Lgp tank etc

Sue coulson

Sue coulson

Joined
May 22, 2019
Posts
368
Likes collected
127
Location
Falmouth cornwall
Funster No
61,010
MH
Pilote p650
Exp
3 years
Hi everyone
Having a tank out in. Is a gauge necessary I had heard that they are not that reliable??
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
Hmm, so no way of knowing how much you have until it runs out?

Wyn

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
The gauges are not very accurate. From my experience they go from green to red very quickly when about half full. This was a real pain and induced 'gas anxiety'. I subsequently bought a Mopeka Bluetooth system and that I find is very accurate with our Gaslow bottle. I suspect that with a tank it may take a bit more effort to calibrate accurately but still would expect it to be accurate to within a few percent.
 
Upvote 0
We had an underslung tank and had a gauge fitted. It isn't massively accurate in that it says full for quite a while and when it's near empty there's a couple of litres left. But as it was bolted to the underside of the van, I couldn't lift it to give it a shake, so without it, I'd be just guessing.

Counter argument is that with a refillable, if you're worried, just top it up. Or if you had a pair of refillables, I probably wouldn't bother.
 
Upvote 0
Sue coulson said:
Hi everyone
Having a tank out in. Is a gauge necessary I had heard that they are not that reliable??
Click to expand...
Having had a bulk tank in the past, I would certainly have another, including a gauge. Ours was very similar to this one, and was quite accurate when compared with the number of litres it took on a refill. (y)

1620210995610.png


Cheers,

Jock. :)
 
Upvote 0
WynandJean said:
Does this work by monitoring the weight of the bottle?

Wyn
Click to expand...

Pretty much as Guigsy says, it's mounted on the bottom of a cylinder or tank and sends out ultrasonic sound waves that sense the height of the liquid LPG in the tank.
 
Upvote 0
JockandRita said:
Having had a bulk tank in the past, I would certainly have another, including a gauge. Ours was very similar to this one, and was quite accurate when compared with the number of litres it took on a refill.
Click to expand...
You can also get a gauge like this, that has an electrical sensor in it, and wires to send the reading to a remote gauge indicator. Easy to fit and very convenient if the tank is underslung.
www.lpgshop.co.uk

4-Hole Livello Level Sender Sensor 0-95 Ohm

4-Hole Livello Level Sender Sensor 0-95 Ohm LPG Tank Level Sender for 4 - Hole tanks from Livello. 0-95 Ohm offers a little bit better accuracy than 0-90 Ohm sensors
www.lpgshop.co.uk www.lpgshop.co.uk
www.lpgshop.co.uk

Livello LED Remote Gas Level Indicator with Switch

Livello LED Gas Level Indicator with Switch LPG level remote indicator. Compatible with all 0-90Ohm or 0-95Ohm level senders. It reads the resistance value from level sender and it lights up corresponding LEDs.
www.lpgshop.co.uk www.lpgshop.co.uk

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
We have a gas it underslung tank with remote shut off and gauge its not the most reliable but when it shows red i can get 21 litres in its a 25lire tank, so near enough.
 
Upvote 0
autorouter said:
You can also get a gauge like this, that has an electrical sensor in it, and wires to send the reading to a remote gauge indicator. Easy to fit and very convenient if the tank is underslung.
www.lpgshop.co.uk

4-Hole Livello Level Sender Sensor 0-95 Ohm

4-Hole Livello Level Sender Sensor 0-95 Ohm LPG Tank Level Sender for 4 - Hole tanks from Livello. 0-95 Ohm offers a little bit better accuracy than 0-90 Ohm sensors
www.lpgshop.co.uk www.lpgshop.co.uk
www.lpgshop.co.uk

Livello LED Remote Gas Level Indicator with Switch

Livello LED Gas Level Indicator with Switch LPG level remote indicator. Compatible with all 0-90Ohm or 0-95Ohm level senders. It reads the resistance value from level sender and it lights up corresponding LEDs.
www.lpgshop.co.uk www.lpgshop.co.uk
Click to expand...

The very reason I fitted the Mopeka system was because I fitted the 0-95-ohm sensor and led readout when I first fitted our underslung tank and to say it was bloody useless would be an understatement.
 
Upvote 0
Two on Tour said:
The very reason I fitted the Mopeka system was because I fitted the 0-95-ohm sensor and led readout when I first fitted our underslung tank and to say it was bloody useless would be an understatement.
Click to expand...

A bit rubbish, maybe. But hopefully not totally useless. Once it goes red, you can start thinking of getting more gas. That's its main purpose. You certainly wouldn't be able to use it to calculate your usage or estimate when it runs out, but it's enough to make the decision whether to stop off for more gas.
 
Upvote 0
If the gauge is based on pressure then it will be about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. The pressure will remain constant until empty, lpg pressure does not change with quantity.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
cmcardle75 said:
A bit rubbish, maybe. But hopefully not totally useless. Once it goes red, you can start thinking of getting more gas. That's its main purpose. You certainly wouldn't be able to use it to calculate your usage or estimate when it runs out, but it's enough to make the decision whether to stop off for more gas.
Click to expand...

At the first fill of our underslung tank after fitting it, I got Yvette to yell out as each led lit up on our gauge and I noted how much gas had been pumped in and the first of the green led's did not pop on until we had on the way to half of a tank. At that point I had a fair idea that this gauge setup was not going to be much use as even a guide to our LPG.
With the ability to change the cylinder or tank parameters within the Mopeka app means that I now have a very accurate indication of our LPG level and can now refill when price and filling station proximity to our journey determine when I fill rather than the we had better fill just in case.
 
