{"id":12757,"date":"2017-02-21T16:13:34","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T16:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=12757"},"modified":"2017-02-21T18:58:48","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T18:58:48","slug":"double-disappointment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/double-disappointment\/","title":{"rendered":"Double disappointment"},"content":{"rendered":"

The replacement Camloc fastener for the one that I lost from 77ASY’s engine cowling arrived in the post on Saturday so although it was an excellent afternoon for flying, I went to Malbec to fit it and then returned home to continue working on my new fuel rig. My plan was to finish the job off, leaving Sunday free for me to go flying.<\/p>\n

I did indeed manage to complete the job before it began to get dark but then I had a major disappointment. I connected the rig up to a 12V car battery and the pump burst into life when I pressed the start button so so far, so good. Then I placed a jerrican containing fuel in position with the delivery tube feeding into an empty one and squeezed the primer bulb a few times.<\/p>\n

Fuel did indeed rise from the jerrican into the filter but more to the point, I was extremely alarmed to see that at the same time it was leaking from the pump’s base plate. I checked the retaining bolts and they were a bit loose, so having tightened them this time I just pressed the power button.<\/p>\n

The pump whirred but failed to deliver any fuel and instead just continued to leak like a sieve. I checked the retaining bolts again and also the top screws that I think retain the motor, from which area it also appeared to be leaking, but the problems continued. At that point I decided that it was time to give up as light was running out.<\/p>\n

At least I had a flight to look forward to on Sunday, I thought, but yet again I was to be disappointed. Although the day had been forecast to be as good as, if not better than, Saturday, in fact we were subjected to mist that persisted for the whole of the day. Bergerac airport was reporting IMC for practically the whole day and as I’d planned a flight around the periphery of its CAS, I thought it sensible to give it a miss and 77ASY stayed in its hangar.<\/p>\n

Earlier today I took the opportunity to get the fuel rig out again to have another look. I’ve contacted the pump supplier in the US and as I purchased it from Ebay and paid by Paypal, I’ve demanded a refund. I’ve also said that I don’t intend to incur the (substantial) cost of returning it since it’s only good for scrap, and I’m now awaiting their reply.<\/p>\n

What I found a short while ago was that now that the leaked fuel has evaporated, what’s left behind is what appears to be a clean oily residue. This suggests to me that the pump had been tested using oil so I ask myself what’s going on? If it was tested after manufacture, how come they didn’t also find that it was leaking like a sieve?<\/p>\n

For now I’ll wait for the supplier’s reply to my Ebay dispute but I’m thinking that what I’ll do, probably tomorrow, is strip the unit to see if there’s any potential for making up and fitting replacements gaskets made from, say 1.5mm nitrile rubber, that may stop the leaks in their tracks.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here are a few shots of the completed rig. First, a couple of shots fom the front showing the basic arrangement with the fuel delivery tube and start\/stop button on the left and the long (too long, but can easily be shortened) 12V power leads with crocodile clips to connect remotely to my car battery, on the right.<\/p>\n

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Now two shots of the rear showing the connection arrangement.<\/p>\n

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All items excluding the pump, so that’s the fuel filter, the electrical junction box, the main connection cable, the start\/stop button cable and the pump connection cable are secured to the backboard just by cable ties, the ultralight pilot’s saviour. I’m just hoping that I can do something to solve the leaky pump problem and that it’s not just been sold as a con trick because if I can get it working to the spec that’s been published for it, the rig will be exactly what I need. Here’s hoping, therefore.<\/p>\n

LATE-BREAKING NEWS<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have just received a message from the American supplier of the pump via Ebay. They have acknowledged that it should be returned at their cost but also seem to be recognising that this may not be financially justifiable. They have therefore asked me to obtain a quote for shipping it back to them but to not return it at this stage. Encouraging signs \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The replacement Camloc fastener for the one that I lost from 77ASY’s engine cowling arrived in the post on Saturday so although it was an excellent afternoon for flying, I went to Malbec to fit it and then returned home to continue working on my new fuel rig. My plan was to finish the job … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12757"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12773,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12757\/revisions\/12773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.micro-trike.co.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}