On Wed, 14 Jan 1998, Zink wrote:
> Odd Hedberg wrote:
> >
> > Friends...
> > Could someone tell me how the fuel level sender works in a tank
> > filled with a foam material, please. I have a little bit of a
> > problem picturing how they do it... Silly me, right? ;-)
> > Yours
> > /Odd
>
> Odd,
>
> >From what I understand of fuel cells, they use a consumption metering
> device on the fuel line (like a gasoline pump at the service station).
> The cell itself does not have a fuel guage. The crew knows how much
> fuel is in the tank when the engine is first started, and subtract the
> amount of fuel consumed to figure out how much is left in the tank.
>
That's fine for racers... however there are plenty of raciing fuel
cells in use on the street, where "wide open" all the time" isn't
the rule. There are sensors that don't use a float to figure out
how much is left in the tank... My friend's Mog +8 fr'instance.
The Bladder in his fuel cell (a "Fuel Safe") had to be replaced
last year (apparently they have a life span). What I saw whe the
unit was taken apart was several blocks of open cell foam in the
bladder with a hole cut in the center one. The old sensor was a
vertical acting float-type with a spiral shaft that went through
a slot in the "cork". The cork slid on rails and could not spin
so as it rose and fell the the shaft turned.
The new sensor was a 1/4" steel tube with a smaller brass tube in
the center, isolated by teeny nylon washers. the tubes were sunk in
a disk of epoxy resin (with the electronics inside). There was an
adjustment pot also sunk in the resin. I think it sensed the
depth of the liquid in the tube, or the impedance... or something...
Greg Petrolati
gpetrola@prairienet.org 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
"That's not a leak... My car is just marking its territory!"
Greg Petrolati, Champaign, Illinois
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