Thread: Improved Visibility for FD Dipstick

I am taking lessons on a CT and have found using the FD dipstick to determine fuel levels in the tanks to be difficult in most light situations. One of the owners of the CT, Ken Blair at kblairvt@yahoo.com has come up with a solution - powder coating of the dipstick. The attached photos hopefully show the results. I have seen the comparison in person and the contrast is striking. Since the powder coat process is not a paint process, there is no problem of fuel attacking the coating. Here is the deal:

Ken is serious about doing this as a service to the CT community.

1. Ken ships a powder-coated dipstick to the customer with an invoice for $10 + shipping. (honor system)

2. The customer mails his dipstick + payment to Ken.

Anyone interested in this should contact Ken at the above email address.

Here is last image which I couldn't seem to attach to the original message.

I just bought a universal fuel stick (a hollow straw made of plexigals with numbers on the side). I stick it in the tank, put my finger on the top, and easily read the fuel level. I then put it along side the CT dip stick and it is converted to gallons.

Ken,

I sent you the old one and the ten bucks today...

And for those of you wondering THIS IS GREAT! Amazing, you can actually see were the fuel is!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Many thanks Ken for a great piece of work!

Roger H

I just sent Ken an email requesting two, I would like an extra dipstick for my fueling trailer.

Great Idea

Here's my solution!
A piece of rilsan pipe to be closed with a finger after the dipstick is in the tank dipped in the fuel.

Dimitri,

Another good solution. Thanks for sharing.

Roger H

I got my powder coated dipstick in todays mail. It works great. Glad I did it.

Yes, there are other ways to attack this problem but this is the simplest. No extra dipstick to carry. No attachments. Just the one multipurpose tool which takes off the cap and clearly shows fuel level.

Hi all, I just received mine last week also. Ditto's, it works great! Thanks, again Ken for making this available.

Why not just spray the stick with black epoxy paint? A dip in the fuel won't hurt it.