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CiES fuel senders

WayneJ

Member
Good morning,

Except for the fine writeup done by HAL pilot on installing the CiES fuel senders I can't find much info here. My impression is that not many builders are installing this high quality and accurate but very expensive option. However a good source told me yesterday that many have been installed. Input and comments from those who have them would be appreciated as I am very tempted to install them in my RV-14A build.

Aside from the cost my main concern is with the added time and effort involved. Especially when installing two senders in each tank. (One in each tank would be much simpler and still an upgrade). I am trying to stay on script as much as possible but this upgrade may be worthwhile. I am aware that the stock senders supplied by Van's in the kit are sufficient especially with the fuel flow info available.
 
I, for one, have installed just one in each tank. I suspect that many have installed them but perhaps not many are flying yet. I'm still at least a year away and thus can't comment much yet.
 
Wayne, you said it.

One in each tank that's accurate when tanks are approaching low, plus fuel consumed from FF device and you are in control.

I installed low level sensors ( electronic eyes ) to enunciate calibrated low fuel level because wound resistor floats have so many issues. Accurate low level info and FF info tell the story.

That said, my latest project ( painting as we speak ) has CEIS senders to G3X.
 
Input and comments from those who have them would be appreciated as I am very tempted to install them in my RV-14A build.

Not sure exactly what type of input that you're looking for, but I have them, and really enjoy them. They're accurate to less than a gallon. When I refuel, I can typically guess within 1 gallon how much fuel I'll take, based on eyeballing the fuel gauges. I think the major selling point to them is that you really know exactly how much fuel that you have onboard if you plan to operate on the lower end of fuel capacity (for example, 6 or 7 gallons usable onboard total)
 
CEIS simplicity

Because of the extreme difficulty of access to the fuel senders between the tank and the fuse, the NON CONTACT nature of the CEIS device suggests trouble free reliability for a long time relative to other designs. Even if you used gaskets instead of proseal , and allen hex socket screws instead of proseal and Phillips screws, replacing sensors is a nasty job. Ask me how I know.
 
I think 2 will do

Thanks guys for the input. I ordered 2 for each tank but I think it makes sense to change my order and put just one in each tank. It makes installation much simpler. Virtually the same installation effort as stock but I still get the benefit of better accuracy and reliability.

I see a post here today about a problem with the stock floats and adjusting for proper clearance inside the tank. Has anyone had a similar problem with the CiES floats?

Hopefully they come ready to install without adjustment or modification.
 
Adjustments ?

With an intelligent device like G3x, there is no adjustment. You program the input value corresponding to gallons. I cannot speak to how a voltage driven readout would be handled.

For my RV4, the float wanted touch the tank rib a little. CEIS sent slightly shorter arms immediately and all is well.
 
I installed just one unit in each tank. I have the G3X touch on the RV 14 and calibrated using Garmin documentation. They show 25 gal / side until the tank has around 20 gal per side. They are then very accurate until empty. I decided that I could live with not knowing exactly how much fuel when tank was full on the gauges as long as I have fuel totalizer. One important step is to make sure the sensors are power with ships power not from Garmin equipment. Garmin equipment does not have enough power for the sensors.
 
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