dave.go
Joined: 20 Jul 2009
Posts: 26
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 Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:04 am Post subject: ethanol fuel issues |
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I'm unsure how relevant it is but I wanted to quote the following email for those who use ethanol blended auto fuel in their Kitfox.
It is from Pete Krotje who is the jabiru rep in the US. Since ethanol is sourced from many places and refiners and added in at the last minute ( I suppose by oil truck drivers) it has rendered US auto fuel an inconsistent and potentially unknown material in countries using it.
Have a look, it can't hurt to keep it in mind.
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The referenced advisory rescinding auto gas approval applies only to S-LSA aircraft produced by Jabiru USA. We issued it because of growing evidence from our LSA fleet plus many reports from operators of amateur build aircraft of fuel system problems emanating from some of the additives or contaminants in auto gas. We’ve received many reports of a stringy mucus like substance precipitating out of the fuel solution that clog fuel filters and gum up carburetors. We’ve received reports of this happening in fiberglass tanks with sealants, plastic tanks without tank sealants, and even welded aluminum tanks with no sealants. This substance has been the suspected cause of at least one fatal crash. We’ve received no such reports from operators using Avgas 100LL.
Searching through fuel test reports from gas stations across the country we find that a significant number of samples reported contaminants such as acetone, mek, toluene and other minor keytones plus the deliberately added components like ethanol, methanol, mtbe and tame. There is now good research that I could find on the effects of long term storage in fiberglass tanks.
While our tanks are sealed with a product that is resistant to 10% ethanol there still seems to be a potential problem in every day use. I think that the effects of some of these additives and contaminants coming out of the solution (or suspension) with the fuel and settling to one area of a fuel tank in higher concentrations than expected is unknown and potentially quite damaging. While Jabiru Australia has had coupon samples of fiberglass coated with the sealant immersed in a gas – ethanol solution for nearly two years with no apparent damage to the sealant, there has not been a field study of E10 in a real tank exposed to moisture and condensation that may cause ethanol to combine with water and fall to the tank bottom in higher ethanol concentrations than expected.
My advice to operators using auto fuel – either with or without ethaonol – is to keep a really close watch on their fuel systems. Carefully inspect fuel filters and carbs on a regular basis.
Pete
Pete Krotje
Jabiru USA Sport Aircraft, LLC
931-680-2800
www.usjabiru.com
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Dave G. KF IV / 582 / NS [quote][b]
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