Well, I got impatient and cut my own carburetor gaskets. Ran tonight and the mist is about 1/4 of what it was. Almost nothing at all. I’m going to run it like that and see if I notice any major residue. If I do, I’ll add the VS I already ordered. Despite the reed petals being nowhere close to sealing on the block and I guess contributing to most of the fuel mist issue I was having, I half-expected the engine to run differently somehow. It did not. It still ran perfectly. Based on everything I’ve read, my engine should have been running like poo with the reed petals in the shape they were in. I guess I’ll just table that and put it in the “one in a million” stack.

Thanks again for the input.

JAM

The engine can run fine with the reeds like they are they can spring back and seal relatively well on the downstroke
Remember the engine only creates a draft through the carb on the upstroke of the piston on the down stroke no negative pressure so the open structure can pull some fuel from the carb due to prop wash drafting the carb

Just closing the loop on this one. All I can say is....WOW. I get it now!!!

VS arrived yesterday and I quickly got it installed. I got everything ready for a run and I grabbed a couple paper towels which I rolled into a paper “stick” that I had planned to stick near the VS to check for mist. It was like you turned on a vacuum cleaner. I couldn’t get anywhere near it before it would suck it right in. I had to bend it around my finger before I could hold it close to the VS inlet. No mist whatsoever. There’s not even any mist on the inner surface of the VS itself!!!!

Needless to say, I am very pleased with the results. Thank you to everyone who pointed me in this direction. Another case closed!

JAM

thank you Moto

Originally Posted by jharkin

All carbs do that to some extent... it’s normal.

A worn reed block can make it worse, check that to be safe.

Otherwise you have to mitigate it. Common solutions are using a velocity stack (intake trumped) or an air filter.

+1 on that.

Thanks for reporting the out come.Velocity stacks do have a use. For engine performance increase,I never could tell much difference.But they do a great job keeping the fuel where it's suppose to be.

Welcome! Yeah, I have to admit, I was blown away. I still don’t completely understand it, but it works. As I said before, there wasn’t even any fuel residue on the inner surface of the VS which I found amazing. Still haven’t flown with it, but I suspect it will be just fine.

JAM

Just one more quick update on this one - I have now maidened this plane and have 5 long flights on it with zero fuel/oil residue inside the fuselage. Very good / inexpensive fix.