Thread: New FD Aluminum fuel filter

FYI,

Here are a couple of pictures of the new FD fuel filter. I believe these will be mandatory very soon. These are a one time buy and reusable. Just unscrew it, clean it and screw it back together.

Here is one more fuel filter picture.

And, accordimg to Dana @ FD, tighten the two pieces together until you have metal to metal contact being carefull not to let the wrenches slip thereby rounding the corners. There apparently will not be a torque value.

John,s right just snug the two halve down. Don't over torque it as it is an "O" ring seal and not a gasket. I would recommend that you use a very light coat of white grease on the sealing "O" ring to make sure it goes into place smoothly and seats properly. White grease is compatible with gas. Rotax uses it on most of their "O" rings. There will be one more part to the SB. For many of the SW's there will be an addition to the SB. The fuel line just above the shut off valve is just rubber hose that makes a 180 degree turn. FD will want a piece of stainless steel tube put in place where the line makes the 180 degree bend. This will be easy and will eliminate any chance of a kink. Stainless tubing can be had at many hardware stores and can be bent with a bender. The poor man's way of bending if you don't have a bender is to fill it with sand. Plug off the ends so the sand doesn't leak out and then form or bend it around something. The sand keeps it from kinking and allows it to bend in any shape you need. Then dump the sand and clean the tube really well.

If anyone has the fuel filter up stream of the shut off valve instead of down stream you would have to drain the fuel tanks, but wait, the good news is all you have to do is use a pair of clamps on the fuel line over the fire sleeve and it will stop all fuel between the tanks and the filter. Use the clamps at the "A" post and one for each side.
Been there already.

Doing these two things is really easy so don't panic.

"Ace is the place for the friendly hardware man" and your stainless steel tubing.

Roger. I have my new filter and find that it has larger diameter spigots than the existing factory fitted unit? Nominally 3/8 compared to nominal 1/4. While I try and figure out how to handle that I wondered I you ever came up with a solution to the total inacessability of the filter. I have tried several times to remove it for inspection and given up. Do you have midgets with long strong arms to get thru the lower control panel opening over there? Or am I missing something obvious,
David

Hi OZ,

It will fit just push it in. For better access pull the top center panel out too and that will allow you to get both hands in there much easier. If you have to put a little white grease lube on the filter ends. It will go. I have done three already and another one tomorrow. Some of the LS had the filter mounted up stream of the shut off just before it makes a 180 degree turn into the shut off valve. That made it really easy, but I believe they have gone back to down stream side of the shut off valve. The SB coming out will also have you put a stainless steel tube in place of that 180 degree bend just before the shut off so you never have to worry about a kink. I believe most of the LS's have the tubing at that location from the factory. Where the filter comes out just below the shut off and sweeps upward my hose trys to kink right out of the shutoff valve. The shut off valve angles down and the line out the firewall is slightly angled up and this distorted the plastic filters. I took a very short piece of the same stainless tubing down stream of the fuel filter and made it sweep more upward in the natural flow of the hose. No more kinks. It is a very short piece of tubing with with a sweep in it and a very short piece of fuel hose to join the filter with the hose exiting the firewall. Remember when you add the tubing you are supposed to use band clamps and not screw clamps. The only clamps with a screw is on the fuel filter itself.

Many thanks for the tips Roger....appreciated. Why not copper tubing? is that an issue?
Regards David

You should you stainless steel. I find it in 12" and 36" lengths in the local hardware store. No copper or aluminum. Stainless should be used when you splice a line. It holds up longer, less likely to get bent and kink from being too soft and less likely to react with anything in the fuel.
If you don't have a tubing bender for stainless since it is fairly rigid then get something round about 3" in diameter. Put it in a vise and just pull the tubing around it. It works quite easily. Stainless tubing is far less likely to kink. You don't need a huge piece. It will look the letter "C" and be about 3" wide at the mouth. Use a tubing cutter to cut it and if you don't have a tubing cutter a hacksaw will work, but then you need to clean up the ends. If you use the tubing cutter ream the mouth of the tubing after you cut it. Use band clamps (i.e. Otiker) to secure both ends in the fuel line and don't forget to use band clamps on the firesleeve, too.

Again, Thanks for your input, Roger

David ,

You are indeed correct what a dumbass idea to put a serviceable filter in such an inaccessible location.

I am thinking of installing 2 of the new FD filters one on each wing tanks so I can service the filter and replace the sight tube at the same time and not have to pull the dash out to convince myself that the tubing as satisfactorily secured and not going to leak in flight.

Peter