Fuel Drip Containment

"David Lesher" wrote in message
...
It might be interesting to take a container with some small quantity
of gas-damp kitty litter and ignite it safely -- ie well clear of
any burnable stuph and with a 6' pole to set it off.

The kitty litter won't burn. The gas fumes will, and I'd assume will
the heat will evaporate 'trapped' gas....but slowly.

Just use the fuel soaked kitty litter in the litter box. It will keep your
cat from smoking! ;-)

Avgas or auto fuel will smell better than the used litter box.

How about a piece of tygon tubing with a inside diameter the size of the
vent tube. Let that hang (or support it with the wing strut) and let it
drain into a gas can. If you are careful you might even be able to reuse
it. I am lucky, my 172F has never had this condition. A friend with a
150 always had it and only fueled when he got ready to fly.

I use a short piece of hose with some wire mesh in it and a orange
"flag" hanging from it. I put that over the vent tube to keep the pesky
bugs from building a nest in it. Orange flag reminds me to remove before
flight.

("Jim Weir" wrote)
Sorry, no cigar. Putting a source of ignition (110 ac) in proximity to a
fuel
source isn't where I wanted to be.

One more try:

BTW, in the future, please leave out any references to cigars -
you, you, you ...politician :-)

Take the (fully sealed) lizard rock and make a 1x3 frame around it, with a
bottom board. Box should be about the size of a Cheerios box. Pour cement
around "lizard rock". (Doesn't matter what side of the lizard rock is up,
now that the whole thing is encased in cement)

In the side of the cement Cheerios box (with the "lizard rock cocooned
inside) insert a 6" piece of PVC pipe. The PVC pipe will have the power cord
running through it. Goop up the end of the PVC pipe to seal up the cord.
Might be easier to do this before the cement pour. g

Now you have a re-hearing thermal mass to set your brownie pan on top of.
Those lizard rocks get pretty warm, but not hot-hot. Do the normal (super)
insulation thing for the cement thermal mass. Don't forget the duct tape.

Whole thing should weigh as much as an old IBM Selectric typewriter. Heck,
use an old typewriter cart. High wing right?

This all assumes warming up the gasoline, by spreading it out in an old
turkey roasting pan with a thermal mass under it, will hasten evaporation.
Original brownie pan idea lacked capacity - just in case.

"Is it safe?" - Marathon Man.

--
Montblack
"Styled by the laws of nature.............Concorde"

("David Lesher" wrote)
It might be interesting to take a container with some small quantity
of gas-damp kitty litter and ignite it safely -- ie well clear of
any burnable stuph and with a 6' pole to set it off.

Jim is "out there" in California.

He might want to hold off on the kitty litter fire, until the other fires
are put out.

--
Montblack

("G.R. Patterson III" wrote)
You forgot - he's gonna fill it with fuel cell foam. :-)


.....after he puts a cement weight in the bottom of the can!!

--
Montblack

"Styled by the laws of nature.............Concorde"

"Montblack" wrote in message ...

Whatever you choose, just separate the heating thing from the thermal mass
pan thing.

It isn't clear to me that evaporating the fuel is what you want to do. A coffee can
of liquid fuel is a whole lot better than a enclosed space full of fuel vapor.

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:09:13 -0800, Jim Weir wrote:

Hm. I guess I could rotate the whole airport so that my hangar faces lefthand
UPHILL instead of downhill, but it is going to take a moby-large bulldozer to do
it.

My hangar slopes slightly downward toward the left wing. I just park
my 182L (LR tanks) with the left wheel sitting on a 1/4" x 12" x 6"
chunk of plywood. Even without the plywood, mine only drips if it is
brim full, or if the temperature increases by 40 degrees F or more
since it was fuelled.

It doesn't drip if the temperature drops, or if the fuel level is
below or just even with the bottom of the filler neck, at which point
you can only jam in another 2-3 gallons per side.

MikeM
Skylane '1MM

Plus the EPA is gona get ya for air pollution.


Ron Natalie wrote:

"Montblack" wrote in message ...

Whatever you choose, just separate the heating thing from the thermal mass
pan thing.

It isn't clear to me that evaporating the fuel is what you want to do. A coffee can
of liquid fuel is a whole lot better than a enclosed space full of fuel vapor.

("Ron Natalie" wrote)
It isn't clear to me that evaporating the fuel is what you want to do. A
coffee can
of liquid fuel is a whole lot better than a enclosed space full of fuel
vapor.

You're probably right.

There just aren't many airplane projects that start by mixing up a small bag
of Quick-Crete.

--
Montblack

"Styled by the laws of nature.............Concorde"