Contaminated fuel

Hi guys.

Thismorning we refueled the Gazelle from a drum that has had a few tanks pumped out of it.. A fuel drain revealed some black flakes.. I know we often get a little bit of that sort of thing, but this was heaps... covering the bottom of the tester..When i poured some out on my hand and rubbed it it turns into like a smear of black paint..

The aircraft has just been delivered from warick in qld to the south coast of new south..On the trip down i used Avgas a few times and mogas a few times..

Any ideas?? what it could be.. Someone at the club sugested fungas??

cheers

It could be a fungus growth if the fuel has had any water in it, if part of a drum has been used then it could have water from condensation, the only way to kill it is use a fuel bioside which is added to the tank of fuel. The best thing to do is drain all the fuel from the aircraft fuel tank and replace it with fresh fuel from a clean container.

Cheers

Brian

Fungus is more common in Turbine fuel, but I suppose it is possible in Avgas or mogas, if there is water present. More than likely just a bad load of fuel from some where, which is always a potential danger when travelling. Yeah probabily a good idea to flush it and start again. You might want to have a look at you'r fuel bowls and filter also.

Thanx guys. We did have a drum get some water in it a while back (3 or 4 weeks). Im not sure which drum it was, we use 6. I was told that they cleaned the drum out after useing the fuel in a mower.. But, i spose we should trust no-one when it comes to these things..

Thanx again..

Hope it's not the drum degrading! :ah_oh:

I've done a bit of heli mustering with a very experienced R22 pilot and he always tips the drums on their sides with the cap down. His theory was if the fuel leaked out, he didn't want anything left in it and if it stayed it didn't draw moisture and contaminants in so it was ok.

could be the lining inside the drum deteriationg.toss the drums and get new ones

running a filter on the pump? might be time to change it. make sure the filter housing is clean. use double filters one of which is a marine type water seperator. do not handle aviation filters with bare hands you will disarm them on contact.

useing mogas? no naughty fuel supplier contaminating it with ethanol? what past life did the drums have.

store the drums on their side with both bungs horizontal on two lengths of timber to keep them off the ground. even when they are empty.. as stated above tilt the drums at least 4 inches suck from the high side and keep the left over for the mower and use a different pump to remove this fuel.

Just another thought could it be similar to the Mobil avgas problem a few years ago sounds like it is similar

I though I had replied to this yesterday, but no sign so it went missing.

Do you have rubber fuel hoses, they can degrade and give off a very fine black sort of powder.

Is fungas Nitrous Oxide?

No, the hoses checked out ok.. Im almost sure its water in the drum/ drums.. Not sure about the oxide thing.

The black flakes look to me like carbon chunks my father inlaw gets from his home distillery.. I swear ya could run an engine on the stuff he pumps out...:yuk:

General rules I work from out bush when forced to use drum fuel.

- Never use fuel from a drum that has contained diesel at any stage of it's life. The diesel fuel attacks the paint lining and makes it flake off and turn into a powder. Could be the cause if it is not a pure AVGAS drum.

- Never use a drum that has been stored upright. Air (and moisture) seeps past the rubber seal when the drum cools and then condensates on the inside. It must always be stored on it's side as the fuel helps stop the air seeping past the seal.

- Only use a partial drum if the temps have been perfectly even and the drum has been stored (for a short period only) in the shade. The sun heats and cools the drum and thus is forcing moisture ladden air past the seals if it is stored outdoors.

Learnt my lesson filling up the 4wd only to have fuel / water problems in the middle of the simpson. Not much fun cleaning the filter every 20-30k.

Gibbo

If you must have a vertical drum, make sure the bungs cannot get submerged in rainwater. I have seen water sucked through the seals

Fungas?

I like that Ian. Is it nitrous oxide? That is an anaesthetic "laughing gas" colloquially. and when you put it through your engine you probably have "fun" as well.

IF you use a good filter these problems will be coped with. Unless you are getting the fuel out of a proper bowser without all the contamination problems, you must use a bloody good filter. It's your neck, (and maybe some other poor B*****rd travelling with you.). contaminated fuel is a no-go. Nev..