My tank level gauge shows my forward fresh water tank as empty no matter how full it is and my aft waste tank as full no matter what. I am sure loads of people have had this same problem and am looking for suggestions as to what may be wrong. I think it is most likely the indicator that is glued to the top of the tank that is either bad or clogged but wanted to see if there were other more likely causes before I cut the thing of the tank, especially the waste tank. If you have had this problem I would appreciate some advise as to what the fix was. Thanks for your time and replies.
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brett
might want to check archives before you do any cutting, also what kind of tank indicator is it?
might want to check archives before you do any cutting, also what kind of tank indicator is it?
Try this
A super-bright flashlight held to the face of the tank should show you the dark line that indicates the water level. Works on waste tank as well, and requires little in the way of electronics.
A super-bright flashlight held to the face of the tank should show you the dark line that indicates the water level. Works on waste tank as well, and requires little in the way of electronics.
Answers
The flashlight just wont work as I have 6 different tanks of assorted types and they are all over. I am really particular about things not working. The guage is the standard one on a hunter 460. It has one indicator and a switch to select the tank you want to check. I am not on the boat so I dont have the brand name.
The flashlight just wont work as I have 6 different tanks of assorted types and they are all over. I am really particular about things not working. The guage is the standard one on a hunter 460. It has one indicator and a switch to select the tank you want to check. I am not on the boat so I dont have the brand name.
Snake River
That is the brand name of the level indicator units in the new Hunters. I have a 2004 Hunter 33 and I am working with the dealer on tank level indicator issue. The waste tank level indicator never worked from day one and I had fuel tank level indication problems a few month after having the boat. The dealer replaced the indicating unit and the fuel tank level sensor and we are now waiting for a new sensor for the waste tank. I have PVC tank for fresh water and aluminum tanks for fuel and waste so it is not possible to see the level inside the aluminum tanks. The fresh water tank level sensor is a piece of metallic tape stuck to the front of the tank so I assume that it works on the electrical capacitance principle. I have talked to other Hunter owners with no problems with their tank level indication systems and I have also seen posts in this forum with similar problem to mine. If yours is a Snake River indicating unit, y0u may want to try calibrating it first before getting to cutting wires. Drain the tanks and fill the tanks to see if the indicated level changes.
That is the brand name of the level indicator units in the new Hunters. I have a 2004 Hunter 33 and I am working with the dealer on tank level indicator issue. The waste tank level indicator never worked from day one and I had fuel tank level indication problems a few month after having the boat. The dealer replaced the indicating unit and the fuel tank level sensor and we are now waiting for a new sensor for the waste tank. I have PVC tank for fresh water and aluminum tanks for fuel and waste so it is not possible to see the level inside the aluminum tanks. The fresh water tank level sensor is a piece of metallic tape stuck to the front of the tank so I assume that it works on the electrical capacitance principle. I have talked to other Hunter owners with no problems with their tank level indication systems and I have also seen posts in this forum with similar problem to mine. If yours is a Snake River indicating unit, y0u may want to try calibrating it first before getting to cutting wires. Drain the tanks and fill the tanks to see if the indicated level changes.
Acu-Gage
From Snake River Electronics ~ “Acu-Gage” Monitor Systems Calibration Note: You can calibrate the empty or full points in any order you wish. The reason that we specify calibrating the empty point first is that these units are typically installed at a factory on an empty tank so it makes sense in the OEM setting to do the empty calibration first. You can also "tune" the calibration by re-calibrating the full or empty points at any time that you wish. Sometimes the factory empty setting is not a realistic point due to the way that the plumbing works in most boats--the tank cannot be completely emptied out in normal operation--so resetting the empty point to a "pumped out" empty is probably a good idea. Regarding the 2 hour update, the display, audible alarm, and warning light, are all updated at the same time the panel reads all the sensors, so if you hear the alarm chirp then the data on the display current. When the display board reads all sensors it also returns to display the tank attached to channel 1 (i.e.: every 2 hours the display board returns to the tank displayed when the unit is first turned on). The red light and chirp alarm do not necessarily indicate that the displayed tank is out-of-bounds, these alarms indicate that one or more tanks are either too high or too low and you need to scroll through to find which ones (there may be more than one) are in need of attention. The display shows tank status in the upper-right-hand corner. If the tank is fine then OK is displayed. If a waste tank is getting too high then HI is displayed; if a fresh or fuel tank is getting too low then LO is displayed. If any tanks are showing either HI or LO then the red warning light is lit and every 2 hours the warning chirp will sound. Note that whenever you scroll up or down to a new tank, it is read and the new reading is displayed, so when you manually scroll through all tanks all readings are current (the red warning light might light up as you scroll because it is also updated with the new readings as you scroll through). Downloadable Tech’ Documents: http://www.snake-river.org/Literature.asp Tech Support information: http://www.snake-river.org/TechSupport.asp
