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Hole for Gascolator Drain?

Do you have a hole in your cowl to sump the Gascolator?

  • Yes and I have a taildragger

    Votes: 11 23.4%
  • No and I have a taildragger

    Votes: 5 10.6%
  • Yes and I have a nose gear

    Votes: 19 40.4%
  • No and I have a nose gear

    Votes: 9 19.1%
  • I don't have a Gascolator on the firewall.

    Votes: 3 6.4%

  • Total voters
    47

N941WR

Legacy Member
For those of you with a Gascolator mounted on the firewall, have you drilled a hole so it can be sumped with the cowl on?

For those of you in Canada, I know you have a Gascolator in each wing root, which I assume is placed so that they can be sumped. I am most interested in the firewall mounted Gascolator access.
 
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Gascolator

Not sure why you think Canadian AC have multiple gascolators.....I have one in the Vans location on the firewall with the quick drain slightly protruding from the cowl.

Canada has a requirement for a gascolator, which technically is supposed to be at the lowest point of the fuel system. We also have the quick drains on the wing tanks. I have seen builders here put the gascolator in the belly below the fuel valve to be at the low point of the system. The MD-RA seems to be OK with a gascolator mounted low on the firewall.

Al
 
Yes, make it as easy as possible so it can be part of every pre-flight.
I have seen gascolators with extension plumbing to position the drain valve accessible thru the air exhaust ramp- don?t like this because of more potential for leaks & in the end you get dirty & a crook?d neck getting the fuel sample.
I?ve seen gascolators with complicated remote valve actuators (cables, leavers & such) don?t trust them to not leak, & definitely would not be good idea with any FI applications.
Simple vertical drain thru an access hole is my choice. I mount gascolators on a sturdy firewall bracket (& reinforced firewall doubler) that offsets the gascolator forward so the sampling cup will clear the lower engine mount cross bar. My preference is to mount it just high enough so the bottom of the drain valve clears the inside of the fiberglass cowl so no chance valve would be damaged or snagged in any way. I drill the hole thru the cowl barely larger than the sampling cup (or screw driver) you will be using. This way the hole guides the cup up to the valve without you having to get upside down to aim it.
Hope this helps
 
I have a hole just large enough for the standard screwdriver-type fuel tester tube, I think it's 1-1/8" diameter. It had one of the metal snap-in covers for the hole when I bought it, but I think that popped out in flight at one point because I didn't check the finger tension one day... Still looking for another one to go in there. Although, now that I think about it, maybe I should just 3-D print something...
 
Boost Pump On

One thing I want to add, typically you will get only a few drops out of the Gascolator drain IF you do not have the boost pump ON. Boost Pump ON and operating if you want to get a good drain sample of fuel out of the Gascolator.

If you are sumping the gascolator on an RV without the boost pump turned on and operating, you are fooling yourself if you think you are actually running a valid test.
 
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