Water level Guage for Freshwater Tank?

D

Dave S

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TECHNICAL Contributor
Oct 3, 2006
6,014
Upstate South Carolina
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I think this was discussed before but I couldn't find anything doing a search.

I have run my water tank dry just one too many times now :smt021 and I want to get a guage installed in the cockpit so I can monitor it. Can anyone recommend a product that will do the job?
 
I'd like know, too. We probably have about the same layout, with the water tank under the v-berth. It's not exactly easy check the level by sight.

It's really annoying to run out of water. I use a lot of fresh water with the washdown hose. Last time I ran out I was lathered up in the shower.
 
I added a TankWatch to mine. I'm happy with it, but have the following issues:

* I need to find a better way to seal the probe on the tank. When I fill the tank, some water will leak out.

* I installed the display in the cockpit and with very bright sunlight it's hard to tell which light is on.

Neither issue is critical, but worth mentioning.

I was really looking for the Acu Gage system, which doesn't require drilling into the tank, but when I found the TankWatch cheap on eBay it was a no brainer.

Esteban
 
I installed a brand known as Tank Tender. It has been around for 15-20 years and has a solid track record. The base model can monitor three tanks so you could do water for example, plus a waste tank and a diesel (not gas) tank. It works off of air pressure with a simple thin straw that goes through the top of a tank and is sealed with an O ring and a simple stainless fitting. I installed one on my waste tank this summer and it works very well. I now know exactly when to pump my tank.
 
Dave... I'll send photos tomorrow when I go to the boat.

I will email you the TankWatch PDF manual.

Esteban
 
Smartcraft / Water tank level?

Dave,

You should be able to kink a water tank gauge into your smartcraft display. I have just finished upgrading Bella with new SC gauges and a system monitor. There is multi-tank capability inherent in the SC system. In the SC1000 setup there is a comment made that 'tank 2' does not have to be a fuel tank. The instructions give an alternate suggestion as an oil tank (outboards?), but I don't see why it couldn't be used for water. That should also work for water. I know that the tank harness for the 496 has the capability for two tanks and I have given thought to finding a tank sender to tie in as well
 
Re: Smartcraft / Water tank level?

Henry Boyd said:
Dave,

You should be able to kink a water tank gauge into your smartcraft display. I have just finished upgrading Bella with new SC gauges and a system monitor. There is multi-tank capability inherent in the SC system. In the SC1000 setup there is a comment made that 'tank 2' does not have to be a fuel tank. The instructions give an alternate suggestion as an oil tank (outboards?), but I don't see why it couldn't be used for water. That should also work for water. I know that the tank harness for the 496 has the capability for two tanks and I have given thought to finding a tank sender to tie in as well
Click to expand...

Very interesting. I wonder what type of guage sensor you would use and how you would tie it back into the Smartcraft System computer? Maybe I'll give Mercury a call and see what they have to say. :thumbsup:
 
lorenbennett said:
Dave I installed a Lowrance gps/sounder/radar combo with the nmea network and on of accessories is a level sensor. Its for fuel but it will work in the water tank. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I looked it and its the Lowrance ep-15 and is nmea 2000. :thumbsup:
 
Dave,

The SC harness on the 496 has a three position plug for two tanks and a ground. I would imagine that MM is consistent. The center position is a pink wire and is for tank one. The other is a blue for tank two. The harness I got (879214?) had two wires. When I did a system set up tank two showed up as zero capacity and then went away after calibration was complete. Presently the blue wire is taped up out of the way. I also am wondering about a sensor for the water tank. I did learn from MM that SC will work with the same sensors as analog gauges (as long as they are grounded.

One thing I did learn is that you can not have analog gauges and SC functioning at the same time. The analog gauges wrk on 12 v and the SC on 5v. Both Sea Ray and MM advise that a mix and match will lead to ECM meltdown. I assume that your boat by being a 2006 is using the SC gauges and the Northstar link is only a jumper cable. However you may need to do more research if the Northstar link is more involved and allows the coexistence of analog guages.
 
Dave,

The SC harness on the 496 has a three position plug for two tanks and a ground. I would imagine that MM is consistent. The center position is a pink wire and is for tank one. The other is a blue for tank two. The harness I got (879214?) had two wires. When I did a system set up tank two showed up as zero capacity and then went away after calibration was complete. Presently the blue wire is taped up out of the way. I also am wondering about a sensor for the water tank. I did learn from MM that SC will work with the same sensors as analog gauges (as long as they are grounded).

One thing I did learn is that you can not have analog gauges and SC functioning at the same time. The analog gauges work on 12 v and the SC on 5v. Both Sea Ray and MM advise that a mix and match will lead to ECM meltdown. I assume that your boat by being a 2006 is using the SC gauges and the Northstar link is only a jumper cable. However you may need to do more research if the Northstar link is more involved and allows the coexistence of analog guages.
 
Henry

The Northstar Chartplotter link I use is via a proprietary Northstar Smarcraft Gateway so that shouldn't be a problem. And it looks like it's straight forward to hook up from the tank to the harness based on your explanation. So the only question is what sensor to use. :smt017 I think I might ask my dealer first since I believe some of the bigger cruisers have water level sensors already installed as standard equipment. I don't know whether they can display them via Smartcraft or not though. I think I'll also put up a post in the Yacht section to ask that question as well.

Thanks for all the information and for the ideas. :thumbsup:

Dave
 
My Tank Tender continues to work flawlessly for water and sewage monitoring. It's the best indidcator I've seen on any past or present boat. The simplicity is beautiful.
 
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