Upvote 0
Pausim said:
If the gauge is based on pressure then it will be about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. The pressure will remain constant until empty, lpg pressure does not change with quantity.
Click to expand...

The gauges on underslung tanks are not based on pressure, but are float devices. However, they're not the best. I think they transfer their position using a magnet, which is detected by the gauge itself on the outside, converted into a resistance value and sent up to an electronic resistance meter. They do work, but the Mopeka gauges are far more reliable and accurate.
 
Upvote 0
Two on Tour said:
At the first fill of our underslung tank after fitting it, I got Yvette to yell out as each led lit up on our gauge and I noted how much gas had been pumped in and the first of the green led's did not pop on until we had on the way to half of a tank. At that point I had a fair idea that this gauge setup was not going to be much use as even a guide to our LPG.
With the ability to change the cylinder or tank parameters within the Mopeka app means that I now have a very accurate indication of our LPG level and can now refill when price and filling station proximity to our journey determine when I fill rather than the we had better fill just in case.
Click to expand...

It depends what you need the gauge to do. I refill when the gas gets much below 50%, so it actually does what I need. The Mopeka is an awesome bit of kit that would let you keep an eye on gas consumption and plan your gas refills in advance on long trips, but it would be overkill for me.
 
Upvote 0
The standard Gasit underslung cylinder gauges are some sort of float device (LPG is a liquid which relies on space at the top of the tank to vapourise).

Problem is that any underslung cylinder will need to be perfectly aligned - the valves and gauge is not truly vertical / horizontal. That is buried somewhere on the gasit site. You know it is a flat device as if the tank is part empty the gauge changes reading if you are on a steeper hill.

Without a gauge I'd have no idea when I am due for a fill. But it's far from accurate, but that may in part be that at 25l the cylinder, horizontally, has to be about the worst case for any calibration. When my gauge is red, the most I filled is about 14 litres, so it does give me a bit of a reserve.
 
Upvote 0
Kannon Fodda said:
The standard Gasit underslung cylinder gauges are some sort of float device (LPG is a liquid which relies on space at the top of the tank to vapourise).

Problem is that any underslung cylinder will need to be perfectly aligned - the valves and gauge is not truly vertical / horizontal. That is buried somewhere on the gasit site. You know it is a flat device as if the tank is part empty the gauge changes reading if you are on a steeper hill.

Without a gauge I'd have no idea when I am due for a fill. But it's far from accurate, but that may in part be that at 25l the cylinder, horizontally, has to be about the worst case for any calibration. When my gauge is red, the most I filled is about 14 litres, so it does give me a bit of a reserve.
Click to expand...

Most underslung tanks are sold by total capacity, not usable. A 25 litre tank can only hold 20 litres at 80%.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Upvote 0
Kannon Fodda said:
Without a gauge I'd have no idea when I am due for a fill. But it's far from accurate, but that may in part be that at 25l the cylinder, horizontally, has to be about the worst case for any calibration. When my gauge is red, the most I filled is about 14 litres, so it does give me a bit of a reserve.
Click to expand...
Is it that a 25l tank will only fill to ~80%, so 20l of LPG before it shuts off. But that's still a 6l reserve, which isn't great.
 
Upvote 0
Guigsy said:
Is it that a 25l tank will only fill to ~80%, so 20l of LPG before it shuts off. But that's still a 6l reserve, which isn't great.
Click to expand...
Filling shuts off at 80% (20.8l) because there has to be space above the liquid. That is not a lot of gas, about the same as 1 x 11kg bottle.
 
Upvote 0
Pausim said:
If the gauge is based on pressure then it will be about as much use as a chocolate tea pot. The pressure will remain constant until empty, lpg pressure does not change with quantity.
Click to expand...
Substances that are fully gaseous, like oxygen, have gauges that measure pressure, and that gives a good indication of quantity remaining. Substances that are liquid, like LPG or acetylene, don't change in pressure as they are used up.

For LPG underslung tanks there's a float inside the tank. As it rises and falls it rotates a magnet. The gauge needle is moved by the magnet, and so is the resistive sensor wiper terminal. Mine works fine. You switch it on, and it takes maybe 30 seconds to stabilise. When finished you turn it off.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
25 litre underslung cylinder, 80% useable capacity so 20 litres or thereabouts actual. It's a small PVC. I can only carry 60 litres fresh water (and it seems like at least a 1/4 of that spills out the overflow hose when I've driven around, no doubt miffing people thinking that I'm dumping grey water). So on balance the small cylinder is about right, if only the LPG supplies were easy to locate - see different thread on dwindling supplies.

But it being red i.e. "empty" when there is probably 6 litres or so of the 20 useable left isn't accurate . I'd suggest that a "reserve" of of a 1/4 the tank capacity is a bit large? But the relatively small diameter of the cylinder (much bigger and road clearance would be a concern), probably means even the mopeka type thing wouldn't be much better. BTW my system was all fitted as standard by Autotrail, and does have some form of electronic gauge in the driver's cab rather than climbing under the van to see a dial.
 
Upvote 0
We've only got a small underslung on the campervan. We spent 6 months driving around Europe, off-grid most of the time. We didn't need to use the heating much. We only refilled a few times and there was always more left in the tank than I was expecting.
 
Upvote 0

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top