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Old 16-09-2012, 20:12   #16
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

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Originally Posted by MysticGringo View Post
For fresh water I use the Watercounter (The World's Best Potable Water Management System For Boats and Rv's | WaterCounter). It's simple, which I like. It just tells you how many gallons you've pumped. Once you know your number, it's easy to understand how much is left.

They have a more sophisticated version that also reads water put back in by water maker. It's pretty fool proof.
This is a different approach.
I was thinking more conventional... basically duplicating what we're all so used to having in a car.
If I can't find a good system this could be a good plan B.
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:18   #17
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

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the best tank guages are visual ones,all our tanks have a clear pvc tube teed into the outlet at the bottom of the tank

failing that dip sticks work much better if you have some chalk on them for an accurate reading,assuming they are calibareted properly.
Hi Alex,
The existing dip sticks weren't well calibrated at all.
But I'm really trying to be sophisticated here. It doesn't come naturally!
Vic
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:30   #18
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

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I have used the Hart Tank Tender for more than twenty years, and it has been both reliable and accurate. It is expensive to buy, and expensive to add tanks, but after that a real joy. Edit: Thinking about it, also a PITA when trying to fill a tank to near the top by watching the gauge; on the 4 tank model one hand holds down the appropriate button and the other operates the pressure plunger. On the 10-tank rotary tank it would only take one hand for the plunger. So it is necessary to alternate filling and measuring. Other technologies allow filling while watching the gauge.

I have used a polyethylene sight tube on my 10 gallon kerosene storage tank for as many years, and it has been flawless. And very inexpensive. The only drawback is that it really needs to be easily accessible to see.

With the new engine I am considering adding a capacitance-sensing tank sender, to connect to the engine's sender input. The day tank is an odd shape, so a linear sender would be very misleading. Some companies will program senders for tank shapes (e.g. CENTROID PRODUCTS - Computerized Tank Display - Electronic Senders - capacitive fuel gauges) and even add low and high alarms. Anyone have any experience with these?

Greg
WOW!!!

This deserves a closer study...
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:39   #19
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

you'll have to pry my cold dead fingers from my dipsticks. absolutely foolproof. use no power. made spare dispsticks for pennies. but my tanks are very accessible - not everyone's experience....
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:46   #20
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

So many Old Salts here have suggested Tank Tenders, and after looking at their website it looks simple and can easily cater for the 4 diesel and 2 water tanks we have on board.
It has to be a serious contender.

Vic
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:50   #21
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We have had great success with Maretron ultrasonic NMEA 2000 tank sensors. We replaced a Centroid system with them 2 years ago and they have been reliable for both water and diesel.
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Old 16-09-2012, 20:57   #22
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

I have been using a spiral type tank gauge for a long time. They are relatively inexpensive, simple and reliable. You can also buy a remote gauge that measures fuel level by the resistance at the sender.

Rochester makes all types of them.

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Old 16-09-2012, 21:37   #23
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

Once you know your tank capacity your best fuel gauge is your engine hour meter. My tank holds 300lts (@ 80Gal) at normal revs I burn 2.5 liters an hour giving me a safe 100 Hrs motoring with a bit in reserve. I do have a fuel sender gauge but as the tank is a \_/ sort of shape 1/2 is closer to 1/3 so the gauge is used more as a filling indicator. My last major fill was guessed at using engine hours @ 90hrs = 225 litres but I only managed to squeeze in 200.
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Old 16-09-2012, 21:58   #24
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

Take a look at the senders made by Wema. They are available with the standard 5 hole sender pattern or with threads. The float moves vertically so there is no need for room for a swing arm. These are nice folks who sell a quality product.

Tank Level Senders, Fuel Gauges, Marine Gauges, Fuel sending units, Fuel Senders by WEMA USA, Inc.
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Old 17-09-2012, 04:29   #25
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

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This is a new one to me and looks impressive.
From the website it appears they have specialised in water and waste/holding tanks.
Is this where you are using them or are you using them for fuel tanks too?

Vic
I use them for 2 x fresh water, 2 x black water and 2 x diesel fuel tanks. During the past 5 years, I had two other systems and they all gave the one difficulty or another. I've had the Profile 8 system for the past 2 years and not a single problem.
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Old 17-09-2012, 04:53   #26
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

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We have had great success with Maretron ultrasonic NMEA 2000 tank sensors. We replaced a Centroid system with them 2 years ago and they have been reliable for both water and diesel.
The only caveats w/the Maretron ultrasonics are:

1) a 2" deadband within which it cannot read - they suggest a 2" tube mount which would not work for us on our sailboat
2) it does not deal well with diesel fuel foaming say during refueling.

Luckily, Maretron also sells the TLA100's which convert the WEMA resistive values and puts out the N2K PGNs. These have been working well for us for water and fuel. We didn't bother w/black water tank.
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Old 17-09-2012, 05:04   #27
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

i dont have tank tenders. thought about it for a while. there was a fuel gauge on board--didnt work--still doesnt-i look into tank to see level -- we came into mazatlan with 3 gallons left in tank...
gauges fail. everything fails eventually, and usually when parts are not available.
when my boat lists port, time to switch water tanks. when lists stbd, ditto. holding tank is plastic, therefore translucent, and visible from the hatch under my bed. same with shower sump.
i have double sets of engine gauges, but no tank tender. keeping it simple.
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Old 17-09-2012, 05:35   #28
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

If you have an irregular shaped tant it's easy to make up a table that shows the amount in L or gal for a given level.

I even wrote a small program for my organiser that automatically converts it, but normally such accuracy is not needed.

One big advantage of the tank tender is that you can read the level very precisely. Less than 1cm in still conditions.
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Old 17-09-2012, 05:44   #29
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For what it is worth I will be replacing all my tanks during my current refit. I find this product to be my current favorite unless anyone wants to share any bad experiences with the product. http://www.electrosense.com/
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Old 17-09-2012, 05:54   #30
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Re: Tank guages - latest and greatest?

I second the WEMA senders and gauges! Great product!
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