externaly mounted water tank monitor

[erice]

has anyone installed an externaly mounted water tank level sensor? what kind? easy to install? accurate? pros & cons please.

[Cape Codder]

No I haven't, but I sure could use one.........

[Trawlerman]

A little pricey but a really nice unit:

https://watercounter.com/

Jim

[jprohan]

I installed a screw off observation plate on the toip of my tank; about 4" in diameter. I can peek in at any time, and stick the hose in to fill; if I don't feel like filling from the deck fill. Ofcourse my tank started leaking at a bottom seam at less than 2 years old. Only way I figured it out was a mirro on a stick.I cut the top off the tank to repair; and made a starboard tank cover. There was no way to replace the tank without losing capacity. When we cruised the Abacos, water was a precious resource. I did the same to my holding tank, a few years later, when the sensor corroded away and I saw the price for a replacement.

[Denis]

Several seasons ago I installed external monitors on the two water tanks and the waste tank. It work beautifully for one season then just stopped working the next. Nothing got wet and everything looked great it just would not work. Called the factory but it was out of warranty and was too expensive to replace to only get a little over a year out of it. But it still looks great!

[erice]

denis: what brand of monitor was that?

[DougSea]

I've been considering adding a NMEA 2000 network to the boat and one of the likely sensors would be the tank level monitors. They are ultrasonic, good for most liquids, AND can be adjusted to handle irregularly shaped tanks. It's a pricey way to go if the only thing you want to monitor are the tanks but...add engine monitors, weather instruments, etc. and it starts to be more price effective.

Best place to start looking is Maretron. http://www.maretron.com/products/tlm100.php