A gascolator, also known as a ''main line strainer'', ''sediment bowl'' or ''fuel strainer'', acts primarily as a fuel drain for water and small particles of sediment and is usually found at the lowest point of an aircraft's fuel system. The gascolator is located below the level of the aircraft's

carburetor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

and fuel tanks and on

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...

is commonly located on the front of the

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, as low as possible. There are two types of gascolators: those tapped for a primer port and those without. If equipped with a primer port the aircraft fuel primer will take its fuel supply from the gascolator, used for engine starting. Gascolators are susceptible to the effects of heat from the co-located engine and exhaust components, which can cause fuel vapourization in the gascolator and vapour lock problems. This usually manifests itself as a partial power loss in

cruise flight Cruise is the phase of aircraft flight that starts when the aircraft levels off after a climb, until it begins to descend for landing. Cruising usually consumes the majority of a flight, and it may include changes in heading (direction of flight ...

. To combat this problem some installations use a gascolator heat shield or free air blast tubes to cool the gascolator. Some types of gascolators are equipped with a remote spring-loaded knob to drain them. Writer Tony Bingelis says of this type:

References

Aircraft fuel system components {{Component-aircraft-stub