quick drains on wing tanks

[Jfquebec]

Flush quick drain...no leak...0 hrs...

[PapuaPilot]

The reason we have drains on our wings is to drain water or small debris in the fuel. Don't ever consider plugging them up. I would rather have stains on a paint job then an engine failure!

Often the QDs leak because of some type of debris got stuck in the seat of the valve. The debris can be usually flushed or pulled out and the valve will stop leaking. It seems that you will want to be very careful during the first hours of operation because there might be some debris that is in your tanks.

Aged o'rings will crack or chip and leak. They can be replaced on some drain valves. You might even consider changing the o'rings if your project is more than 10 years since purchase. Many o'rings have a shelf life of 10-15 years.

[Dave S]

Patrick,

Had the flush mounted quick drains in the wing tanks for 5 years....never a leak....also have a spare in the plane - JIC

Now...for the non-flush mount quick drains.....had one of them leak after 3 years...the O ring was the problem - built a little different than the flush mount Quick Drains.

Sincerely,

Dave S
KF 7 Trigear
912ULS Warp Drive

[N981MS]

About 750 hours on our flush mounts and I don't think they have ever been taken out of the tank. Hardly ever found any trash or water. Got to have quick drains though. Found small amount of water once on preflight after outside in rain. Been outside in rain other times but no water. Very rarely very small amount of trash. But, you never know when you will get some bad fuel somewhere,

Please suggest to your friend that he put his quick drains back in.

[n85ae]

The drains in the tanks don't really make sense if you ask me, since the fuel
system low point is the header tank anyway, seems to me that checking that
makes the most sense. I really don't see those wing drains as being useful.

That said mine has them, and I do check them, but every time I check I feel
like they don't serve any real purpose. Plus they occasionally weep fuel.

Regards,
Jeff

[Paul Z]

Flush mount drains on the SLSA’s

[DesertFox4]

I've flown my model 4 without wing tank drains for 11 years with no problems but will add that I live in the desert where condensing moisture is much less likely. I always sump the lowest drain on my system which is the bottom of the aluminum header tank.

My problem comes now when traveling cross country into higher moisture content areas of the country where water in fuel can be a higher possibility. Without wing tank sumps, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes for water to reach the header tank if water is introduced to the wing tanks through fueling. I refuel first then go get a soda or restroom break then come back and check for water in the fuel.

My worst instance of water in the fuel in 11 years was at Cavanaugh Bay, Idaho after a night of rain and the next morning it was heavy dew and some fog. I drained close to 10 sumps of water out of the header tank before getting a clear reading.

I think I'd put the flush mount wing sumps in if doing it over. You could check immediately after fueling to see if water was introduced.