluminum caps, or the plastic ones?  If you have the aluminum ones, you could try leaving them off over night, and just covering the hole with a towel, tape, piece of wood.. etc. It might help if you could see inside the tanks to see if the water is anywhere other than the cap. I can send you my bore-scope type tool if you think you would need it. 


Kurt 



-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis Martin <dennis.doc at gmail.com>
To: Velocity Aircraft Owners and Builders list <reflector at tvbf.org>
Sent: Fri, Feb 10, 2012 7:58 pm
Subject: Re: REFLECTOR: Water Condensation in Wing Tanks & Sump


Water is heavily condensed on the INSIDE surface of both caps. Not just a little, but big drops of water. I'll do some taxi tests tomorrow and see if there's enough water to drain down into the sump and let you know what happens. This is not the first time I've found significant water on the inside of the cap.

Thanks,

Dennis


On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 7:44 PM, Mark Magee <edjonesbrady at gmail.com> wrote:

Keep tanks topped off as possible. In 10 years of Long EZ flying I never captured -any- water in the gascolator or sumps. 2 years now with the Velo XLFG and no hint of water from the sump drain. Glass tanks are -much- less susceptible to condensation inside the tank than aluminum aircraft. I would not be concerned on water on the outside surface of the cap. 
Mark Magee
N34XL XLFG 300 HP 80 Hours
Brady TX




On Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 8:32 PM, Dennis Martin <dennis.doc at gmail.com> wrote:




I have not flown my V for a bout 2 weeks while I've been making some changes. I was going to do some T & Gs tomorrow, but noticed today that both fuel caps have big drops of water condensed on them when I inspected them. It's spooky to see that much water on my fuel caps. I tasted it, and it's definitely water. 

With half tanks, I'm sure that water is condensing on the entire top half of the tank surface. I've read about fuel tanks being susceptible to condensation, especially glass tanks. Has anyone had this experience, and do you have any suggestions other than filling the tanks to the brim to reduce condensation. I've read that this is one way to reduce it.  Otherwise, I assume you just drain your sumps carefully. I think it may also be a good idea to taxi for 10 minutes to shake the water loose from the tank top so it will work its way down to through the sump drain? Then, check your sump again before take off. 

All the best,
Dennis Martin
Chevy Powered 173 FGE


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-- 
All the best,
Dennis

 
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