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 Gas tank visual gauge
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Chevy_Ranger
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281 posts
Portland OR

 Gas tank visual gauge Reply  Edit


A guy brought his bass boat into my shop for one reason. "That damn gas gauge is always wrong!" "I want something I can trust" "You have 2 weeks to come up with something" So here is what I came up with 3 years ago.

His gas tanks are like mine, they are under the seats. So this limited me to come up with a fix. Then I remembered something from an old tractor we used to have. It had a glass tube inside a metal housing that showed you how much gas was in the tank. Since liquids seek their own level, all I had to do was think about duplicating this on his boat.
I ran a gas line from the very bottom of his gas tank, thru the cover for the seats, into the area where he sits. I attached that hose to a solvent protected clear plastic tubing I found. I found a plastic red bead that was also solvent protected that would roll inside the tubing. I bent the tubing up the cover and attached it to the cover with some plastic pipe holders I found. I put a brass plug cap on the top and drilled it for a small nipple to run a small line back into the top of the gas tank to vent gauge.
Once I had it all put together, I poured in 2 gallons of gas and marked the gauge. Then 3 gallons (to make a 5 gallon mark), then 5 more for the 10 gal mark, etc till I had filled the tank.
When he came back to pick up the boat he was ecstatic.
I was going to try to locate one of those glass ones that the tractor had but I gave up.
Maybe you guys can up with a better gauge using better materials?
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When people haven't a clue as to what is going on...
they criticize the ones that do.



jbpainter
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451 posts
COLCHESTER VT

 Re: Gas tank visual gauge (Chevy_Ranger) » Reply  Edit


any chance of getting a pic?????

"I CANT OUTSMART MANY, BUT I CAN OUT DUMB THEM ALL"


Chevy_Ranger
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281 posts
Portland OR

 Re: Gas tank visual gauge (jbpainter) » Reply  Edit


I don't know where he is anymore. Sorry.
Just picture a side view of your gas tank. A clear tube comes out of the side at the bottom. Then turns 90 degrees up and ends about 1/2" above the top of the fuel tank. At the top of that tube is a little tube that bleeds off air back into the top of the fuel tank. Because of the physics of fluids and gravity, the fuel level in the gas tank will be the same as the fluid in the tube. When the fuel tank is half full, the pipe will show the same level. So all you have to do is look at the tube and you will know exactly how much gas is left in the tank.
There is a scientific way to make the height of the tube 1/2, 1/4, or 1/8 the height of the tank and still accurately show the fuel level in the tank. But, I don't know how to do that. They used this method on submarines in WWII. Early cars had these things on the dash.
I am going to research this and see if I can figure it out.
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When people haven't a clue as to what is going on...
they criticize the ones that do.

TRCM
Huh ??



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3841 posts
Newport News VA

 Re: Gas tank visual gauge (Chevy_Ranger) » Reply  Edit


Only hard things about doing it this way are:

1) making it look good in the boat

2) making the connections to the tank truly leakproof

3) not breaking the gage glass once it is installed


On my boat, I can just pull out one of the rear storage compartment trays and see the tank, which while not clear, does show very well the fluid level.

Modified by TRCM at 1:50 AM 2/5/2010


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Chevy_Ranger
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281 posts
Portland OR

 Re: Gas tank visual gauge (TRCM) » Reply  Edit


Quote, originally posted by TRCM »
Only hard things about doing it this way are:

1) making it look good in the boat

2) making the connections to the tank truly leakproof

3) not breaking the gage glas once it is installed

There is no glass in this setup. It is all clear plastic fuel hose. Making it leak proof was easy. I used fuel quality connections. As far as looking good in the boat. That wasn't his objective. He wanted to be able to tell exactly how much fuel he had. Not guess with electric gauges. It isn't for everyone, maybe not anyone, but the thing worked for him.

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When people haven't a clue as to what is going on...
they criticize the ones that do.

TRCM
Huh ??



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3841 posts
Newport News VA

 Re: Gas tank visual gauge (Chevy_Ranger) » Reply  Edit


Quote, originally posted by Chevy_Ranger »

There is no glass in this setup. It is all clear plastic fuel hose. Making it leak proof was easy. I used fuel quality connections. As far as looking good in the boat. That wasn't his objective. He wanted to be able to tell exactly how much fuel he had. Not guess with electric gauges. It isn't for everyone, maybe not anyone, but the thing worked for him.

it is called a gage glass or sight glass, whether it is glass or plastic......


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Hometownhandyman
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144 posts
Hamilton On

  » Reply  Edit


That is a neat idea!


If at first you don't succeed,dont take up skydiving

JediBasser




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63 posts
Kiel WI

 Re: (Hometownhandyman) » Reply  Edit


Hometownhandyman,
Great idea/tip! This is why I check this portion often. To learn new ideas that others have come up with and I wish there were more post like this. While I might not have the go-nads to try this, you receive an A+ for creativity and ingenuity. Just because everyone does not approve or give positive feedback, this post was still a success.

Thanks again and post more ideas.

 


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