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Deluxe fuel caps worth it?

I

Iluke

Well Known Member
I'm starting my -7 wings and would appreciate someone explaining what's the advantage of the deluxe fuel caps, other than being lockable. Lots of posts say they are better. What's better about them?

thanks
 
I believe you can get them as locking (I didn't), and they are less prone to leak (water) than the stock caps.

-Dan
 
Give me a few days and I will post some photos of both types – The deluxe cap is a much nicer engineered product – Yes they both work .. but I would say the deluxe does its job “better” ... The deluxe cap is made in England by a company called Newton – Here is the link http://www.newton-equipment.com/

Are they worth it ? Yes I think so ..
 
Fuel caps

They look a lot better then stock caps. I went with the non-locking type. Never a problem with leaking.
 
Thanks for the info. Several folks have commented on the issue of leaking. I assume people have had trouble with the stock caps leaking?
 
Fuel lube

Keep the cap seal 'lubed' with fuel lube , which is similar to vaseline, and it will help keep water from leaking in when tied down outside. It also makes removal easier. A piece of tape over the caps also helps when on cross country.
 
Stock caps for 13 years. Lube with Chapstick (lube the mechanism and the big o-ring). Never leaked once, or ever had a problem with unauthorized access (not having locks) while on the road.
 
The deluxe caps are easier to operate, though I've heard the standard caps can be adjusted to operate as easily. Most of the bulders' logs I've read indicate they're less likely to leak, though Idid have one that required a bit of fuel lube to not bubble on the pressure check. I went with Newton locking caps, but for the life of me I can't remember why. If I had it to do over, I think I'd go with non-locking. I have nightmares about losing the key on a cross country...
 
I have the Deluxe Lockable fuel caps and am 20 hours into phase one. Here are a few things I have noticed:

The way these close is to twist a plastic cam that looks like a "cup" and the lever pulls this against the back of the flange securing it in place. The problem is that this "cup" fills wtih fuel and each time you go to open and inspect fuel, the cap has a teaspoon of fuel in it. You need to be very careful to dump it before removing the cap from over the filler hole.

Also, I haven't locked the caps yet, but am glad I have the option to when I am at an unfamiliar airport.
 
If you are worried about loosing the keys - and you have a key action starter switch - put them on the same key ring - You are not going to need the key for the fuel cap, if you loose the key for the ignition switch :)
 
JanRV6UK said:
If you are worried about loosing the keys - and you have a key action starter switch - put them on the same key ring - You are not going to need the key for the fuel cap, if you loose the key for the ignition switch :)
Click to expand...

I'm leaning toward switches for ignition and starter (OT), but even with an ignition key I think I could work around that easier than a lost fuel cap key. I think I'll just leave the caps unlocked for the most part.
 
Photos

The standard cap relies on the expansion of the large O ring to stay in place.

The Newton cap is secured by 1/4 turn of the black "cup" .. Interesting comment about the fuel that can be trapped and spill when removing the cap. When you lower the "handle" .. which is very easy to do.. the black "cup" moves up and the top O ring seal perfectly against the top of the filler neck.

4lsv9.jpg


33z9vly.jpg


Hope this helps ...
 
At Sun-N-Fun this year, Andair was showing off some "deluxe" fuel caps that looked like the Newton products but which they said were superior. Unfortunately I didn't have time to stay and chat about them, but maybe someone who knows can chime in?

mcb
 
And I don't suppose either would fit the stock Van's ring. The guy I bought my 7A kit from had already installed the filler necks. Oh well... the stock caps can't be too bad. I'll just keep them lubed.
 
On the topic of the deluxe caps...do these require modification of the tank skins? I upgraded to the deluxe caps with my wing kit, and during one of those idle shop tinkering sessions, I grabbed a cap, tried to fit the flange to the tank skin, and found that the flange does not fit in the precut hole for the cap. Unless I'm missing something regarding the fitment of these things - which is a distinct possibility - it seems like that hole is going to have to be enlarged for the deluxe caps.

EDIT: Never mind, I'm an idiot. Went looking for this information, and it seems the problem is that I was trying to insert the flanges from the outside of the tank skin into the holes, when in fact the flange mount inside the skin. Which, on the whole, makes a lot more sense than what I was trying to do. *sigh*
 
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If the cap is locked, they will take a phillips screwdriver and poke a few holes in the tank bottom and drain into a funnel on a gas can........ No siphoning.
 
gasman said:
If the cap is locked, they will take a phillips screwdriver and poke a few holes in the tank bottom and drain into a funnel on a gas can........ No siphoning.
Click to expand...

Not sure that is what a thiefs first reaction would be. You know how a wing tank is constructed. Its a bit like saying that when they find your car fuel cap locked they will poke a few holes at the base of the car to get the petrol out.

Most likely they will move fast to the next plane which has unlocked caps. What concerns me more than a person poking contaminated equipment into the tanks while siphoning, is the person who may place something in your tank. If its not locked you will never no.

