My plane, like most ultralights I've seen, currently has no gascolator or fuel sump, just an inline fuel filter. I have one of the glass tube filters, so I can at least see what's in it, but no place for water to settle and be drained off.
After a couple of friends were badly injured due to water in the fuel (engine quit on takeoff, no gascolator in the plane) I decided I needed one. What I really wanted was the same type I had in my Taylorcraft, which was a glass tube with a drain valve in the bottom, but all of the glass gascolators I see nowadays are round bowls with no drain, and cheap quality, suitable for lawnmowers, maybe, but not an airplane... and the aircraft gascolators are expensive, heavy, and you can't see what's inside.
Accordingly, I made my own out of polycarbonate, with nylon fittings. It doesn't have a filter, since I still have the inline filter, does have a drain, and it's small and light (the block is 3" x 1.75" x 1"). It will replace the "Y" in my system where lines from the two tanks come together, which is why there are two inlets. Right now it's on my workbench filled with gas, to make sure there are no chemical compatibility problems.
-Dana
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people?
After a couple of friends were badly injured due to water in the fuel (engine quit on takeoff, no gascolator in the plane) I decided I needed one. What I really wanted was the same type I had in my Taylorcraft, which was a glass tube with a drain valve in the bottom, but all of the glass gascolators I see nowadays are round bowls with no drain, and cheap quality, suitable for lawnmowers, maybe, but not an airplane... and the aircraft gascolators are expensive, heavy, and you can't see what's inside.
Accordingly, I made my own out of polycarbonate, with nylon fittings. It doesn't have a filter, since I still have the inline filter, does have a drain, and it's small and light (the block is 3" x 1.75" x 1"). It will replace the "Y" in my system where lines from the two tanks come together, which is why there are two inlets. Right now it's on my workbench filled with gas, to make sure there are no chemical compatibility problems.
-Dana
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people?
