SCAD Model # 10022 holding tank monitor

[msu1966]

Has anyone installed this monitor to their holding tank. Based on my internet search, it seems like the simplest and most cost effective method of monitoring the tank. $ 57.99 at Defender.com. Is it effective, do you need any additional parts to be able to install it properly including any electrical wiring, etc.?

Thanks, Ken

 

[SJI Sailor]

That is a sensor only, I think. You would need their monitor panel to be able to read the level. That would mean running the wires to power and also to the monitor panel (preferably somewhere near the power connection) and mounting the monitor panel.

 

[Toucan]

We installed one of these units last year. We have not finished the calibration yet because it needs to be done with a full holding tank. Simple install. It needs 3-wire instrument cable (S~26 gage wire) to go between the sensor strips and the display. We mounted the display below the light switches by the rear door and took power from the lighting power supply.

Barry Thompson
TOUCAN, R-27 Classic

 

[Smcavana]

We installed a SCAD on our R-27 Classic also, and also mounted the monitor just inside the cockpit door on the bulkhead across from the head door (the aft frame of the opening to the cave). There is convenient 12v power from the cabin light just inside the cave. We calibrated the "full" reading by filling the holding tank with water, then pumped the tank to calibrate the "empty" reading. Of course, we're lucky to have in-slip pumpout! The monitor works well, seems to be accurate, and the location across from the head door is convenient because we can check the tank level on the way in. Recommended.

 

[ggreen]

Hello Everyone,

I am a new owner of a 2022 Ranger 27 LE edition tug I recently took delivery. The past 17 years I owned and cruised sailboats so this is a new experience for both my wife and me. I want to add a tank monitor for the holding tank but am unsure on how to get access to the actual tank. The 2022 LE edition has a hole in the bulkhead under the forward cabin before the step but it's practically impossible to access the plastic tank behind it. Is there another way to get to that tank so that I can install the electrodes to the tank wall. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
gary green

 

[Bruce Moore]

Bumping reply delayed in moderation queue.

 

[Submariner]

Hello Everyone,

I am a new owner of a 2022 Ranger 27 LE edition tug I recently took delivery. The past 17 years I owned and cruised sailboats so this is a new experience for both my wife and me. I want to add a tank monitor for the holding tank but am unsure on how to get access to the actual tank. The 2022 LE edition has a hole in the bulkhead under the forward cabin before the step but it's practically impossible to access the plastic tank behind it. Is there another way to get to that tank so that I can install the electrodes to the tank wall. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
gary green

You can get access to the top of the black water tank from inside the cave.

Here's a photo of how to access the black water tank.
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...l6p7tjc6-c33a2206-39c8-4f57-8c10-cfa5468013a6

 

[ggreen]

Thank you for the information and sharing those pictures. They certainly have helped me to understand how things came together on the boat. I also like your videos.


g green

 

[Submariner]

Thank you for the information and sharing those pictures. They certainly have helped me to understand how things came together on the boat. I also like your videos.


g green

Thanks! Glad this info helped.

We actually have a black water tank sensor that came with our boat from the factory. It's just a red light. If the light is on the tank is full. if the light is off the tank is not full. Not all that useful as the toilet will tell me that same info. The factory has since switched to the access hole (which I don't have) to have a visible view the top of the tank to know if you're close to full.

We just calculate the amount in our black water tank based on how many days we've been on the boat since the last pump out. We get about 10 days with 3 people which would put us near full. So if we go out for 5 or 6 days, we usually will pump out before putting the boat away to not have the tank sit partially full, in the heat, for weeks on end.

We also have found that the closer to full the tank gets the more noticeable the smell is. This is our backup indicator.
Ironically enough, of all the upgrades I've done to Channel Surfing, I have no plans to add a level guage to the SAN tank (what I refer to it as). (Being in Auxiliary division on a submarine, our black water tanks were referred to as SAN (sanitary) tanks. We either used 700psi air or a positive displacement pump to empty the tanks (both under water and when tied up to shore). It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it.)

 

[LibreRT]

You can get access to the top of the black water tank from inside the cave.

Here's a photo of how to access the black water tank.
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...l6p7tjc6-c33a2206-39c8-4f57-8c10-cfa5468013a6

We just bought a 2021 R27, and also want to install a holding tank monitor. The viewing hole under the step is utterly useless. Since it’s so hard to get my head in there and light the area up enough to even see anything, I decided to use my iPhone to reach in and video/photo the tank through the hole. I checked it daily in this way. On the day it was full — not pleasant when that happens, btw — the photo through the viewing hole looked exactly the same as every other.

Your photo of the top of the tank is helpful. But I don’t understand how a sensor can be any use without accessing the side of the tank. (The sensor strip has to be applied vertically to the side of the tank, correct?).

Is the something I’m missing?

 

[Submariner]

You can get access to the top of the black water tank from inside the cave.

Here's a photo of how to access the black water tank.
https://www.letsgochannelsurfing.co...l6p7tjc6-c33a2206-39c8-4f57-8c10-cfa5468013a6

We just bought a 2021 R27, and also want to install a holding tank monitor. The viewing hole under the step is utterly useless. Since it’s so hard to get my head in there and light the area up enough to even see anything, I decided to use my iPhone to reach in and video/photo the tank through the hole. I checked it daily in this way. On the day it was full — not pleasant when that happens, btw — the photo through the viewing hole looked exactly the same as every other.

Your photo of the top of the tank is helpful. But I don’t understand how a sensor can be any use without accessing the side of the tank. (The sensor strip has to be applied vertically to the side of the tank, correct?).

Is the something I’m missing?

