Header Tanks
02-24-2002, 12:17 PM
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Header Tanks
I am getting ready to start on a T.F. DC-3. The fuel tanks are a long way from the engines, and would like to put Header Tanks in the naceles. How exactly do you plumb up Header tanks.
(not dumb-just never done this before)
wes
(not dumb-just never done this before)
wes
02-24-2002, 02:49 PM
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Header Tanks
Run the clunk line from the header tank to the carburetor. Run the vent line from the header tank to the clunk line of the main tank. Run the vent line from the main tank to the preasure fitting on your exhaust. If you run an inline filter and a T for filling put the filter between the header tank and the carb, put the T between the filter and the header tank. This months Model Aviation magazine has a nice article on this subject.
02-25-2002, 06:35 PM
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HEADER TANK
Mike,
Great diagram of the header setup. Question... will a standard carb(i.e. 2 stroke) have problems with running rich in midrange and loading at idle with a check valve setup? Also with a check valve there will be pressure in the tank all the time. This would cause fuel to run out the carb after shut down. Use a regulator of some kind?
I have run header tanks before but with just muffler pressure feeding the main tank and it works good as long as the main tank is also near the carb centerline. Get the main tank higher or lower by too much and there gets to be an inertia issue feeding the hopper tank and starving the carb on hard g manuvers. Best way in most cases is to use a pump. The header tank will help eliminate air in the system a trick the jet guys use.
Wayne
Great diagram of the header setup. Question... will a standard carb(i.e. 2 stroke) have problems with running rich in midrange and loading at idle with a check valve setup? Also with a check valve there will be pressure in the tank all the time. This would cause fuel to run out the carb after shut down. Use a regulator of some kind?
I have run header tanks before but with just muffler pressure feeding the main tank and it works good as long as the main tank is also near the carb centerline. Get the main tank higher or lower by too much and there gets to be an inertia issue feeding the hopper tank and starving the carb on hard g manuvers. Best way in most cases is to use a pump. The header tank will help eliminate air in the system a trick the jet guys use.
Wayne
02-25-2002, 07:55 PM
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Check valves
A check valve will help even a "non-pressure" engine. (one that uses muffler pressure only) I think the performance issue will vary from engine to engine, and I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question. BUT...
Always disconnect the pressure line from your tank when you go over and pick up your plane after a flight. Do this AFT of the check valve, and point it away fro your face, to avoid being squirted with any residual fuel/mist that might come out of the line. If you don't relieve the pressure, you're liable to get squirted in the face with fuel when you go to put fuel in!
When storing your plane, simply connect the pressure and feed lines, (using a piece of yellow nyrod, for example) bypassing the engine. That way, no fuel can leak out, but no fuel is running into the engine either.
Always disconnect the pressure line from your tank when you go over and pick up your plane after a flight. Do this AFT of the check valve, and point it away fro your face, to avoid being squirted with any residual fuel/mist that might come out of the line. If you don't relieve the pressure, you're liable to get squirted in the face with fuel when you go to put fuel in!
When storing your plane, simply connect the pressure and feed lines, (using a piece of yellow nyrod, for example) bypassing the engine. That way, no fuel can leak out, but no fuel is running into the engine either.
03-07-2002, 08:03 PM
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Header Tanks for DC-3
I have two suggestions:
1. If you have not already made a decision on the engines you are going to use, I strongly recommend that you consider the smallest Y.S. 4-stroke. With the pump systems that these engines have, you can have your main fuel tank virtually anywhere and not have a need for header tanks or for any concern about adequate fuel draw.
2. If you wont be using the Y.S. 4-stroke, then I think you need to be aware of a situation that I came across when setting up my first Ducted Fan Jet. Most ducted fan setups use a header tank and at least two saddle tanks. It is critical that the fuel tubing length be exactly the same from both tanks to the header or one tank will drain faster than the other. It seems that what you have is the exact opposite where the main tank will be filling two hopper tanks, hopefully at the same rate simultaneously. It seems to me this fuel line length issue would still apply in your situation so that the headers will fill at the same rate.
1. If you have not already made a decision on the engines you are going to use, I strongly recommend that you consider the smallest Y.S. 4-stroke. With the pump systems that these engines have, you can have your main fuel tank virtually anywhere and not have a need for header tanks or for any concern about adequate fuel draw.
2. If you wont be using the Y.S. 4-stroke, then I think you need to be aware of a situation that I came across when setting up my first Ducted Fan Jet. Most ducted fan setups use a header tank and at least two saddle tanks. It is critical that the fuel tubing length be exactly the same from both tanks to the header or one tank will drain faster than the other. It seems that what you have is the exact opposite where the main tank will be filling two hopper tanks, hopefully at the same rate simultaneously. It seems to me this fuel line length issue would still apply in your situation so that the headers will fill at the same rate.
