During the walk around check a few weeks back, I turned on the master switch to get a fuel sample with the electric fuel pump running. The pump ran for about 4 secs. then just stopped completely. Using my hand, I banged around the general area at the belly of the plane and the panel cover near the fuel pump. It didn?t resume pumping. I pulled the panel covering the fuel pump and checked with a tester for electrical power going to the pump and confirmed there was power at the pump. I called and spoke with tech. service at Facet/Purolator to get some troubleshooting ideas (typical resistance across the leads, etc.). They asked what was the service for the pump. I told them an airplane. For that service, the guy said he couldn?t help me. This is what I get for being an honest person. He gave me a number to someone who sold Facet pumps for airplanes only and thus, he did not have data for the cube type pumps. I ordered and received a new pump through Vans. I decided to search for similar ?failures? on the VAF forum and read where these pumps rarely fail and that perhaps trash in the fuel stops the pump and if the pump is rapped directly, the pump starts pumping again. I loaded my vehicle full of tools in anticipation of having to drain the fuel and replace the fuel pump. Before draining the fuel, etc., I decided to try what was recommended in the VAF forum. So, I turned the master switch on, took a hammer, and lightly rapped the fuel pump directly on top of it once and it started pumping immediately and has continued pumping for (4) short flights (about 1 hr.) since that time.
FYI:
The instructions that came with the Facet 40105, calls for a 74 micron fuel filter upstream of the pump. I don?t know if this would be too much of a restriction aiding vapor lock during clean fuel conditions and be too risky by adding a fine mesh filter like this for our service. If an hourly replacement schedule for the filter was included in the maintenance manual, this may be safer than having the pump shutdown in a critical situation (hot conditions, etc.) in flight due to trash stopping the pump.
Also FYI: The new pump that I?m storing as a spare shows 25,000 ohms across the leads.
FYI:
The instructions that came with the Facet 40105, calls for a 74 micron fuel filter upstream of the pump. I don?t know if this would be too much of a restriction aiding vapor lock during clean fuel conditions and be too risky by adding a fine mesh filter like this for our service. If an hourly replacement schedule for the filter was included in the maintenance manual, this may be safer than having the pump shutdown in a critical situation (hot conditions, etc.) in flight due to trash stopping the pump.
Also FYI: The new pump that I?m storing as a spare shows 25,000 ohms across the leads.