The Murphy Builders Site

I had some fuel leaks through some flare fittings that I just about have
fixed. Other than the passing of time, I was wondering if anyone had a good
method for getting rid of the smell! One very distinct disadvantage to auto
fuel versus avgas. Stinks much worse.

FYI - The fix for the leaks was polishing the tube flare surface with fine
grit sandpaper. Apparently, my flare tool leaves a less than perfect
surface. Three fittings, all right at the Andair fuel valve, were leaking.
I got two out of three to stop. The third one is the slowest leak ever.
After about an hour it just starts to show a tiny bit of wetness. The good
news is that after having fuel in the tanks for a couple of weeks I can find
no leaks! Yay!

I came up with a quick and easy solution for a fuel restrictor in the sight
tube. I just ground down a piece of nylon or UHMW (not sure what it is,
likely UHMW) into a cylinder and drilled a 1/16 hole in it. I placed this
in the lower sight tube feed tube (a ~3 inch piece of tubing going from the
wing to a 90 deg. barb fitting inside the fuselage). It's a snug fit and
won't move around. If 1/16 inch hole turns out to be too big (and I think
it may be based on raising and lowering the tail and checking the fuel
bounce in the tube) I can easily replace it once I get below 15 gallons. On
the ground it takes more than 15 gallons before there's any fuel in the
tube. I'm pretty sure nylon is OK with fuel. Anybody know if UHMW and fuel
are OK?

Mike
044SR