swixtt

hello well i have used the very simple 'filling station' from Dubro but the top cap keeps breaking and then the fuel jug isn't sealed anymore. what do you guys do for fueling? i want to keep the jug sealed and use my dubro manual fueler somehow? just looking for some ideas on what others have done!
thanks

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

I find that the fancier things get, the more you have that will go wrong.

Sure, I used to have an electric fuel pump that plugged into my power panel along with my glow driver and electric starter, etc, etc.

Now I use a hand-cranked pump and I just take the cap off the bottle, fuel up, and replace the cap.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I have two one gallon fuel jugs (small red jugs intended for gasoline, but I use them for glow fuel). I simply poked two small holes in the top of the jug and insterted my fuel lines in. One for the pickup and one for overflow. The holes that I made are just a little bit smaller than the size of the fuel tubing so that makes a good seal to keep the jug sealed up. I run these lines outside of my flight box and hook up a hand cranked pump to fuel my planes. When not in use I connect the two lines (pickup and overflow) together to keep any moisture from getting into the jugs. I've been using this setup for about 7 years now and have never had an bit of trouble with it. If you look at the attached picture you can see the set of fuel lines on the left have the pump hooked up to them, and the set on the right are connected to keep the jug sealed.

Just in case anybody asks, I use the gallon gasoline jugs because they will fit into the bottom of my field box!!

Ken

piper_chuck

My Feedback: (12)

And when you accidentally dump some nitro in the lawn mower, do you get the mowing done in half the time?

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Mowing!!!!! Mowing???? Who the heck has time to mow??? That takes time away from flyin!!!

Ken

orenda635

I bought the fuel jug fittings and a Hobbico hand crank pump when I first started. I used it for four or five years before it broke. I bought a Sullivan electric fuel pump and I've been using that ever since. I like the electric pump since it fuels the plane a lot faster. No power panel. I had one but it broke after less than a season of use. I just use my old 12v gel battery (which is on it's last legs) for fuling. I use a motorcycle battery for my starter and I have a cordless glow driver.

swixtt

when using those Gas jugs do you make holes in the cap of it? i guess i just want to make sure i have a good tight seal on it. i will probably continue to use the jug the gas comes in but wanted a better way to leave the tubing installed.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

If you drill the hole just a little bit smaller than the outside diameter of the tubing when you push the tubing into the hole it will seal off the hole and leave you with a sealed jug.

Ken

bruce88123

I've used both of these before with no problems.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0097p
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXJ811&P=0

flyingJ

I like the filling station fitting set by Great Planes {GPMP4155} you can easily set it up for a manual or electric fueling pump. Once you drill the cap of your fuel jug, you can just switch the cap from jug to jug.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Besides, they don't have grass in Oklahoma - just dust.

And just for the record... When I was a kid my dad used to use an old fuel can (Metal can) as a gas can. One day I had to mow the lawn. There was only about an inch of gas in the can, so I went up to the local gas station and for 25¢ I filled the can with gas (Ah, the good ol' days)

Well, it turns out that 1" of gas at the bottom was glow fuel.

The lawnmower ran fine for a little while, but after a few minutes the muffler started blowing some smoke. A few seconds later the smoke got THICK! and just about the time the mower disappeared in the smoke cloud, the muffler started spitting out flames.

One flame about 8 inches long for every combustion cycle. Scared the bejesus out of me!

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

I like to keep things very simple. I just use the caps the jugs come with. I don't keep my pump attached to anything, and stick it in a large ziplock bag to keep the dirt and grass off of it.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Ditto

pkevinb

I have the same thing and have the same problem. The red nut on the underside of the cap is constantly coming loose. I need to get a lockwasher for it someday because I am constantly having to re-tighten it. I haven't got frustrated enough by it yet to actually do something though.

swixtt

mine was actually breaking at the cap. just above the threads on the cap it would crack. it's done this twice now... so time for something different.

last night i mounted my manual fuel pump to my flight box and then drilled a hole in the top cap for the fuel jug and mounted the filler there. it seems to be a pretty good seal so far. i may look for another type of cap as this one is double layered and may not seal quite as well.

swixtt

Here are a couple of pics... (you can see the crack in the first one!)

you can see the top cap is compressed a bit because it is double walled.(because of the safety on it). don't have any caps without that on it.

let me know what you guys think...

pkevinb

Thanks for those pics. I think I might do the same thing with mine. I think the whole problem is the the stress put on the parts from cranking the handle on the pump.