Sight Gauge Plate installation.... SS7

[N213RV]

Can someone tell me why we have to cut the sight gauge plates in 2 between the holes? Has anyone just installed them then attached the sight tubes and left the decal and backing plate a 1 piece assembly? Is it just due to limited access to install/remove the sight gauge tubes?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[War Eagle]

I don't know the specific design criteria but from my perspective it was for ease of installation.

For me the install of the sight gauge plates and decal/placard came in the finishing touches of the build process. If I had put it in when the wings were built then I would have probably gone to great lengths to keep it from getting bunged up during the built process etc. and it would have taken extra work to do that.

But hey, that's just my approach.

[Paul Z]

Having a two piece panel makes it a lot easier to replace the sight gauge tube, remove the plate and then remove the hose an replace. I've already had to replace my sight gauge tubes once.

[SkyPirate]

Now that's a good ideee , i ordered new sites when i ordered my wheel pants, i was going to have some glass tubes made and put a bead inside of the tube ( since i burn mogas and its almost the same color as the tubes) and I still might if i can find a bead that will float in fuel and not decompose , although I'm not as old as you's guy's its tough to see mogas in the tubes at times since it's not that purty blue , maybe the mogas makers could put some dye in it so when us mogas burners will know when we need some Mo' Gas ?

[SkyPirate]

Boy these " old guy's" are tough.. I thought for sure my red neckish inuendo's would put an air bubble in their fuel lines or get their landing gear tied in a knot...or at least stir a little prop dust:) But nope ... It's just like water off a turttle deck :D

<---- meanders over to the back of the hangar like a tail wheel and waits :D

[HighWing]

Boy these " old guy's" are tough.. :D

Well, I admit to being an old guy. In fact I have the hat to prove it. My favorite has the logo on the back saying, "The older i get, the better I was."

With that said, I have a question having to do with the placard.

Has anyone actually done a sequential fill to verify the numbers. The reason i ask is that I did back in the day and granted I had the original tanks, I found that with a slight bubble showing at the top of the horizontal (sight)tube I had nine gallons. I also found that with conventional gear, the fuel level on the gauge while resting in three point during run up was not the same a few minutes later when in level flight - by a gallon or more.

And a quick glance at my airplane resting on it's new tailwheel lift - Close to nose gear attitude, I see that the filler neck is about a half inch below the crown of the tank so in that attitude "Filling" would be impossible.

[HansLab]

Putting one plate 9with only the two holes in it) makes it impossible for you to close the nuts on the tank-seal..

I did check the numbers on the plate: I had two different types, with different distance between the numbers on them (one is http://www.kitfox.eu/technical/kf4-related.html)
And besides: we count in liters here.
So just ask a guy to put in buckets of 10 liters of fuel, and put a mark on the tube...

[airlina]

Now that's a good ideee , i ordered new sites when i ordered my wheel pants, i was going to have some glass tubes made and put a bead inside of the tube ( since i burn mogas and its almost the same color as the tubes) and I still might if i can find a bead that will float in fuel and not decompose , although I'm not as old as you's guy's its tough to see mogas in the tubes at times since it's not that purty blue , maybe the mogas makers could put some dye in it so when us mogas burners will know when we need some Mo' Gas ?

Hey Chase, I could never see the fuel level without a bunch of gyrations so I put a cork in it as they say. I found some small ball corks online that would fit in my clear tygon tubing , so I painted them with fuel proof paint and they work great at showing the level without those pesky gyrations. Bruce

[SkyPirate]

Lol on the hat Lowell :) And Cool on that Bruce, sounds like you have the solution, did you have to remove the wire inside of the tubing or did you drill a hole in the center of the cork and slide it on the wire?

[SkyPirate]

OK you guys got my creative juices flowing..so this is your fault :)

find some aluminum tubing that the site tubes can fit inside of ..thin wall and this would eliminate the wire stiffener so a cork float could be inserted

[Paul Z]

Here are the sight Gauges out of 703KA

I did not have any problem seeing the fuel, when I used Auto Fuel. However, ever since I only used 3 tanks of Auto Fuel, now I only use 100LL because of the Gasohol is required in Texas. I really do not want to have to do another Carb rebuild, along with sloshing the tanks. The Fuel Cost savings is not worth the hassle that was cause by the crap that was released into my fuel system after using it!

[tommg13780]

There is a vendor that caters to PPC flyers who offers a glass tube (or similar) with a floating orange pill. It has brass 90's and looks like it would fit or adapt to the kitfox configuration. I have a friend that uses it on his trike which has fuel tanks that were fabricated from stainless steel trays that are used on steam tables like you would see in a cafeteria setup. Two trays with the seam tig welded makes a 7 gallon tank looking similar to our header tanks only bigger. I thought it was a pretty cool way to repurpose something for a totally different application. I will try to find the website and post it later.

[tommg13780]

http://www.bearperkins.com/images/sight_tube_kit_small.jpg (http://www.bearperkins.com/images/sight_tube_kit.jpg)Sight tube kit

Add a sight tube to your gas tank. Kit comes complete with everything that you need to add a sight tube to your tank. Adequate line for 24" Tank Quantity 1 2 3 4 5 10 15 20 25 30 $17.00



http://www.bearperkins.com/accessories.htm

It's hard to see but there is an orange floatie in the kit.

[airlina]

Lol on the hat Lowell :) And Cool on that Bruce, sounds like you have the solution, did you have to remove the wire inside of the tubing or did you drill a hole in the center of the cork and slide it on the wire?

No wire needed in my setup, as I have brass elbows that make my turns, clear tygon for the sight gauge with the cork floating on its own. Bruce