Fuel Tank Sender probe "off"?
Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 4:50 pmHo Hum - trust but verify.......
I had no reason to think there was a problem. The fuel tank gauge was "correct" and I always put in the expected amount of fuel to top it off. The builder had provided a calibration sheet from the build too.
And then two weeks ago I landed after a longish X-Country. I thought I had 4 galls in the tank, which matched my anticipated fuel burn and what the gauge said. And that matched all my fuel logging. And I was good on my personal minimum of an hour of VFR on landing. So 12 Galls to go in the tank.....
14 Galls later..............
So I was legal VFR minimums with 30 mins fuel. But not legal personal minimums. And if I had had to stretch it for any reason - I might have been one of THOSE statistics who thought they had more fuel than they had.
So today - drain tank - plane in level flight attitude and a gallon at a time while calibrating the tank probe.
So the tank actually holds 16.6 galls level flight and 17 galls tail down and I have the EFIS screen recalibrated.
Anyone know if the probes change characteristic with age? This one now has about 390 hours on it.
- Gallon at a time
I had no reason to think there was a problem. The fuel tank gauge was "correct" and I always put in the expected amount of fuel to top it off. The builder had provided a calibration sheet from the build too.
And then two weeks ago I landed after a longish X-Country. I thought I had 4 galls in the tank, which matched my anticipated fuel burn and what the gauge said. And that matched all my fuel logging. And I was good on my personal minimum of an hour of VFR on landing. So 12 Galls to go in the tank.....
14 Galls later..............
So I was legal VFR minimums with 30 mins fuel. But not legal personal minimums. And if I had had to stretch it for any reason - I might have been one of THOSE statistics who thought they had more fuel than they had.
So today - drain tank - plane in level flight attitude and a gallon at a time while calibrating the tank probe.
So the tank actually holds 16.6 galls level flight and 17 galls tail down and I have the EFIS screen recalibrated.
Anyone know if the probes change characteristic with age? This one now has about 390 hours on it.