Plumbing fuel cell

E

Eric P

Member
Anyone have a GOOD resource for (re)plumbing a fuel cell, particularly the pickups?

OR, can you answer the following:

I have an 8gal ATL cell with two pickups inside, each in a different front corner. Seems like a good idea but they both go to one pump (external). My not so smart mind thinks that if one pickup gets starved it'll just start sucking air at the pump rather than pull from the other pickup that is still submerged. No?

Also, are the pickups best placed in front or in rear or front and rear? How do you figure where to put them?

I came to all this because the tank is 8 gal but I can barely go below 4 gallons before I lose pressure in the corners. I probably should go to a collector in the cell but, well, I haven't.

Thanks!
Eric
 
The pickups should be in the rear corners. All you need to do is install a second fuel pump ( one for each pickup). Then plumb the two pumps through a tee or y connector to the carb(s). Also, make sure your pickups are sitting in the bottom of your cell. This should take care of your issue.
 
Eric:

What Don said X2.

I added a second pickup to my ATL cel with a second pump, plumbed to to "tee" fitting in the line to the carbs.

Rick
 
I think you also need one way valves between the pumps and the tee.

Otherwise, if one pump dies the flow can go back through the dead pump.

-Kyle
 
Thanks guys!

I kinda didn't want to have to do a second pump but it makes sense to. Would also add a nice redundancy if one pump dies.

I'm not sure on the check valve. I've seen diagrams with and without them. I see how it may be needed. Although, a dead pump may block back pressure, no?

E
 
Most simple solution is the "black box" made by ATL or Fuelsafe which has an internal pump and trap doors. It works better than any other complicated setup even for fuel infection.




Sam Moore

EP 17 BMW
 
disquek":2s7otzfu said:
I think you also need one way valves between the pumps and the tee.

Otherwise, if one pump dies the flow can go back through the dead pump.

-Kyle
Click to expand...

Kyle is right that you should be concerned about this. Some fuel pumps will backflow when they die, some won't so just depends. You need to check the pumps you choose to use and then install the check valves if needed.
 
I only have one pickup in my fuel cell but I do run two pumps for safety. A trick I use to be able to get all the fuel out of the tank is to put a layer of foam in the bottom of the metal housing before placing the rubber tank in it. The foam starts out about 1" thick but I carved it with an angle to have a low section near the rear, center portion of the fuel cell to get the fuel to pool there and that is where I place the pickup. I can run to less than a pint left in the tank without any loss of fuel pickup. The only drawback is I have no warning in the corners that I am about to run out of fuel. I know that if it starts to miss out because of lack of fuel I can just shut it off because I can only coast to a stop.

Once I pulled into impound after a session on the track with the engine still running perfectly before shutting it down; later when I tried to start it to go back to the paddock, I got no fire because of being out of fuel. I usually don't run it that close on fuel, I like to have around 1/2 gallon left in it.
 
I used the ATL black box in a previous race care and thought it worked well. This car came with the two pickups.

I like the foam under the bladder idea a lot! Even for two pickups/pumps might be a good idea to help fuel pool where the pickups are.

Thanks a bunch for the ideas.

E
 
It's also a good idea to mount the pumps as low as possible.

I often see them mounted above the cell, not ideal.

The pump won't want to draw fuel up from the cell, might be part of problem with not getting the cell empty.

I used 2 pumps, although not sure what might happen if one were to quit. Would be smart to make everything seperate, 2 switches and 2 fuses, that way if a switch fails or a wire or a connection anywhere, then one pump should still work.
 
Eric,

You could just run one pump and only use one pickup at a time. If the track is predominately left turns use the right pickup.
I did this once at Thunderhill (used right pickup), thinking that once the fuel level got down low it would tell us on the longer right hand turns.
Lesson learned, it did not give any warning, when it quit, it was dry.

John
 
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