Underslung gas tank remote gauge accuracy?

[rod_vw]

As per the title, how accurate is the remote gauge on your underslung gas tank?

Mine is this type but not from Gas It...

 

[Langtoftlad]

In a word - pathetic .

However, it is consistently inaccurate.

When it indicates empty (red led) my tank is almost exactly half full.

 

[yorkiebar]

Ours varies between 1/2 and 3/4 full after nearly two years of use ( on one tank fill ). The level varies depending upon some random factor. We only use gas for cooking hence the low usage. Give it another 2-3 years and we might think about filling up.

 

[Two on Tour]

My Mopeka ultrasonic sensor is spot on.

 

[rod_vw]

In a word - pathetic .

However, it is consistently inaccurate.

When it indicates empty (red led) my tank is almost exactly half full.

Snap, that is exactly how mine is.

When our tank was new it was sold as 25litre which I assume would fill to 80% of that so nominally 20litre capacity. I did the initial fill which took 22litres. As you say when the gauge reads empty (red light) it will only take 11litres to fill. All fills have been from the same pump so I can ignore any possible pump discrepancies.

Ironically when doing some wiring changes I carelessly destroyed the remote readout and replaced it with a new one with a different name on the front BUT it behaves exactly as the first one did. There is no electrical connection between the tank sender and the remote sender, it is only connected 'magnetically' and firmly located at the tank body.

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[Barn1e]

Oh dear, another gauge/sensor for me to worry about on my campervan.

 

[Southend]

Ours is similarity useless. Ours was reading two bars left on our 25 litre tank. I expected to add about 14 litres on our last fill.
The pump cut out after 7 litres and the gauge is reading full again.

 

[Brianmor]

Another tick for Mopeka

 

[boaterkeith]

Mine, similar to the GasIt one, was reading just under half full last week on a 25 litre tank. Filled it up and cost me £3.02 at 99p/litre. They’re no more than a wildly ill informed guess!

 

[Mike Hawkins]

In a word - pathetic .

However, it is consistently inaccurate.

When it indicates empty (red led) my tank is almost exactly half full.

I agree with this. Get to know your own meter. In our case, all five lights show and once we see a drop off (even one of the five lights) we know we’re good for about 9 litres (max 18). And that’s the time to look around. The Balkans were great for GPL and Italy’s not bad but France and Spain aren’t as frequent. And as for the UK …

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[simbadog]

Both the gauges on mine are useless

 

[The Wino]

Our mechanical gauge was just the same empty on the gague meant about half left. It was actually fine in use we would give it a few more days then refill . Once you know how it behaves it's not a problem unless of course it behaves the other way and shows there's gas when there isn't!

 

[MartynSuz]

I have the ultrasonic one from truma. It is perfectly reliable and very accurate.

 

[Mad dog]

Apparently muck can get on the back of the sensor on the tank from dirty gas. Our remote sensor gives us a vague indication, but sometimes the tank gauge is wrong until I give the tank a thump! The people we had it from said to wait until the tanks empty, unscrew the sensor & clean it off.

 

[oldiesontour]

I fitted a 25 LTE underslung tank and on tank gauge..instead of the stupidly expensive gauge meant for the remote I bought a 10 multicoloured led gauge from Ali express it seems reasonably accurate so long as it's checked with the van in the same location and air assist deflated...even the slightest difference in the van level shows a big difference I think this is why they appear so inaccurate,they are usually mounted parallel to the van floor not actually level at all as the float is meant to be

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[eddie]

On my camper the gas tank is in between the two chassis rails!

Luckily the gauge is a "float" type and the internal display is very accurate

On a previous camper, again, American, it wasn't very good, but the float was 90 ohms so it was an easy job to divert the signal from the vans control panel and I fitted a small petrol gauge which worked very well

 

[The Wino]

Apparently muck can get on the back of the sensor on the tank from dirty gas. Our remote sensor gives us a vague indication, but sometimes the tank gauge is wrong until I give the tank a thump! The people we had it from said to wait until the tanks empty, unscrew the sensor & clean it off.

