Tank monitor accuracy\treating buildup :-P

[Skipper]

Hello Peggy,

I have a Snake River tank monitor on an 8 gallon holding tank.

The tank monitor display (5 led's) has gradually increased to 3 bars (1\2 full) over the last 2 years, even when the tank is supposedly empty.

Regardless if I use the macerator overboard discharge or pump out and rinse through deck pipe, the monitor still reads 1\2 full.

Whe I use the macerator (yes, 3m offshore) it take about 25-30 seconds to empty (pump noise changes to air bubble noise then winds up). I discharge a few uses after the monitor reaches 3\4. It has never reached "full". The macerator pump is rated at 12GPM max so am deducting that it pumps out between 5 and 6 gallons. This being the case it seems there may be something wrong with the monitor.

My questions are:

1. If this is a typical problem with monitoring systems, what could be wrong with the monitor and what is the remedy?

2. If the culprit is some kind of tank...ahem...buildup...how can the buildup be removed? I already rinse at the pumpout dock until clear water is visible during pumpout.

Thanks,

Skip

 

[Dennis Ferriello]

Old Snake River Unit

Skip:
There are several reasons this could be happening. Normally the first thing I would have you check is all your connections. This could indicate a bad ground. Bad but not all the way bad. This system really needs the sensor on the tank to be grounded with the panel and have a very good ground.
If there is a LOT of build up on the inside of the tank the readings could change, doesn't happen very often. Have you tried to calabrate the unit again?
How tall is the tank? How old is the unit?
Mail me and I will help you to try and get the unit back to normal.

Dennis Ferriello
dennis@ferriellosales.com

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Follow Dennis' advice

And if it doesn't fix the problem, call or email him. Dennis was the national sales manager for SR for a number of years...left 'em and started his own competing company http://ferriellosales.com/default.php when the quality/reliablity of SR systems declined to the point where he could no longer sell 'em with a good conscience. His system components are interchangeable with SR, so if a part has failed he can swap it out for you...you won't have to replace the whole system.

I've known Dennis for about 10 years...he's one of the "good guys"...you can trust him to give you good advice and solve your problem instead of only trying to sell you something. A lot of others here will back me up on that!

It's highly unlikely that buildup is your problem...it'll mess up internal senders, but any external sender that can read through 1/2" of fiberglass wouldn't have any trouble reading through 1/4" of PE with a 32nd of an inch of fat buildup on it.