An update on Belite

An update.

I have been in contact with James Wiebe of Belite and he has agreed to work with me to resolve the issue regarding the fuel level sensor system he builds.

One of his arguments and he was right, it has been three yrs since I bought the system but time in service was only days till the problem developed.

I understand this is an issue for sellers as we home builders sometime take yrs to complete and new parts can sit on the shelf for a while. With the speed of advancement, especially in electronics, by the time we install it may be obsolete.

He feels the problem with his system,,,,which measures the weight of the fuel,,,,is the return system required by electronic fuel injection. There is so much fuel coming back that it confuses the sensor.

Any body have an opinion on this.

The fuel return system does create issues by doubling the amount of fuel lines in the aircraft and generally thru the cockpit.

The plus side is the fuel flow in the lines/tank is so high there would be little chance of ice buildup or debris not being caught by the large filters.

I believe as high as 25 gal/hr.

There is a system by Viking that uses a header tank with dual pumps built in which eliminates returning fuel back to the main tanks??

Any experience with this?

I would suggest that it is the wrong type of fuel quantity indication system for the specific application. That is, it was designed for a fuel tank to which fuel is not routed back the main fuel tank.

One size just does not fit all applications.

For instance, Floscan used to make fuel flow sensors that measured instantaneous fuel flow and calculated and displayed total fuel consumption. It worked very well for most carbureted and EFI engines. It simply would not work on applications where fuel was returned to the tank. Say in a diesel engine application. Obviously it would indicate a fuel usage that was greater than the actual situation.

I have given that quite a bit of thought and discussion and I'm not sure. The system seemed to work fine on the ground with proper indication. When we got airborne is when the data went ratty. I don't think the volume of return would change enough at idle versus full power r
to make a difference. Most testing will ensue. I will work with Mr Wiebe to get answers. I really want this to work as it is an elegant simple solution to an irritating problem.

Got a link to the documentation for the Belite system you have now?

My fuel system has a return and uses a simple flow meter in the supply line. While it's not perfect -- it doesn't measure the return flow -- it gets pretty close, once calibrated.

As for the long elapsed time between purchase and use, I hate to say it chalk it up to a lesson learned. I have heard the sad tales of guys who had EFIS systems from a now long defunct manufacturer, purchased years before they were needed. Don't do that. These things are electronics. When buying anything electronic, you will almost never be sorry you waited until later. The state of the art progresses quickly, and you're well advised to buy what you need when you need to install it, not in advance. You can't expect the vendor to extend the warranty indefinitely, especially in cases where the model may be out of production since you bought it.

I'm still thanking my lucky stars I didn't snap up a Navworx ADS-B OUT box for my project... dodged a bullet on that one!

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Originally Posted by DaleB

As for the long elapsed time between purchase and use, I hate to say it chalk it up to a lesson learned. I have heard the sad tales of guys who had EFIS systems from a now long defunct manufacturer, purchased years before they were needed. Don't do that. These things are electronics. When buying anything electronic, you will almost never be sorry you waited until later. The state of the art progresses quickly, and you're well advised to buy what you need when you need to install it, not in advance. You can't expect the vendor to extend the warranty indefinitely, especially in cases where the model may be out of production since you bought it. I'm still thanking my lucky stars I didn't snap up a Navworx ADS-B OUT box for my project... dodged a bullet on that one!

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That is excellent advice. However, fuel tanks can be an exception because the sender often has to be included in tank construction which may be long before avionics decision must be finalized. But in general, yes, delay all electronic purchases until the last possible time frame. (I seriously considered a Naxworx....whew!)

Belite seems to be going the extra mile in pursuing a resolution. It would have been very easy to just issue a refund and walk away from the whole situation.