Auto shut off deck filler?

[abraxus]

Is there such a think I can buy that attaches to the end of a hose that will shut off the water supply when my tank is full? I guess something that works like petrol pumps do.

My tank takes ages to fill and will overflow into the cockpit, so I can't really leave it unattended.

 

[pmagowan]

I have seen something like that which you can get for diesel as well, when filling from jerry cans.

 

[prv]

How about a water sensor (you can buy them as kids' electronics kits) that you can dangle into the filler alongside the hose, with a loud buzzer?

Pete

 

[pmagowan]

Heres one, not cheap: http://www.centretank.com/products/detail/piusi-adblue-nozzle

 

[pvb]

My tank takes ages to fill and will overflow into the cockpit, so I can't really leave it unattended.

Isn't your cockpit self-draining?

 

[abraxus]

How about a water sensor (you can buy them as kids' electronics kits) that you can dangle into the filler alongside the hose, with a loud buzzer?

Pete

Yes, that would be one option if I can't find the really lazy solution.

Heres one, not cheap: http://www.centretank.com/products/detail/piusi-adblue-nozzle

Ah, that looks to be the lazy solution, but comes at price. Something like that for a tenner would be perfect.

Isn't your cockpit self-draining?

Yes it is but there's a seat right next to the water fill and any excess water runs behind that and into the locker underneath before making its way overboard. Not the end of the world but not ideal either.

 

[cryan]

Some of the old MoD barges had a ball in a pipe that when full floated up and shut off the water entering the tank (and caused the hose to flood the deck ) it should not be to hard to transfer that arrangement to a hose end fitting. Something like a ping pong ball in a plastic cage that you insert into the filler. When the filler pipe fill up the ball floats up and seals off the hose?

 

[Mistroma]

Non-electronic solution might be to get some small diam. drain pipe with and an adapter to make a tight fit into the deck filler.
Add a T piece in middle and a gland on top. Seal the hose with the gland and direct the pipe off the T piece over the side.

Water would run overboard when full. Should also be possible to have a small pot on a captive line drop something on the deck using weight of water from the T-piece overflow pipe.

Should be cheap if you can find correct size of pipe (even better if it can be screwed into the filler).

 

[pvb]

Another non-electronic solution would be to remove the hose as soon as the tank is full. I realise that's a chore, but someone has to do it.

 

[prv]

I once helped build an alarm system for a similar situation, only with oil instead of water.

A schoolfriend's dad was a mechanic with his own workshop. It was heated in winter with a waste-oil-burning heater. However, the business obviously generated waste oil all year round, and in summer it needed to be stored. So one day we helped install an old steel heating-oil tank just outside the workshop; my mate and I were charged with the plumbing to fill the heater, which we did with standard 15mm water pipe and fittings, ending in an ordinary tap over the filling hopper.

This didn't work as well as we'd planned, as in winter the cold oil from the tank ran very slowly through the pipe and tap, and it took about half an hour to fill up the heater. I had misgivings about this, and suggested that an overflow alarm would be a good idea, but my mate's dad was sure he'd remember to turn the tap off...

I think it was about three months before we were called back to add the alarm . Apparently he'd turned the tap on, got distracted by a parts delivery, and gone back to working under a car with the oil tap still running. He didn't notice until he felt the stuff running into the neck of his shirt as he lay on the ground - the whole eight-car workshop floor flooded

Pete

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I'm sure that with a bit of thought you could fit a toilet cistern on the push pit and plumb it in to solve this problem.

 

[abraxus]

I'm sure that with a bit of thought you could fit a toilet cistern on the push pit and plumb it in to solve this problem.

Actually I could go the whole hog and fit an entire toilet and read the morning paper on the thone "al fresco" whilst the weather's nice

 

[abraxus]

Non-electronic solution might be to get some small diam. drain pipe with and an adapter to make a tight fit into the deck filler.
Add a T piece in middle and a gland on top. Seal the hose with the gland and direct the pipe off the T piece over the side.

Water would run overboard when full. Should also be possible to have a small pot on a captive line drop something on the deck using weight of water from the T-piece overflow pipe.

Should be cheap if you can find correct size of pipe (even better if it can be screwed into the filler).

Nice lateral thinking, that was pretty much the conclusion I'd come to, to have an extension that overflowed over the side.

I also wanted something screw in, and so my first though was to buy a pump out adaptor and cut a hole in the side for the overflow. I could then just stuff the pipe in the top and it can fill away to it's heart's content.

The minor problem with that is the same one I faced with my pump out, in that it's an american boat and so the thread is 1 1/2" NPT, whereas UK adaptors are BSP, and so I had to make up a special adaptor for that. I guess I could do the same, or in fact the BSP fitting may be good enough as it doesn't need quite the same seal.

Ideally though I guess a 1 1/2" NPT plastic elbow piece would be perfect, and I could just put a hole in the top for the hose, but so far I've yet to find one.

 

[abraxus]

Some of the old MoD barges had a ball in a pipe that when full floated up and shut off the water entering the tank (and caused the hose to flood the deck ) it should not be to hard to transfer that arrangement to a hose end fitting. Something like a ping pong ball in a plastic cage that you insert into the filler. When the filler pipe fill up the ball floats up and seals off the hose?

Actually a ball in a cage type valve might be another possibility. The one's I've seen as artficial heart valves appear to be about the right size for the end of a hose.

 

[prv]

The minor problem with that is the same one I faced with my pump out, in that it's an american boat and so the thread is 1 1/2" NPT, whereas UK adaptors are BSP

That's interesting - I've never used a pump-out as we don't have a holding tank, but the ones I've seen lurking (invariably unused) on a pontoon or fuel dock have had a big rubber cone designed to fit like a bung, not a thread.

Pete

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Are you sure it's not 1 1/4 NPT
http://www.leesan.com/index.asp?m=3&cat1=3&cat2=10&t=Deck+Fittings

 

[abraxus]

That's interesting - I've never used a pump-out as we don't have a holding tank, but the ones I've seen lurking (invariably unused) on a pontoon or fuel dock have had a big rubber cone designed to fit like a bung, not a thread.

Pete

The ones on the river are straight sided and they're not threaded either. The bit that's threaded is the adaptor piece that screws to the fitting on the boat.

 

[abraxus]

Are you sure it's not 1 1/4 NPT
http://www.leesan.com/index.asp?m=3&cat1=3&cat2=10&t=Deck+Fittings

Positive Rigger, I had to make up a custom one by using a 1 1/2" NPT fitting.

 

[prv]

Positive Rigger, I had to make up a custom one by using a 1 1/2" NPT fitting.

I'm still perplexed as to what the adaptor is for if the pump-outs aren't threaded, but it doesn't really matter

Pete

 

[abraxus]

I'll allow Leesan to explain Pete:

"If you have a 1 1/2" deck fitting on your boat but you cannot get the suction probe at your local pump out station to fit properly, your deck fitting may not comply to ISO8099. This adapter screws into your current deck fitting and enables you to get good suction when you pump out."