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Mechanical fuel gauge - what did I miss?

Dgamble

Well Known Member
While I was doing the second tank SB, I took the opportunity to install the Van's Moeller fuel gauge retrofit kit. I was somewhat surprised to see no indication of a gasket or any other seal around the gauge, but pressed on anyway. It now leaks around the periphery of the gauge whenever fuel reaches high enough in the tank.

https://imageshack.com/i/ndcestj (Not sure what people are using to share/embed photos now that imageshack started charging)

What did I miss? I guess I'm just going to address it with a smear of ProSeal if there's no official solution, but I'm just wondering what I did wrong.
 
I know your specific circumstance has a specified answer, but here is some food for thought.

When sealing some fuel bulkhead areas or caps a good product just for fuel is Hylomar. It is blue in color, comes in a tube. I little goes a long way and seals tight and won't leak. I use that and so do a other MFG's. It's meant to seal fuel systems where gaskets or flanges bolt together. Good stuff.
 
Fuel Tank Mod

For those that have installed the mechanical gauge fuel tank mod- does the kit come with the plate and hardware to remove and cover the old sight glass?
 
Called Vans yesterday. I have an uninstalled prefab tank and I need to update it. Scott (tech support) said I don't have to remove the site glass when I install the mechanical gage, reinforcements and vent kit. If it aint broke why fix it. If it starts to leak I can make the mod after my annual inspection. Vans said if I leave it in, it will still qualify for E-LSA during inspection.
 
moeller gauge blocked...

Hi

Last couple of weekends I've been trying to check my plane endurance staying aloft over 3 hours.

I usually fill the tank to the max, (read till it comes out through the overflow pipe) on Friday afternoon to be able to leave Saturday early morning. This week I did it on Wednesday, so there must have been some sort of pressure in the Moeller Gauge for three days.

This morning, the gauge was blocked and the plastic cover damaged, as if gas would have contaminated the dial.

153uw50.jpg


Eventhough the tank is full, the gauge now doesn't go beyond this point.
I'll order a new one, but before smearing a full pack of ProSeal, does anyone have experienced something similar?

Thanks in advance,

Godo
 
Hi

Last couple of weekends I've been trying to check my plane endurance staying aloft over 3 hours.

I usually fill the tank to the max, (read till it comes out through the overflow pipe) on Friday afternoon to be able to leave Saturday early morning. This week I did it on Wednesday, so there must have been some sort of pressure in the Moeller Gauge for three days.

This morning, the gauge was blocked and the plastic cover damaged, as if gas would have contaminated the dial.

153uw50.jpg


Eventhough the tank is full, the gauge now doesn't go beyond this point.
I'll order a new one, but before smearing a full pack of ProSeal, does anyone have experienced something similar?

Thanks in advance,

Godo

Did you tell the Moeller Gauge you were here?
May be it's just waiting for Godo...
Sorry, I could not resist :D ... plus I am not a great fan of the Moeller gauge!
 
Hi

Last couple of weekends I've been trying to check my plane endurance staying aloft over 3 hours.

I usually fill the tank to the max, (read till it comes out through the overflow pipe) on Friday afternoon to be able to leave Saturday early morning. This week I did it on Wednesday, so there must have been some sort of pressure in the Moeller Gauge for three days.

This morning, the gauge was blocked and the plastic cover damaged, as if gas would have contaminated the dial.

153uw50.jpg


Eventhough the tank is full, the gauge now doesn't go beyond this point.
I'll order a new one, but before smearing a full pack of ProSeal, does anyone have experienced something similar?

Thanks in advance,

Godo

It is not possible for fuel to get to the gauge indicator up through the gauge itself. The indicator is coupled to the gauge via a magnet. There is no fluid path. Remove the two screws and lift out the indicator and you will see what I mean.
It must have gotten damaged by either a leak around the flange of the gauge, or by something else.
 
I had to figure this out by myself as, at the time I installed a Moeller Gauge, there were no instructions provided by Van's, so take this for what it is.
I tried two ways of sealing it. The first time I used the rubber seal pad that came with my gauge. It was installed under a solid aluminum plate that covered the hole in the tank top until after certification. Then I removed the plate and installed the actual gauge. When removing the rubber seal I could see that it had already started to harden due to the gas fumes (I would think it was caused more by the alcohol in the gas than anything else). So I decided to goop it in with Pro-Seal as sealant, the same way we created our own seal between turtle deck skin and filler tube - a thick bead of Pro-Seal and tightening the screws around the gauge just enough until the sealant oozes out.
This is now in use for 1.5 years and I often let the plane sit with a gas level that reaches way into the filler neck for days without any leakage.
 
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