Fuel Gauge

[TonyBuckley]

I am getting very tired of lifting the sole, opening the deck hatch, finding a torch, scraping every part of my exposed body as I crawl into a small space and shining a torch on a sight tube that shows me nothing visible.

I can't dip the tank and I don't trust my log to work out how much used.

So... time to fit a fuel gauge.

But I just want an easy life - can handle a bit of wiring, but I really don't want to drill holes in the tank and fit anything inside.

I've had a look around for something that maybe can just sense through the tank wall.

I don't even need an analogue readout - just four points on the tank maybe to four LEDs.

Anyone know if such a thing exists? Otherwise, I will have a go at making something somehow.

 

[boatmike]

Go to ASAP supplies website. They have senders and gauges at reasonable prices and wiring them is easy.

 

[AndyJ76]

I have seen non-invasive ultrasonic sensors that you can attach to the outside of the tank. All the ones that come up in google at the moment are through-hole though.
I was looking at doing something with this http://www.practicalarduino.com/projects/water-tank-depth-sensor

One of the reasons that I liked this was that I could use the pressure tube as a sight tube. It seems to me that if you already have a sight tube, you might be able to plumb one of these into it.

 

[TonyBuckley]

I was wondering if an ultrasound transducer placed on a vertical tank position (outside) would give a different signal if fuel were behind that point compared to air?

Easy circuit to knock up, drive an LED. I've done such circuits for proximity apps but not sure how the transducer would behave if at all when it has a sheet of metal in the way of it - suspect it wouldn't work to detect whether air or fuel behind the metal.