Water in the fuel

Ron Garret wrote in news:rNOSPAMon-
:

It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. Not a drop.
Ever. Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? (I fly in SoCal. Maybe that has something to do with it.)

rg




You've been lucky. I've had it lots of times..


Bertie

It's because the alcohol in the auto fuel absorbs it all...

Sadly, we still have to burn a fair amount of that over-priced blue crap
(that fouls my plugs and contaminates the earth) since most airports don't
sell mogas...

I've never found water in either mogas or avgas in our planes.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Ron Garret" wrote:

It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. Not a drop.
Ever. Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? (I fly in SoCal. Maybe that has something to do with it.)

I've never found any in fuel samples unless the airplane was exposed to rain
and the fuel cap gaskets were defective.

That's in the Mobile, AL area, one of the most humid spots in the U. S.

--
Dan
T182T at 4R4

"Jay Honeck" wrote in
news:ZyQCj.76791$yE1.8290@attbi_s21:

It's because the alcohol in the auto fuel absorbs it all...

Sadly, we still have to burn a fair amount of that over-priced blue
crap (that fouls my plugs and contaminates the earth) since most
airports don't sell mogas...

I've never found water in either mogas or avgas in our planes.

Because you don't know how to look, more than likely.


Bertie

Ron Garret wrote:
It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. Not a drop.
Ever. Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? (I fly in SoCal. Maybe that has something to do with it.)

I'm also in SoCal and have had a few drops a couple of times, except...

One time I stopped for fuel in Barstow. For those not familiar, Barstow
is in the middle of the desert and the last place in the world one
would expect to find water in the gas.

The first sample out of each sump had about a quarter cup of water.

It took many drains from each sump to get to clean gas.

This was a one time occurance (I've been to Barstow many times).

So the moral is, drain, as it only takes one fluke to screw up your day.


--
Jim Pennino

Remove .spam.sux to reply.

Depends on where you live and the design/condition of the fuel caps. Some
older Cessna fuel caps were notorious for letting water into the tanks. I
live in the Seattle area and would never pass up a chance to check for
water.

Bob Gardner

"Ron Garret" wrote in message
...
It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. Not a drop.
Ever. Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? (I fly in SoCal. Maybe that has something to do with it.)

rg

On Mar 15, 3:56*am, Ron Garret wrote:
It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. *Not a drop. *
Ever. *Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? *(I fly in SoCal. *Maybe that has something to do with it..)

rg

I've never come across any either, but my experience is limited.

How do the big boys check for water, the Boeings and the Busses?

Wil

William Hung wrote in news:ed9d1365-dc16-4b4e-9941-
:

On Mar 15, 3:56*am, Ron Garret wrote:
It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. *Not a drop. *

Ever. *Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? *(I fly in SoCal. *Maybe that has something to do with it
.)

rg

I've never come across any either, but my experience is limited.

How do the big boys check for water, the Boeings and the Busses?


Same way, but less frequently. Much less frequently.

Bertie

In the Ag world they never park up with anything but full tanks.
And -they- still check for water.
better to never find it than it is for the engine to find it

Nomen Nescio wrote in
:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

From: Ron Garret

It occurred to me today that in fifteen years of flying I have never
once found water in my fuel when I've drained my tanks. Not a drop.
Ever. Am I just lucky, or is this really as rare an occurrence as it
seems to be? (I fly in SoCal. Maybe that has something to do with
it.)

Oh, It's real.
I lost an engine on takeoff in my 3rd hour of solo flight as a
student. The thing just lost power and wound down REAL quick at a few
hundred ft AGL. It caught again after a very long 5-10 seconds and I
climbed out, circled around, and landed without further incident. Most
likely a little water in the line and a few tablespoons of water were
drained from the tank after. I've written it off as a **** poor fuel
check by a dumbass 17 y.o. student pilot on the first flight of the
morning. But since then, I've been goddam careful about draining
enough fuel to find any water in the system. And I have found some, on
occasion. It's been 35 years since then without any more problems.

And NO, I didn't need a change of underwear after I landed.
But you probably could have wrung more sweat out of my shirt than we
found in the fuel.


100LL initially had a big problem with holding water in suspension. it
only stayed in suspension as long as the fuel temp was above freezing,
though.. I don't know if they solved this in later formulations but I
know of a few incidents where this caused problems.



Bertie