Advice on fuel senders for gas

[ofishal]

Wondering if anybody can give me some advice on a new fuel sender. Right now I have the lowrance EP65R fluid level. It is hooked up and working but the sender which is in the tank is origanal and not very accurate. I know this only because the digital fuel level mirrors the old analog gauge (ie, stays on full level too long then drops to half and holds there, then drops quickly towards empty).

So, what I want to do is replace only the sender and use the EP65, or the other option is to replace the sender and EP65 setup I have now with the Maretron TLM-150 ultrasonic sender that will put the fluid level right on the NMEA 2000 backbone.

What I'd like to know is if anybody has found an accurate traditional style sender that I can hook the EP65 up to (the tank is a 120gal rectangular and about 16" deep), or if anyone has has had good results with the Maretron sender?

Thanks in advance!

[surfcaster51]

If your system would allow the use of the EP60R that is the route I would go. Once calibrated it shows a very accurate display of fuel remaining plus you get all the other goodies like MPG and GPH , fuel used and range when it receives a gps signal

I don't think it can be used on a diesel or some types of fuel injected motors.

I never found an anolog gauge not to be very useful other then they are pretty to look at

[TTaxi]

If you just replace the sender , the Centrioid Products capacitance-based senders are very good. Single tube that can be easily user cut with standard pipe cutter to desired length ( 12-1" off the bottom?), no moving parts, calibratible (via 2 screws on top mount) for actual Full and desired Empty levels ( ie.. "empty" with reserve, or actual usable empty?), steadier gauge readings at any level and gauge reads true linear level drop (though still influenced by irregular tank shapes)- not curved as with swing-arm types, and lastly it can indicate the presence of water in the tank by gauge reading of OverFull.

[ofishal]

thanks for the reply surfcaster... we do also have the EP60 installed and have had good results so far, and I plan on calibrating it after we fill the boat up the next time.

I agree with you on the analog gauge, but with the lowrance HDS and the lmf200 digital gauge, we'd like to get the fuel level even if it is less accurate than the ep60.

also after our new electronics package installed, we have a simrad autopilot on the simnet n2k backbone with an AT10 nmea0183 to simnet n2k converter, and a lowrance hds on the standard n2k backbone all linked talking together. I'm only putting that out there because there is not very much info out there about it and might be able to answer some questions about it if people have them.

[Cousin Eddie]

You can set up your fuel remaining source to be calculated by the fuel flow or the fluid level and both can be calibrated. You shouldn't need a new sender. You just need to calibrate the fluid level sensor based on actual gallons in the tank. For example; say you have a 100 gallon tank, add 25 gallons and calibrate it to 1/4 full, add 25 gallons and calibrate to 1/2 etc. Where it currently is reading 1/2 is probably more like 1/4 but you should be able to calibrate it so it reads correctly.

I have both sensors but I only use the fluid level as a back up in case I should somehow mess up the calibration on the fuel flow or if there was a problem with the sensor. The fuel flow has been very acurate and it's really nice to know that I have 43 gallons left rather than "1/4 to 1/2 a tank". One thing to keep in mind when calibrating the fuel flow is whether you're filling on a trailer or on the water. My boat holds 10-12 gallons more if filled on a trailer. If you fill on land, do the calibration after refilling on land. If filling on the water, calibrate on water.

[tobnpr]

I second the Centroid senders.
I have twin 150 gal tanks and I can guess within ten gallons what each side will take when the fuel truck comes by for a fill.

[souper]

Great fuel sender and great company to deal with.


http://www.wemausa.com/tank_sensors/...el_sensors.htm