Water tank flow monitor?

General Discussion about almost anything Teardrop or camping related

Water tank flow monitor?

Postby nrhmaine » Mon Jan 30, 2023 1:57 pm

I’ve got an 11g water tank mounted under the floor of the galley.
Image

Because it’s a very flat tank 48”x 24”x 3” tall) it’s difficult to monitor the level of water in the tank in traditional ways, so I’ve been thinking about using flow monitoring. Ideally this would be a self-contained flow monitor with digital display that shows gallons dispensed, and has a reset button to press when you fill the tank.

I bought a cheap flow monitor designed to remind you when it’s time to change your water filter. IDENTER Filter Monitor Flowmeter Digital LCD Display Water Liquid Control Flow Sensor 3/8" NPT Liter/Gallon Counting Down https://a.co/d/5UNvFVU
It’s workable, but a bit clumsy (only counts down from increments of 100; hard to reset; will start beeping if you ignore it for too many fill-ups)

Does anyone have a better idea for how I can monitor tank level or water remaining? All simple ideas will be entertained! (no, I don’t have a multifunction Cerbo display, capable of monitoring various sorts of remote monitoring sensors)

Thanks, Nate


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nrhmaine
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 78
Images: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:51 am
Location: Downeast Maine

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby Tom&Shelly » Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:47 pm

nrhmaine wrote:Does anyone have a better idea for how I can monitor tank level or water remaining? All simple ideas will be entertained! (no, I don’t have a multifunction Cerbo display, capable of monitoring various sorts of remote monitoring sensors)

Thanks, Nate


I haven't done this, and have never heard of it being done before. But, it seems like an electronic scale with a piezo-electric sensor could be built under the tank. Don't try a mechanical sensor. I just noticed the drawer in our galley that holds the dutch ovens got stoved in (ha-didn't intend the pun until I typed it!) by all the driving on bumpy roads that Shelly did last Summer! That would surely cause a mechanical scale to fail. In fact, if you did this, and recorded the accelerations while driving on bumpy roads, you would have a record of some sort of what the poor teardrop is subjected to! But in camp, it should read the weight of the water in the tank. But, as I say, I haven't heard of anyone doing this before, so it would be an experiment.

Incidentally, you say simple ideas, so I won't suggest the method used by high performance military aircraft to measure fuel in the tank. They put two probes in the tank and measure the electrical capacitance. Nothing like energized probes in a tank of JP-7! Never heard of an aircraft blowing up from that though. If you are electronically inclined, I guess this could be done with a water tank as well. Details left to the imagination of the reader!

Tom
172912 170466
Tom&Shelly
Palladium Donating Member
 
Posts: 2180
Images: 1903
Joined: Tue Sep 05, 2017 3:27 pm
Location: Upstate New York/New Mexico

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby nrhmaine » Mon Jan 30, 2023 4:57 pm

Thanks Tom. This are both interesting ideas. My tank is bolted down pretty tight, so I think using weight might be difficult.

The most challenging part of my request here is that I’m not particularly electronically-inclined. So if the solution is electronic, it needs to be fairly off-the-shelf.

That said, if anyone has a military surplus jet fuel tank monitor available, I’ll see what I can do!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nrhmaine
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 78
Images: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:51 am
Location: Downeast Maine
Top

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby tony.latham » Mon Jan 30, 2023 7:56 pm

User avatar
tony.latham
Gold Donating Member
 
Posts: 6880
Images: 17
Joined: Mon Jul 08, 2013 4:03 pm
Location: Middle of Idaho on the edge of nowhere
Top

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby nrhmaine » Mon Jan 30, 2023 8:42 pm

That looks more like what I need Tony.

It’s a much bigger orifice, so I wonder about low flow accuracy, but I’ll try to find minimum flow specs.

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nrhmaine
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 78
Images: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:51 am
Location: Downeast Maine
Top

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby nrhmaine » Sun Feb 12, 2023 12:41 pm

The monitor Tony linked has a much better interface for this purpose. You can choose between gallons pints, quarts or liters, and you press one button to set the count to zero, and then it just counts up from there until you reset it again. I’ve plumbed a dummy set up and it was fairly accurate. My faucet is right at the very bottom of the flow rate that works for this monitor. If I turn, the faucet fully on the monitor works well. If I try to crack the faucet, the monitor does not record the flow. All in all I think it’s worth a shot, and I will plumb it into my system when I get to that stage.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nrhmaine
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 78
Images: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:51 am
Location: Downeast Maine
Top

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby Onajourney » Mon Feb 13, 2023 10:27 am

User avatar
Onajourney
Teardrop Master
 
Posts: 244
Images: 181
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2021 2:16 am
Location: Central North Carolina
Top

Re: Water tank flow monitor?

Postby nrhmaine » Mon Feb 13, 2023 11:25 am

Thanks - that looks like just the thing. Pricy though!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nrhmaine
Teardrop Advisor
 
Posts: 78
Images: 0
Joined: Mon Feb 10, 2020 8:51 am
Location: Downeast Maine
Top


Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 25 guests