From Snake River Electronics ~ “Acu-Gage” Monitor Systems Calibration Note: You can calibrate the empty or full points in any order you wish. The reason that we specify calibrating the empty point first is that these units are typically installed at a factory on an empty tank so it makes sense in the OEM setting to do the empty calibration first. You can also "tune" the calibration by re-calibrating the full or empty points at any time that you wish. Sometimes the factory empty setting is not a realistic point due to the way that the plumbing works in most boats--the tank cannot be completely emptied out in normal operation--so resetting the empty point to a "pumped out" empty is probably a good idea. Regarding the 2 hour update, the display, audible alarm, and warning light, are all updated at the same time the panel reads all the sensors, so if you hear the alarm chirp then the data on the display current. When the display board reads all sensors it also returns to display the tank attached to channel 1 (i.e.: every 2 hours the display board returns to the tank displayed when the unit is first turned on). The red light and chirp alarm do not necessarily indicate that the displayed tank is out-of-bounds, these alarms indicate that one or more tanks are either too high or too low and you need to scroll through to find which ones (there may be more than one) are in need of attention. The display shows tank status in the upper-right-hand corner. If the tank is fine then OK is displayed. If a waste tank is getting too high then HI is displayed; if a fresh or fuel tank is getting too low then LO is displayed. If any tanks are showing either HI or LO then the red warning light is lit and every 2 hours the warning chirp will sound. Note that whenever you scroll up or down to a new tank, it is read and the new reading is displayed, so when you manually scroll through all tanks all readings are current (the red warning light might light up as you scroll because it is also updated with the new readings as you scroll through). Downloadable Tech’ Documents: http://www.snake-river.org/Literature.asp Tech Support information: http://www.snake-river.org/TechSupport.asp
Aluminium Fuel and Waste Tank In New H33?
Oliver, Do I understand it that you have aluminum Fuel and Waste Tanks in your 2004 Hunter 33? Mine are all plastic, which is nice because I can shine a light on the top to help show the actual level. I am just surprised that there are these differences. Michael
Oliver, Do I understand it that you have aluminum Fuel and Waste Tanks in your 2004 Hunter 33? Mine are all plastic, which is nice because I can shine a light on the top to help show the actual level. I am just surprised that there are these differences. Michael
Similiar Problems
Just went through a similiar problem with my Snake River Gauges. Spent a lot of time talking with Glen at the factory. It looks like I had two problems. One was the connector for the gauge unit wasn't making good contacts on all the pins and the other was that I had a bad sending unit. There is a way to send 12 vdc to the sending unit and measure the return signal. If it isn't the correct return voltage, the unit is bad. Call Glen at 1-800-456-0377 ext 11 and explain your problem.
Just went through a similiar problem with my Snake River Gauges. Spent a lot of time talking with Glen at the factory. It looks like I had two problems. One was the connector for the gauge unit wasn't making good contacts on all the pins and the other was that I had a bad sending unit. There is a way to send 12 vdc to the sending unit and measure the return signal. If it isn't the correct return voltage, the unit is bad. Call Glen at 1-800-456-0377 ext 11 and explain your problem.
Solved our problem with gauge readings....
My husband and I also have a 2004 Hunter 33. [I don't know what the tanks are made of.] We finally, after both our mechanic and we tried to calibrate the fuel tank on our Snake River, our dealer finally replaced the fuel tank sender. It seems to be working well, now. There have been several problems with the Snake River gauges posted on the Hunter owner's site. All of those I have read about seem to have been solved with a replacement sender unit.
My husband and I also have a 2004 Hunter 33. [I don't know what the tanks are made of.] We finally, after both our mechanic and we tried to calibrate the fuel tank on our Snake River, our dealer finally replaced the fuel tank sender. It seems to be working well, now. There have been several problems with the Snake River gauges posted on the Hunter owner's site. All of those I have read about seem to have been solved with a replacement sender unit.
Fwiw, the ONLY problems with the Snake River
gauges seem to be with those installed by Hunter. I've been a great fan of Snake River Gauges for more than 10 years...I'm on at least 9 websites and in and out of a dozen or more emails lists...and the ONLY problems I ever hear about are here--all from people who bought boats on which Hunter installed 'em. That tells me that the problem isn't with the gauge itself, but with whatever Hunter isn't doing--or is doing wrong--in installing them. I applaud Hunter for having the sense to replace those gawdawful Wema gauges with the Snake River gauges...but I do think it's time they got some advice from Snake River about how to solve all the the problems with THEIR installations...'cuz they're the only ones that are causing problems for boat owners.
gauges seem to be with those installed by Hunter. I've been a great fan of Snake River Gauges for more than 10 years...I'm on at least 9 websites and in and out of a dozen or more emails lists...and the ONLY problems I ever hear about are here--all from people who bought boats on which Hunter installed 'em. That tells me that the problem isn't with the gauge itself, but with whatever Hunter isn't doing--or is doing wrong--in installing them. I applaud Hunter for having the sense to replace those gawdawful Wema gauges with the Snake River gauges...but I do think it's time they got some advice from Snake River about how to solve all the the problems with THEIR installations...'cuz they're the only ones that are causing problems for boat owners.
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