It’s not easy to gain access to the side of the SAN tank.

What we’ve found works best is as follows.
We pump out after each trip so the tank sits empty most of the time. We count days out on a trip. I figure 1 gallon per person per day. We normally have 3 adults onboard so that gives us 10 days with a 30 gallon tank.

When we’re out on the boat for weeks at a time, by around day 7 or 8 we are looking for a pump out.

I kind of stumbled on this formula on accident. We did a 10 day cruise a few months after we bought our boat. Tank was absolutely full at the very end our trip, with 3 adults onboard. It’s worked for us since then.

When we’re at the dock for awhile, using the head, during the off season, we lose track. So we have to hit the pump out before we leave on our next trip.

We’re fortunate in that there’s a pump out in our marina, makes it convenient.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[LibreRT]

Thanks, Martin. That sounds like a good workaround to an actual monitor. (Math, essentially). I’m still curious about how others in this forum have managed to successfully install monitors (without access to the side of the tank). This thread is about the SCAD, but my searches have turned up others where folks have claimed success with monitors. Has someone…anyone…anywhere…been able to install a monitor on a later model R27, I wonder? I believe there are such claims, but perhaps those are different model years. Just wondering when/where I should just give up and use the calendar days x number of people formulary. (But I’ll always believe a waste tank monitor should be an essential feature, for Pete’s sake.)

 

[Submariner]

I’m still curious about how others in this forum have managed to successfully install monitors (without access to the side of the tank). This thread is about the SCAD, but my searches have turned up others where folks have claimed success with monitors. Has someone…anyone…anywhere…been able to install a monitor on a later model R27, I wonder? I believe there are such claims, but perhaps those are different model years. Just wondering when/where I should just give up and use the calendar days x number of people formulary. (But I’ll always believe a waste tank monitor should be an essential feature, for Pete’s sake.)

Personally, I have not heard of or seen a single RT27-OB that successfully has added a gauge to the black water tank.

The best that I have heard of, someone installed a backup camera under the step in the v-berth looking directly at the hole in the bulkhead. Remotely they are able to look without having to crawl underneath using their phone. But here again, that hole is cut at the top of the tank. It won't tell you 1/3 or 1/2 way. If you were to see the level in the tank it means you're close to full. I don't even have that in my boat (the factory didn't drill that hole on the early '21 models". So I don't know how useful that view port actually is.

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

The hole is useless on my R-23. The tank isn’t see-through. I’ve tried several times with flashlights, no flashlight, etc….


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[Mastercraft]

I finally got my SCAD monitor to work!!!
I tested it out filling tank with a garden hose and using the macerator while on trailer in my yard.
2017 R29
Factory light in head is green 0 - 40% full, yellow 40% - 100% full
SCAD has a light for every 1/8 tank
SCAD was like solving a Rubik Cube. I finally narrowed it down to wire that did not stick to the tank. I installed it on tank a year ago and could never calibrate it right until now. Now, the wires on tank are covered with super super sticky tape that should never fall off.
The factory lights work on the same principle as the SCAD. You can see them on the tank. The half full tank wire is located at the 40% height on tank so that is why the green goes to yellow at 40%.
I think Ranger tugs has many variations over the years. I was told there are factory red lights in head too. Not in my boat.
I connected into 12v outlet in berth with splitter slip on wire connectors.
I thought I paid $175 for junk, yet it now works. It looks like it should be a $25 item and you wonder how can this ever work. Well, just believe in magic.

 

[Sandro]

This is super helpful! Looked into this for a while and still am.. though 2 seasons into the boat now realized the lights as I have learned them are fine for now. (Also we are quite near an ocean for legal discharge and given our day, overnight and extended trips I hit the discharge whenever possible / permitted no matter what the light show and this have yet to require a pump out station (coast of Maine.). But great solution to bookmark as this is a top of mind item at all times!
Thanks!!

 

[ggreen]

I broke down and after careful research I bought and installed A Gobius C monitor for my holding tank on my 2022 Ranger Tug 27. The monitor fit nicely on top of the tank after much cotorsion and weird gymnastics getting to the tank to install the monitor. I also installed a Weimer analog gauge in the head so that I can get a quick visual of the level inside the tank.
The Gobius C uses Bluetooth through an app called Bluefy to monitor the tank from your cell phone. The instructions to finally connect to the monitor and setting up the parameters are horrible, but patience and perseverance paid off after understanding how to make the connection. I have the system on the accessory switch so that it does not have to be on all the time. Also, you do not have to wait for the tank to be empty or full for calibration as it needs only to know the capacity, tank form (rectangular, angled, square, etc.) and depth of the tank (in metric). I've checked it a number of times and both the analog meter in the head and the bluetooth connection are working just fine.

I would have used the Scad but there just doesn't seem to be a way to attach the foils to the side of the tank without doing some major alterations for access.

 

[Mastercraft]

Why would you ever want to monitor your tank on your phone?

 

[Midwest Jeff]

I find it absolutely ludicrous that RT does not put a monitor on the waste tank. Especially when you can't view it. A cheap RV has one. Hell, I had a Rinker 20 years ago that had one. I was certain it had one, and after not finding it I did a search here. Thinking I just wasn't looking in the right place. Come on RT! It's a cheap part. Grrrr.

 

[Submariner]

Anyone thought about simply adding a raw water flow counter to the inlet of the toilet? Count the water being flushed... Anyway, for us, it's never been an issue as we just count days and adults onboard. 1 gallon per person per day. When we come back from a long trip, we always empty the tank and flush it a few times with freshwater, especially in the summer time so the contents don't sit in the boat and bake in the sunshine.