Fresh Water Gauge

[RoyS]

I wish to offer a solution for those who do not have a fresh water tank gauge. After failing to find a suitable float type gauge that could be easily installed in my tank, I discovered an alternative approach. For about $30 I purchased a battery powered flow meter on line. The purchased device consists of a 1/2" pipe about 4" long that contains an internal propeller and female threads on each end. Attached to the pipe by a 4' cord is a small box (2"x2"x1") with a digital readout, two buttons and a battery compartment for two double A batteries. Installation involved attaching two hose barbs to the pipe and inserting the pipe in the fresh water line just ahead of the pump. The actual installation took five minutes. The gauge I have reads out in liters. The digital display shows flow rate and total consumption alternately when the button is pushed. There is also a reset button that sets the consumption back to 0. I have used this device for two years with the original batteries and have found it to be extremely accurate. Happy Sailing.

 

[Rich Stidger]

Source?

 

[RoyS]

I purchased this several years ago for about $30 from Futurlec (I think). It came direct from Asia by mail if I remember correctly. The link below will bring you to the PDF file describing the device. You should note that the pipe fittings are 1/2" BSP (a British Standard), however, 1/2" NPT fittings will engage sufficiently well and not leak. I compared the thread standards at the time and they were almost identical. There are other versions of this available from other manufacturers but this was the least expensive and worked well. http://www.futurlec.com/Datasheet/Sensor/FLOWMETER.pdf

 

[Stu Jackson]

Here's how we do it: we have two tanks and only use one at a time. When one empties, we switch to the other and then refill. No batteries required.

Not a bad idea, though, for some who need it. Thanks for the idea.

 

[Rich Stidger]

We have four water tanks in our h40.5. A 40, 30, and two 20 gallon tanks. They are connected to a manifold, each with a valve. We rotate the tanks and try to use one of the 20 gallon tanks last. When we go onto the last 20 gallon tank we try to refill asap.

In order to keep track of what tanks are full, which are empty, and which one is in use, I made a double-sided red-green nylon band that slips over each valve. A full tank shows the green side of the band, an empty tank shows the red side of the band (just turn inside-out) and the valve with no band is the one in use.

Simple.

 

[Benny17441]

Good application, it would definitively provide the information necessary to calculate how much water is left in a tank. Thanks for sharing.