Refilling TKS

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janders
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by janders »

I tried the put the 10L container on top of the fuselage with a cloth underneath and a bulb siphon to fill the port. All was great until I overfilled the tank and had tks dripping from the plane for the next 10 minutes
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neema
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by neema »

i wish there were a way to see the fluid level next to the fill port. DA42s have the front tank exposed so you see when you're getting close.

I leave the last gallon out just to avoid the potential mess
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by Jitters79 »

I bought the 55 gallon drum of it (living in the pnw I’ll go through it quickly) and a 55gallon drum pump as well as drum dolly and a rubber hose to pump it into the fill port. First attempt worked well, only when I turned my head and was distracted did I spill a bit.
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by ultraturtle »

I second the recommendation to buy a 55 gal drum from tksfluid.com. Hard to beat $12.65/gal ($624 plus $72 freight) - $11.65 if you use the $55 discount for your first order. The large quantity encourages one to not be stingy with it, as well as to run the system once a month throughout the year to keep it working reliably.

I move and pour the drum into 2.5 gallon jugs using an inexpensive dolly. See the last post in this thread: viewtopic.php?p=67221#p67221

The grey funnel in this set secures itself in the fill port opening perfectly, so you can use both hands to pour, and never worry about making a mess: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HJ ... UTF8&psc=1

I only fill to 3/4 (min for dispatch into icing conditions) not only to keep from overfilling, but to help out the CG of a nose heavy design. Each jug is 1/4 of the tank, so I simply do the math (i.e. if it reads 1/4 full, I add 2 jugs) and start pouring.
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by Boatguy »

FYI, D.W. Davies does not ship to California.

Looks like AvLab has the best price with shipping, but still $25/gal for 20gal (8 x 2.5).

Why is this stuff so expensive?
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by Soareyes »

Wait 'til you see the hazmat shipping. Cringe.
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by photoSteveZ »

Boatguy wrote: Tue Feb 28, 2023 10:09 pm Why is this stuff so expensive?
Because, airplanes?
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by ultraturtle »

Currently $16.42 per gallon including shipping from tksfluid.com in 55 gallon drums. I ordered my first drum 5 years ago, and have used a little over half of it over the course of 500+ hours of DA42/DA62 flying. Tiny fraction of operational cost.
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by FlyingPenguin »

From my understanding, TKS fluid has an expiration date typically 2 years from production. Further, studies have shown the fluid becomes more corrosive after the expiration date. I would watch out for that and not put expired TKS in your plane. Just a thought.
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Re: Refilling TKS

Post by Soareyes »

TKS fluid becomes more acidic with age. The pH is supposed to be between 6.0 and 7.5. Whether pH alone determines effectiveness or corrosiveness I don’t know. You can test the pH with a handheld meter like these found on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ph+testers&h ... giy9j2by_e
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