Hmmmmmmm. My experience with the two inline 914 filters has been just fine.
I changed the filters once after the first 10 hours, and then again at 175
hours. I now have 400 hours and will probably change them at my next annual
inspection. I've never had a problem. Oh, and I use mogas, unfiltered, and
I've never had any water in my tanks either.
Garry Stout
N4220S A060 Trigear 914, 400 hours
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rmi Guerner" <air.guerner@wanadoo.fr>
Subject: Europa-List: Europa-list: fitting gascolator
>
>
> William wrote:=E2=80=9D I was going to fit a mini Andair a couple of years
> ago, when they were all
> the rage, but when I talked to Nev, he persuaded me not to bother because
> he
> considered the twin filters was a better system, apart from the water
> aspect=E2=80=9D.
>
> I am surprised to read this while Europas keep force-landing or crashing
> due to fuel filter contamination (read the article on the forced landing
> of OY-ODA in Europa Flyer # 46)
>
> A fuel filter should have at least:
> - a screen area large enough for the fuel flow.
> - a drain valve for draining the contaminants (water and solid
> stuff) before each day of flight.
>
> The filters supplied by Europa Aircraft have none of those characteristics
> and are therefore potentially dangerous. This is especially true as most
> of us are using Mogas which is more likely to be contaminated, even when
> using a filtering funnel at every fill up. The dual filter arrangement is
> a big improvement but is not fully satisfactory. Keep in mind that the
> filter has the most chance to clog and the engine to stop, when the fuel
> flow is maximum, i.e. during the take off phase. I believe you would crash
> before having time to switch to the other filter, should that happen to
> you.
>
> When I was flying with the Rotax 914, I experienced several engine
> stoppages, at cruise, due to filter contamination. Fortunately, thanks for
> the dual filter arrangement, the engine resumed running when the second
> fuel pump was turned on, and I managed to land safely on an airport every
> time. Some others have not been as lucky.
>
> Replacing the dual in-line filters by dual gascolators was the first
> modification I made to my aircraft.
> When I installed the 912S, I removed 1 of them. 914 owners have to
> consider that the fuel flow through the filter can be as much as 4 to 5
> times the fuel consumption of the engine, due to the huge flow returned
> back to the tank. Therefore the filter(s) on 914 installation must be
> designed as for a 500 HP engine!
>
> My recommendation is to throw away the supplied in-line filters and use
> one (or two) gascolators big enough for the task. There are plenty of
> sources on the market. A gascolator will also be a lot easier to service
> than the in-line filters. If you are using the Andair GAS375, make sure
> you have the new filter screen which is has a lot bigger screen area than
> the original model.
>
> Remi Guerner
>
> F-PGKL, XS S/N395 monowheel, 288 hours on a 914 + 89 hours since fitted
> with the 912S.
>
>
>
|