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04-12-2017, 09:38
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Currently refitting in Wilmington, NC
Boat: Knysna 440
Posts: 66
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Tank Monitors
Greetings,
We are currently in the midst of a refit and looking at a new tank monitoring system.
What experiences/feedback can anybody offer. Do you have tank monitors? Do they work reliably? What brand do you have?
We are looking at a Philippi system.
Thank you in advance!
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04-12-2017, 09:47
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Louisville, KY
Boat: Globe, cutter/ketch,38
Posts: 724
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Re: Tank Monitors
Tank Tender. No power need. Very reliable, but they like their stuff. Same gauge and I monitor two water tanks and fuel tank. Took a total of 1 hr to install all of it. http://www.thetanktender.com
__________________
www.sailboatvigah.com Boats don't like being neglected, but then neither do significant others!
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04-12-2017, 10:09
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#3
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: Cruising the northern Bahamas until June
Boat: Leopard 40 2009
Posts: 587
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Re: Tank Monitors
Pretty, but looks expensive. $800+ for the panel, $130 for each tank sensor. Pretty soon you're talking real money.
I just needed the waste monitored, so I put in a single-tank sensor from Ferriello in Florida ( https://www.ferriellosales.com/) and am very happy with the result. This was based on a Peggy Hall recommendation. They also sell multi-tank monitors. Uses extremely little power to read. All external sensing, so no cutting into tanks with the risk of leakage. Cost me about $150 for the single tank, but not much more for multiples. Ferriello makes them for SCAD as well, but other than a nicer web page and a mark-up there's no difference.
__________________
John Trusty
Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt." -- Eric Sevareid
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04-12-2017, 10:59
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#4
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Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
Boat: Bestevaer.
Posts: 14,678
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Re: Tank Monitors
+1 For the Tank Tender system. It is very accurate and reliable.
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04-12-2017, 11:55
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#5
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Toronto On Canada
Boat: Bristol 45.5
Posts: 736
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Re: Tank Monitors
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04-12-2017, 12:03
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#6
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2017
Boat: Retired from CF
Posts: 13,317
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Re: Tank Monitors
Any of these include propane levels?
Non-standard 80 gallon size, fitting a custom internal float's too pricey.
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04-12-2017, 13:29
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#7
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Jacksonville/ out cruising
Boat: Island Packet 38
Posts: 31,351
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Re: Tank Monitors
I think the only way to measure propane level is with an internal float.
There was an attempt a few years ago to do it by temperature, but had to be using the tank long enough for enough gas to boil off first before level could be read.
Although I wonder if one of Ferillo’s sensors would work with a fiberglass propane tank?
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04-12-2017, 13:41
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Houston
Boat: '76 Allied Seawind II, 32'
Posts: 9,626
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Re: Tank Monitors
Quote:
Originally Posted by a64pilot
Although I wonder if one of Ferillo’s sensors would work with a fiberglass propane tank?
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A flashlight works with a fiberglass tank
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04-12-2017, 14:31
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Long Beach, CA
Boat: Tayana Vancouver 42
Posts: 2,804
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Re: Tank Monitors
Wouldn’t a fish scale work to weigh the propane tank?
FORCE Digital Hanging Scale 110lb x 0.05lb Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741F2548..._rXCjAbC26MAR4
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04-12-2017, 16:33
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#10
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2017
Boat: Retired from CF
Posts: 13,317
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Re: Tank Monitors
80 *gallons* that's like 20x what a portable BBQ bottle holds
Need a forklift even when it's empty, plus 350 lbs more when full
Need a whale scale 8-)
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04-12-2017, 18:04
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Currently refitting in Wilmington, NC
Boat: Knysna 440
Posts: 66
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Re: Tank Monitors
Thank you for all of the responses. I am now combing through the data on all of your suggestions.
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04-12-2017, 19:14
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Mexico
Boat: Passport 40
Posts: 344
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Re: Tank Monitors
Try this, I think it's a good system, and it will do plastic, metal, LPG, the whole shebang.
https://tankedge.com/products.html
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04-12-2017, 19:46
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#14
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2017
Boat: Retired from CF
Posts: 13,317
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Re: Tank Monitors
Does sound good, but for LPG it seems no external sensors for a metallic tank 8-(
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05-12-2017, 04:30
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Maryland, USA
Boat: 58' Sedan Bridge
Posts: 5,418
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Re: Tank Monitors
Quote:
Originally Posted by ColdEh Marine
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Not bullet proof...
But not bad.
The waste tank sender tube can eventually get clogged with accumulated uric acid crystal (I think what Peggie calls struvites)... and at that point the float won't float. Relatively easy to fix, though; even if it sounds a bit messy, it's not, really, with some appropriate tank pump-out/flush/rinse beforehand.
I think the float can also become temporarily stuck by bits of as-yet-undissolved waste (paper?). A common approach to alleviate that is to size the tube (length) so the float at its lowest point isn't really near the bottom of the tank. That can lead to times when the gauge isn't yet registering anything... when you might have expected the needle would be rising "by now." Can get a bit tense until the needle starts moving, because the symptom at that point is the same as if the float is really bound up by crystals.
After installation, it's good to get ground truth by filling the tank -- visually observing the real level -- and comparing that to where the needle ends up on the guage. Our tank is functionally full just as the needle approaches the top of the white (middle) area on the green/white/red gauge. We start scheduling our next pump-out when the needle leaves green and moves into the white area.
-Chris
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Chesapeake Bay, USA.
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