Auxiliary fuel transfer rate

[TrueAirSpeed]

An observation and question for those 4 place Bearhawk owners with Auxiliary fuel tanks. I rarely fill or use the two aux tanks in my 4 place. But last week I thought I would fill them and gauge the time it took to transfer the 11 gallons in each aux tank to the main tanks. Aux electrical fuel pumps on and timer started, it took 26 minutes and 51 seconds to transfer the 22 gallons to the main tanks. This was in the hangar, so no engine running, just the battery. I came away thinking almost 27 minutes was a long time to transfer that 22 gallons. Anyone else have thoughts on their fuel transfer from aux tanks to main tanks?

Terry

[AZBearhawk272]

Depends on pump and plumbing.
Two different planes, same pump, different plumbing.
30 min and 40 minutes when in flight.

Kevin D
272
KCHD

[rodsmith]

In my Maule with similar size tanks and the facet cube pumps it took 30 minutes so that is in the ballpark.

[AKKen07]

Sounds about right to me. There was one variable that Mark told me about during the build that would affect transfer time. The size of the tubing, whether you opted for 1/4” or 3/8”. 3/8 was obviously the faster option. Your time to transfer looks pretty close to what I’d expect in my system with 3/8 lines.

[TrueAirSpeed]

Thanks for the input.

[kestrel]

I have 25 gallon aux tanks and it takes about 35 minutes (IIRC) to transfer all of it. ...I never do it all at once because my mains would have to be close to running out when I start the transfer for all the the aux fuel to fit by the time the transfer is complete.

[Mark Goldberg]

Just an additional data point - to transfer the 11 gallons per side on my original BH - it was right under 30 minutes. With the Facet pumps I installed. And 3/8" lines. Another early builder used the same pumps but with 1/4" lines - it was a little over 40 minutes. Mark