Cheers

Julian
 
Dale B

You are right that the Newton cap will not fit the standard Vans filler neck - But you can buy a sleeve insert that can be fitted (using pro-seal) - The sleeve is sold with a "deluxe" cap. Only issue I can see with this is that it does reduce the filler neck hole - so you may have a problem with large filler nozzles. Like you say ... the Van cap works ... Just keep the O ring well lubricated ....

Sad that some people will poke a hole in a tank to steal gas ... so best to not lock the tank.... a bit like saying that you should leave your plane unlocked ... so that if anyone wants to steal your fancy avionic at least they will not damage the door !!!
 
Stealing fuel

There's no way to prevent someone from stealing your fuel. If I was a thief I would never bother with siphoning, just unscrew that little drain valve that's conveniently located on the bottom of the tank.

As for some vandal putting a contaminant into your tank... that's another story, and might be a good reason for a locking cap.
 
N546RV said:
On the topic of the deluxe caps...do these require modification of the tank skins? I upgraded to the deluxe caps with my wing kit, and during one of those idle shop tinkering sessions, I grabbed a cap, tried to fit the flange to the tank skin, and found that the flange does not fit in the precut hole for the cap. Unless I'm missing something regarding the fitment of these things - which is a distinct possibility - it seems like that hole is going to have to be enlarged for the deluxe caps.

EDIT: Never mind, I'm an idiot. Went looking for this information, and it seems the problem is that I was trying to insert the flanges from the outside of the tank skin into the holes, when in fact the flange mount inside the skin. Which, on the whole, makes a lot more sense than what I was trying to do. *sigh*
Click to expand...

And when it comes time for installation, save yourself from drilling rivets out of wet sealant and recognize that there are 4 different lengths of rivets that hold the flange to the skin. The flanges for the standard cap are a constant thickness and are bent to conform to the curve of the skin. The flanges for the deluxe caps are machined to conform to the skin, causing the thickness to vary. Also don't forget the vent line clip.;)
 
and this is what the neck look like ..from the outside and the inside

6o3fy1.jpg


314upmh.jpg


I had to carefully file the hole in the skin a little bit toward the top of the photo .. it is not as out of round as it looks ... just a little bit ... the cap now fits perfectly ...
 
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RV-14 fuel caps

Does anyone know how they compare to the fuel caps for the RV-14? I am about to build my RV8 tanks and am considering those VS the Newton's
Click to expand...
About a month ago I was up at Van's picking something up for my -8 project. Out in the warehouse I was asking about delux vs. standard caps, and the guy took me over and showed me the new to them -14 caps. They were awsome. I asked if they would work on my -8 SB wing. He wasn't sure so he brought in some more Van's people from around the shop to brain storm it. Together they concured that indeed they would. It may involve some minor finessing but they would work.
Well after placing the order for my wings (with -14 gas caps) a couple weeks ago, I got my confirmation in the mail, and one of the notes on it was "deleted RV-14 gas caps, they won't work on the RV-8".
I will be up in that area w/i the next couple weeks, so I will try to get to the bottom of this.
I saw on a post above with the Van's site attachment that they list the -14 gas cap as compatible with just about everything except the -12 or something like that.
Don't lose hope in this mod, those caps are so sweet. As soon as I can get up there I'll get to the bottom of this.
Tom
 
Contour

Tom, my -10 shares the -14 wing and they're thicker than the -7 and -8, with a different contour, so I suspect that's why they won't work. The flanges match the wing shape.

Best,
 
pierre smith said:
Tom, my -10 shares the -14 wing and they're thicker than the -7 and -8, with a different contour, so I suspect that's why they won't work. The flanges match the wing shape.

Best,
Click to expand...

You're correct. The contour in the flange is much to pronounced for the profile of the 10/14 tank skin.

I had to machine most of the profile out of the flange to get a good fit against the skin in my -10.
 
Another data point...

Since people were posting that they were worried about losing the keys to their locking caps, consider this. The deluxe locking Newton caps that Vans offers have a cool feature. You can use the key to unlock them, then remove the key. Once this is done, the cap works just like a non-locking one. I like this feature, because you can basically key them all the same as your ignition key, then either lock them or don't. They DO NOT require the key to be IN the lock to open or close them, so you can esentially use them any which way you please. IMHO it's worth the extra couple of bucks to have the option.
 
JanRV6UK said:
and this is what the neck look like ..from the outside and the inside....
Click to expand...

So they're basically plastic non-locking caps otherwise similar to the deluxe caps. Thanks, I hadn't realized that.

And you could always hide a key in the cockpit and then not worry so much about losing a key on a trip, although you could leave the caps unlocked if you prefer - thanks Mike, I'd not realized that part. Seems that if I had locking caps, that I'd hide a key somewhere.

Dave
 
I understand the 14 caps to be lighter than the standard cap. Anybody got a 14 cap (with its mounting flange) that they could post a weight on? And for that matter the deluxe lockable cap too?
 
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