Dec 29, 2021     Pressure test left fuel tank - (1 hour)       Category: Fuel System

I pipe clamped an emergency tire stem to a plastic hose (cut off from my wort chiller) and to the fuel line inlet (I covered the overflow tube with a cleco rubber and camped it). Hooked up my air-pig and slowly pressurized the fuel tank. Then I spritzed all connections and the fuel-fill cap with dish-soap and water. I needed to tighten a few line connections and I also needed adjust the fuel cap. No more leaks. I have rechecked that there's still air pressure a few hours later and it's still holding it. Looks good.

  Apr 03, 2021     6-K-1 Left Wing Fuel Sender finish - (2 hours)       Category: Fuel System

Sealed fuel sender using Proseal purchased from Van's RV, finger screen, and fuel return port using EZTurn.
That Proseal is sticky, stringy, and messy.

  Apr 02, 2021     Left Wing Fuel Line holes       Category: Fuel System

Drilled Left Wing fuel line holes.
Set return line holes so they'd be slighly uphill so they'd drain back to the tank. R2: 5mm higher than R3. R1: 5mm higher than R2.

  Mar 14, 2021     Practiced building fuel lines (bending, flaring) - (1.5 hours) Category: Fuel System

  Jan 31, 2021     Fuel tank work - (2 hours) Category: Fuel System

I flushed out my left wing fuel tank to prepare it for sealing with the fuel tank sealant (MC-240-B1/2 purchased from Van Aircraft) to seal the fuel sender. Decided to wait until i can take it to the garage to do this so i don't get formaldihyde fumes throughout the house. I proceeded to cut the hole in left nose rib #3 for the insert to push the sender cable thru (from the top of the tank), and then cut the hole for the return line (for if I decide to install it. I may just cap it at the tank, still not sold on either direction to install the return or not, but making the hole will allow for the descision to be made later at any time (even after the plane is done).

  Dec 26, 2020     Cutting fuel tank - (4 hours)       Category: Fuel System

Final drilled and deburred wing locker lid (left wing)

Cut hole in left wing fuel tank for top mounted fuel sender. Ok, you wouldn't think this would take quite so long, but it did. I started with the fly cutter using my cordless drill. The tank isn't flat on top, therefore this was dicey at best. I prefered the handheld at this point because if the cutter blade would catch, the spin would stop.

  Dec 16, 2020     Research fuel sender options - (4 hours)       Category: Fuel System

The hours on this are off, so really much more, really, cause I've spent the last couple of days researching which sender to get and where to place it.
I had turned back the one that Zenith offered with the kit because I read too much about those seep/leaking over time. So, maybe mechanical is not out, but the VW ones definately were out.
I also didn't like the idea of cutting a big hole in the side of my tank. So I thought I'd do either a top-down or bottom-up hole. Eventually this firmed up as top-down is probably the best.
I moved to capacitive. I thought that if i could find one that was double bendable I could actually come in from the side so i can get a full sweep of empty-to-full. I called Centroid Products because I heard that they will actually bend it for you. Well, they said that they don't do double bends. So my only option would be either to come down from the top (6") or do a single 90 deg down-turn from the side only really getting deflection from mid-tank to empty. One other issue with these is that they have about .80" profile, which seems a little tall above the tank to cover with a blister.
I then found the Princeton capacitive senders (https://www.princeton-electronics.com) and even found one guy that successfull double bent it. He never answered my questions as to how well it worked. So I called the company directly. Left messages 3 times. And then eventually emailed them...It's been a few days now, with no response, so nope.
After finding out that capacitive would loose it's calibration depending on which fuel you were using (100LL or mogas). I figured that I'd probalby be switching from time to time due to availability while traveling, which really also concerned my wife, so she decided for me that capacitive was out.
I saw a video from Jan Eggenfellner (Viking) where he has started using marine Moeller Reed Switch Sending Unit plus I read of a few other folks on the builder forums were using them. I like this unit. It's got a magnetic float that slides up and down the shaft that affects the resistance on the wire. Not mechanically connected. I found a few at iBoats.com (Summitracing.com didn't have 7" in stock and it'd be nearly 3 months to ship).