Tank level sensors - ultrasonic

[Tintin]

Have just read a great review in the US Practical Sailor mag of the Airmar TLM100 ultrasonic tank level gauges, which are n2k, with a Mareton DSM410 display.

It would solve the annoying issue of stuck floats on my fuel tanks (2) and they also look easy to fit to my 2 water tanks and 2 holding tanks. I like no moving parts.

Has anyone had any experience of these and could they display on a newer plotter / mfd or my boat tablet (using the n2k wifi transmit capability of my Vesper XB8000 ais). The mareton 410 retails in UK at close to £700, which seems a lot.

 

[tross]

I''m just about to install a fuel and water senders ( 3281T and £271T) from Oceanic Systems and linking them to the MDF I have - each are about £151 +VAT -I'm very limited with space between the tank and the berth top and these are only 16mm high.
www.osukl.com

 

[Moodysailor]

You don't necessarily need the Maretron display (although I'm not familiar with any other N2K displays for this).

These are on my future list, I'll connect ours to our Raymarine Axiom

 

[harvey38]

You don't necessarily need the Maretron display (although I'm not familiar with any other N2K displays for this).

These are on my future list, I'll connect ours to our Raymarine Axiom

Many MFDs will connect, I have older networked Raymarine A65s, E7 and E97 that have the ability to display tank data, waste, fuel, water etc via N2K.

 

[pvb]

You don't necessarily need the Maretron display (although I'm not familiar with any other N2K displays for this).

Can the TLM100 be calibrated without a Maretron display?

 

[Tintin]

Can the TLM100 be calibrated without a Maretron display?

Just checked the manual, and it needs a compliant display

Maretron - Tank Level Monitor (TLM100)

 

[Tintin]

I''m just about to install a fuel and water senders ( 3281T and £271T) from Oceanic Systems and linking them to the MDF I have - each are about £151 +VAT -I'm very limited with space between the tank and the berth top and these are only 16mm high.
www.osukl.com

I had a look and they don't have an ultrasonic one, unless I'm not seeing it.

 

[Minerva]

.. with a Mareton DSM410 display.

Not directly related, but I was watching a recent Delos last night - they were ripping out their ~2yr old Mareton system and replacing it with new stuff. No idea if they were financially incentivised to do so and they never bad mouthed the maretron stuff, but it felt odd to be ripping out the system so soon after install.

 

[pvb]

Just checked the manual, and it needs a compliant display

Maretron - Tank Level Monitor (TLM100)

Yes, that puts the price up. However, Maretron are one of the few makers with an ultrasonic tank sensor running NMEA2000.

But before you decide, look at the SeaBits blog, in which he says that the Maretron pressure sensor system works much better - Better tank monitoring

 

[prv]

It’s a while since I’ve used it, but there is a software virtual display head that can be used for sensor calibration, via the Maretron USB interface. I don’t know how the price for the latter compares to the price for a real display.

I‘m aware of a boat where some quirk of vibration made one of these ultrasonic sensors misread the tank while the engine was in neutral (the apparent fuel level would creep upwards) but presumably that‘s not common or it would be more widely known and then fixed.

Pete

 

[Mr Cassandra]

You don't necessarily need the Maretron display (although I'm not familiar with any other N2K displays for this).

These are on my future list, I'll connect ours to our Raymarine Axiom

Are you happy with the imo complexity of the Axiom menu.

 

[Tintin]

Yes, that puts the price up. However, Maretron are one of the few makers with an ultrasonic tank sensor running NMEA2000.

But before you decide, look at the SeaBits blog, in which he says that the Maretron pressure sensor system works much better - Better tank monitoring

I read that about the pressure system but it requires a pressure sensor mounted in the base of the tank, so I think the TLM is an easier install.

Maretron - Fluid Pressure Monitor (FPM100)

 

[prv]

I read that about the pressure system but it requires a pressure sensor mounted in the base of the tank, so I think the TLM is an easier install.

The first three sensors on the Accessories tab of the page you linked are designed to be installed through the top of the tank, with the actual transducer dropped in to lie on the bottom. Apart from possibly rolling around noisily (maybe add some plastic “wings”?) it seems practical enough.

The direct sensors could go into the pipework, if the tank feeds from the bottom rather than via a dip pipe.

Pete

 

[cpedw]

The direct sensors could go into the pipework, if the tank feeds from the bottom rather than via a dip pipe.

Pete

They could still go in the pipework provided the pipe is completely full and you can connect the sensor to the pipe at a level with the bottom of the tank.

 

[Moodysailor]

Are you happy with the imo complexity of the Axiom menu.

Yes, I don't find it complex at all. No more or less than a smartphone. Fairly straightforward

 

[findus]

I installed 2 TLM100 6 years ago, thinking they are the bee knees. Spent hours filling the fuel tank through a meter to measure volume versus fill height and at the same time calibrating the display (Maretron DSM250). The DSM GUI is not very intuitive for the calibrating part. Took a lot of reading the bloody manual.
I got it done and it shows on all my Furuno displays (the 12" MFD and the FI-70 displays no problem) and on the DSM250. I added another fuel tank TLM100 later to our second diesel tank.
Now I am thinking, there must be something better out there...

There are 2 problems, the value delivered from the sensor seems to randomly "jump" around sometimes even when the boat lies still in a marina. So it's not waves sloshing around in the tank. I could live with that once I had learned to ignore these brief and sudden changes. Just don't understand, how an intelligent sensor cannot iron out these sudden changes in its algorithm.
The bit which really cheeses me off is, when you fill the tank, the fill level delivered from the sensor goes completely off kilter every time. It will say it's full, you stop filling and then it falls back to 70% after a while. Very annoying. It took me ages to understand, what is going on but I am now thinking, that during filling, there is a lot of foam developing in the tank which fools the sensor. Sensor says tank is full you stop filling and 15 mins later after you left the fuel dock your sensor says 70% in your tank. I cannot reliably fill the tank to the top without spilling diesel out of the overflow. Ok, maybe you can do it if you are prepared to spend half an hour or an hour at the fuel dock waiting for the foam to disappear.

I have now started to look for fuel sensors without moving parts which are not ultrasonic due to the foam problem. The water tank sensor works ok.

Do you want to buy 2 TLM100 used in diesel tanks (no wear and tear, no moving parts )?

 

[vas]

I v.rarely have that with the IR top mounted sensor on my black water tank. Obvs not a filling problem there IMHO IR senders are really only meant for black water tanks
for diesel and freshwater I've opted for the tank outlet pressure sensor approach. Both tanks outlets are at the bottom.
Water works fine, nice, stable and responsive, diesel not so, but I think it's the geometry of the tanks and the wake from passing boats in the marina that messes with it.
Since these are custom senders 0-5V translated through arduinos to NMEA2K sentences by myself, I've opted for v.slow response code to smooth that out, but then bites me when filling the diesel tank with v.slow response on real level may take 3-4mins to get the right level. Not a great issue as I never fill the tanks to the brim, but a problem nevertheless!
Water tank is even less of an issue as it's filled from the watermaker at snail pace (100lt/h)...

 

[cpedw]

I solved the fuel tank filling problem with a Barton whistle. But it's no use for telling you how much is left in the tank .