Fuel level sender
- The photo below is what we found when we tilted the helicopter
back during our pre-flight inspection. You can see the puddle
of fuel on the ground that leaked out of the gasket
area where the fuel sender attaches to the fuel tank.
- If the fuel level sender is not leaking then it was installed
correctly and should not be a problem. If the sender does leak
then I am offering a fix that I have used several times to insure
a good seal and return us to flight within a relatively short
period of time.
The fuel sender attache point can sometimes leak
fuel when we do autos and quick stops due to the fuel sender screws
not holding the sender securely to the wall of the fuel tank. They
could strip out and leak when we progress in the training to the
point of performing flares during autos and quick stops.
If the fuel sender gasket begins to leak we will
need nut plates and machine screws to solidly attach the sender
unit to the tank. Shown below are aluminum riv-nuts installed, we
used fuel resistant gasket seal and another cork gasket and then
machine screws with fuel resistant sealant on the threads to attach
the sender
The photo below shows where
the fuel sender is attached to the fuel tank.
Here the riv-nuts are ready
for installing into the tank, They mush out on the inside of the
tank preventing them from rotating (sometimes) or pulling through
and the threads allowing the sender attachment screws enough bite
to allow you to pull the plastic lip snugly up against the sender
base to make a complete seal. I have had better results with nut
plates installed on the underside of the tank lip with rivets.
If this area is not leaking,
it is not a problem.
Some cork gasket seal applied
between the riv-nuts to take up the gap
Fuel resistant sealant was
used to seal the new cork gasket to the tank. Be sure to put some
fuel resistant sealant under the head of each screw so that fuel
does not wick up to the top of the sender and leak.
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