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Anyone bent or cut the fuel level sender wrong???

I

idleup

Well Known Member
I did. I have the standard Fuel Level Sender from Stewart warner and I cut the arm wrong. Does anyone know where to buy just the wire arm without having purchase a whole other unit?

- Matt
 
I didnt see them on their webstore. I will try calling them on Monday. The only thing on their website is to buy the whole sender.

- Matt
 
I don't think you have to ask me why I know they have them,I think there around $10.You need to call them to order they are not on the web site
Rob
 
fuel level wire

Take that bent part to your friendly welder and ask
him if he has some stainless rod same diameter
and bend two new ones.. tell him 316 ss should
last a long time.. prob be free and no shipping charges..

Danny..
 
You don't have to ask me how I know...I screwed mine up! Hinge pin works really good to make new ones....(I forget what size, but I had plenty of spare for some reason!

Paul
 
While we're on this subject... I bent mine yesterday and they seem fine.

Do you just slide them in the sender unit and they stay there forever? They seem to be pretty loose in the plastic arms. Not really a way to safety them... is there?

Happy Fathers day to all the fathers,
Scott
 
Scott Will said:
While we're on this subject... I bent mine yesterday and they seem fine.

Do you just slide them in the sender unit and they stay there forever? They seem to be pretty loose in the plastic arms. Not really a way to safety them... is there?

Happy Fathers day to all the fathers,
Scott
Click to expand...


Uh oh.....that sounds like what I said when I built my first ones..."How the heck are they supposed to stay in there?"

Then I looked at the drawings again very closely, and saw the last little bend on the end that keeps them from swivelling and being loose.....and tht's when I made my new ones... :mad:

Not sure if that's hte same problem as you've got or not Scott - but that's my story!

Paul
 
Ditto. Say, if anyone needs a bent-the-wrong-way float...or two.... I've got 'it....er..... them. It's in the "junked parts" pile which is very near to becoming larger than the "parts still to put on the plane" pile.
 
Senders

Paul,
I missed the last little bend also. It didn't take long for the error to show once I started to calibrate the senders. I had to pull both senders out during the test period and replace the wire.


Gary
N715AB
 
Van's has them

less than 5 bucks--not in catalog-they'll know

btw-does this answer your question about anyone else bending them wrong? ;)

cut first, ask questions later
 
Last edited:
I, too, missed that last 3/4" leg bend. 3 phone calls later to Stewart-Warner and a replacement was sent free of charge.
Steve
 
Yes, that is exactly what I did. I forgot the last little 5/8" bend. It is not in any of the pictures and easy to screw up on.

I called Van's today and the replacement is $4. Of course there is also a $2.50 handling charge and then shipping on top of that *sigh*

- Matt
 
I bent one wrong as well. However, I went ahead and installed it. I figured that as long as the float would travel from the top to the bottom I would be OK. I felt that the bottom indication was more critical and made sure the float went all the way down. It doesn't quite go all the way to the top so I figure the indicator will measure full even if not quite at the top. Also, I understand that the shorter arm may reduce the resolution of the reading somewhat (i.e. the slope of the resistance curve would be higher). However, these things are ballpark estimates at best anyway.

Is my reasoning incorrect? Will I run into problems later trying to calibrate my fuel quantity indicator? Especially, since one float was done correctly and the other one is a little short?
 
Wow, I feel totally welcome in this group! I TOO did the same thing last night to my first one. However, like Tony, I went ahead and installed it (of course if comes out rather easily before it actually gets installed in the tank). The plans say "approx. 3" ". I can't recall right now, but I don't think the plans say anything about the required length of that little bend at the end to keep it from swiveling. So I just bent a 1/4" of the end, and I have "approx. 3" " of arm extending upwards. I did measure it, and it's a little more than 2 3/4" ~ approx. 3". It does not swivel, and should read pretty close. The regs say that fuel tanks only have to read accurate when they are empty! :rolleyes:
 
Bend lengths

Reading this post sent me to plans to make notes so that I would not make the same mistake. The Fuel tank plans show approx 3", but instructions that came with the floats give some very specific dimensions - Left Wing: 3 1/4" and Right Wing 3 3/16". The bend on the end (that started this thread) is 3/4". Of course, there is also a note that "dimensions are approximate and adjustment may be required".
 
On mine I found that 5/8" was more accurate to make sure it didnt hit the plastic on the other side of the hole when snapped in. I am not sure if making it shorter would cause a problem or not but I figured for the money I would just get a new one.

-Matt
 
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