A lot of them work on a float in the tank lifting a metal rod inside the brass fittingnon top of the cylinder. As the float tends to stick they often show a low level at first then as you drive over a few bumps the correct one. Our previous one did that from new. I think if it reads right after driving a bit leave it alone.

 

[Basildog]

Apparently muck can get on the back of the sensor on the tank from dirty gas. Our remote sensor gives us a vague indication, but sometimes the tank gauge is wrong until I give the tank a thump! The people we had it from said to wait until the tanks empty, unscrew the sensor & clean it off.

Oh dear
Anyone giving that type of advice to customers is certainly special.
Please don’t take the mechanical level gauge out of the tank.
It would require a new rubber gasket and there is nothing to clean .

 

[Riverbankannie]

In a word - pathetic .

However, it is consistently inaccurate.

When it indicates empty (red led) my tank is almost exactly half full.

Ours is the same but at least you know that once red there is plenty of time to wait until you next pass a fuel station with lpg. Max I have ever got in to 25litre tank is 11 litres.

 

[Reallyretired]

Mine is very similar
It's not accurate but consistent. If it reads full it is more than half full. Once half empty the reading drops rapidly and once it goes red there is a few litres left so time to refill.

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[rod_vw]

Apparently muck can get on the back of the sensor on the tank from dirty gas. Our remote sensor gives us a vague indication, but sometimes the tank gauge is wrong until I give the tank a thump! The people we had it from said to wait until the tanks empty, unscrew the sensor & clean it off.

You were told DANGEROUS RUBBISH DO NOT REMOVE THE FITMENT FROM THE TANK!

You can remove the electrical part of the gauge without any danger but removing the unit from the tank requires expert knowledge to refit it safely.

 

[CV20Bobby]

My Mopeka ultrasonic sensor is spot on.

Is that on an underslung tank , where did you put the sensor ? Thanks

 

[Two on Tour]

Is that on an underslung tank , where did you put the sensor ? Thanks

Yes, it is on our underslung tank.

This is mine mounted on my underslung tank.
I did originally fit the standard Mopeka sensor but have since upgraded to the Pro version so I can read the tank levels via my Victron screen.

This is my earlier Mopeka standard sensor fitting to my underslung tank.
Sensor mounted on the tank with its magnets, but not wanting it to fall off if I hit a pothole, so I made a cover to hold it in place and give it some protection from road spray.

The sensor is flush with the tank mounting brackets, that's a bit handy.

1mm thick aluminium cover trial fitted and ready to paint.
One end is bent over to grip the tank mounting frame and I just used a self tapper on the other end to fix it in place.
The clamp was only used to hold the cover in place to test that the cover fitted okay.

 

[CV20Bobby]

Yes, it is on our underslung tank.

This is mine mounted on my underslung tank.
I did originally fit the standard Mopeka sensor but have since upgraded to the Pro version so I can read the tank levels via my Victron screen.

This is my earlier Mopeka standard sensor fitting to my underslung tank.
Sensor mounted on the tank with its magnets, but not wanting it to fall off if I hit a pothole, so I made a cover to hold it in place and give it some protection from road spray.

View attachment 1131989

The sensor is flush with the tank mounting brackets, that's a bit handy.

View attachment 1131990

1mm thick aluminium cover trial fitted and ready to paint.
One end is bent over to grip the tank mounting frame and I just used a self tapper on the other end to fix it in place.
The clamp was only used to hold the cover in place to test that the cover fitted okay.

View attachment 1131991

View attachment 1131992

Superb, thanks once again for the information, another addition with great practical advice , very much appreciated. Our gas level monitoring is as per most posts useless , this will make it very much easier to monitor. Will do this and your fresh water level float switch this winter once we stop touring .