Water tank float

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, blackrose said:

Some of these ideas and bits of kit seem too complicated for the job. If you just want to know how much water is in your tank there are simpler solutions.

 

Here's mine, clear acrylic pipe fitted between the tank and the pump which is higher than the maximum water level in the tank. It's perfectly accurate and only required calibration once when I first fitted it 15 years ago. That meant timing how long it took to fill the tank from empty and then next time filling from the same tap and marking off 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 increments according to time - because my tank is integral and a bigger volume at the top. I don't bother with a float in the pipe as I can easily see the water level (it's just under the full mark in this picture as I filled the tank today).

 

It has a 15mm dia brass bleed screw taped to the top of the pipe which has to be kept closed otherwise the pump would suck the water out of the pipe (another reason I don't have a float, just in case I forget to close the bleed cap). To get an accurate level reading you just open the bleed screw when the pump isn't running. Once every few years I take the bleed cap off completely and use a plastic pipe cleaner to remove a small amount of green algae inside the pipe. It really doesn't grow that fast. I think I've probably cleaned it 4 times since I fitted it.

 

An O ring in the bottom of the tube with a spherical float that is a close fit in the tube and it could be fully automatic . This would remove the need to close the vent when not actually taking a reading.
When the pump runs it would draw the water from the tube letting the ball land on the O ring and the suction from the pump holding it in place causing a seal and preventing air from entering the system.  When the pump stop the suction is released, the water and floating ball would then rise back to tank water level in the tube. A similar arrangement at the top would prevent the ball and water coming out of the top if the tank is filled too vigorously, think back to the good old Thames filling pipes. 

[magnetman]

8 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

.....think back to the good old Thames filling pipes. 

 

The chubb fire hoses on the Thames were mental. I split the top of a polyprop tank in my narrow boat in 1996 while having a cup of tea with the keeper at Cookham lock. Ended up with several inches over the floor at the stern. Shocking bad form really. Oddly enough I filled a 5 litre bottle from the same tap just half an hour ago. These days it is a normal hose fitting rather than an unrestricted fire hose. 

 

Still good but slower. Things do change over the yars. As the actress said to the bishop. 

 

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by magnetman
edit to remove unintended parrot references

[blackrose]

35 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

An O ring in the bottom of the tube with a spherical float that is a close fit in the tube and it could be fully automatic . This would remove the need to close the vent when not actually taking a reading.
When the pump runs it would draw the water from the tube letting the ball land on the O ring and the suction from the pump holding it in place causing a seal and preventing air from entering the system.  When the pump stop the suction is released, the water and floating ball would then rise back to tank water level in the tube. A similar arrangement at the top would prevent the ball and water coming out of the top if the tank is filled too vigorously, think back to the good old Thames filling pipes. 

 

Yeah I'm sure there are other methods. It's just a bit unnecessary when all you need to do is twist open the cap at the top to get a reading and then twist it shut. Doing that once a week isn't very onerous really. Simple systems are generally the best.

 

Edited April 7, 2023 by blackrose

[Silent Flight]

18 hours ago, MrFish said:

By any chance do you have a Cerbo GX fitted? If you do then you can connect the resistive gauge to the Cerbo to get a tank level display.

Afraid not, if add some solar panels at some point then that looks like a smart way of doing it.

17 hours ago, blackrose said:

Some of these ideas and bits of kit seem too complicated for the job. If you just want to know how much water is in your tank there are simpler solutions.

 

Here's mine, clear acrylic pipe fitted between the tank and the pump which is higher than the maximum water level in the tank. It's perfectly accurate and only required calibration once when I first fitted it 15 years ago. That meant timing how long it took to fill the tank from empty and then next time filling from the same tap and marking off 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 increments according to time - because my tank is integral and a bigger volume at the top. I don't bother with a float in the pipe as I can easily see the water level (it's just under the full mark in this picture as I filled the tank today).

 

It has a 15mm dia brass bleed screw taped to the top of the pipe which has to be kept closed otherwise the pump would suck the water out of the pipe (another reason I don't have a float, just in case I forget to close the bleed cap). To get an accurate level reading you just open the bleed screw when the pump isn't running. Once every few years I take the bleed cap off completely and use a plastic pipe cleaner to remove a small amount of green algae inside the pipe. It really doesn't grow that fast. I think I've probably cleaned it 4 times since I fitted it.

 

Cool setup, I have a float in the water tank already so I’m just hoping it can fit a gauge to it. 
 

Also recently discovered some wires hanging out the separate Webasto diesel tank so presumably I have a float in there too!

[MrFish]

4 hours ago, Owls Den said:

Afraid not, if add some solar panels at some point then that looks like a smart way of doing it.

Cool setup, I have a float in the water tank already so I’m just hoping it can fit a gauge to it. 
 

Also recently discovered some wires hanging out the separate Webasto diesel tank so presumably I have a float in there too!

You can buy guages to utilise the float level sensor. Such as

https://wema.co.uk/products/water-level-gauge

 

[Silent Flight]

On 08/04/2023 at 14:40, MrFish said:

You can buy guages to utilise the float level sensor. Such as

https://wema.co.uk/products/water-level-gauge

 

Thanks will be getting some methinks 

 

[ditchcrawler]

2 hours ago, Owls Den said:

Thanks will be getting some methinks 

 

Before you buy anything you need to ascertain if what you have is a sender or just a switch

Edited April 11, 2023 by ditchcrawler
spilling

[Silent Flight]

30 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Before you buy anything you need to ascertain if what you have is a sender or just a switch

 Confident it’s a sender, will check with the multimeter when I go grab it.

[MrFish]

Definitely a sender. The slider is the giveaway. Just need to check if it is a European or American unit as they have different ohms range.