Fresh Water Gauge Calibration? (or other fix)

[FlyMeAway]

The KUS water gauge on our R-31 won't go past around the 5/8ths of a tank mark.

I filled the water until overflowing, and suspected a vent issue. But on visual inspection the tank is filled to the fill hose / vent line (I was surprised the fill and vent are side and not top ports, which means some usable tank space is lost) so the gauge should be reading full.

Is there a calibration I can perform, or is this a faulty gauge or sensor that needs to be replaced? Given the space constraints at both the gauge and the tank, seems like a major pain. Any thoughts?

 

[S. Todd]

I don't know if it is the same issue but our gauge stopped working after about 3 years on our 2015 R25SC. I removed the refrigerator to access the gauge, removed the float gauge from the tank and cleaned it off (it had some black scum on it), reassembled and it worked fine after that.

 

[Kevin Lamont]

The KUS water gauge on our R-31 won't go past around the 5/8ths of a tank mark.

I filled the water until overflowing, and suspected a vent issue. But on visual inspection the tank is filled to the fill hose / vent line (I was surprised the fill and vent are side and not top ports, which means some usable tank space is lost) so the gauge should be reading full.

Is there a calibration I can perform, or is this a faulty gauge or sensor that needs to be replaced? Given the space constraints at both the gauge and the tank, seems like a major pain. Any thoughts?

Hello,

Unfortunately there is no calibration that can be done. It sounds like the float has gotten stuck and needs to be removed and cleaned. Sometimes by filling and draining the tank you can get the float to free up. Also if it was a gauge most likely the needle would be pegged at full or empty. Hope this helps.

Thanks,

 

[FlyMeAway]

Thanks all.

Kevin, how do I access the float on an R-31? Do I need to contortion myself under the cabin sole or is there paneling/something I can pull off for easier access from the side?

 

[Ralf H]

Hi,

Kevin is out for the week on vacation. The water tank can be accessed by removing the inner panel in the q-berth that runs along the inboard side. The water tank sits on top of the fuel tank which both sit at the center of the boat. I am not sure how much clearance you will have when you remove the panel, but that will be the place to get to it. You don't necessarily need to remove the sender to knock it loose, as Kevin suggested. You can try this by draining and filling the tank several times. May take a little longer but is much easier than trying to remove the sender. Hope this helps.

Ralf

 

[Red Raven]

Just take the boat out for a spin in some rough water. It should free it. That has always solved the problem for us.

Curt

 

[Texas Tuggernaut]

Our 2013 R27 had the same problem with a stuck sending unit. It read 1/4 when really the tank was empty and then got stuck at 1/2 and stayed there regardless of water level.
We had a 2 hour romp in 2-4’ seas last weekend after and otherwise quiet 9 day trip on the Texas coast. After an hour of banging into head seas I noticed the gauge start to rise. When it hit full I turned on faucets and started draining the tank. At 1/4 tank I turned off faucets and let it slosh.
Once back in our home slip we filled the water tank and the gauge read Full. We again emptied the tank with faucets running and voilá, it registered Empty. As we filled it again the gauge rose as expected.
Thanks for this helpful advice. I dreaded having to locate and remove the sending unit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FlyMeAway]

While I'm happy that others managed to knock the sender loose in rough seas, we've been out in some snotty weather and so far, unfortunately, no fix.

 

[JeffreyAC77]

Once you have solved this issue, keep in mind that many of these gauges give false readings when your are using the fresh water. Our 2015 R31 goes down to about 1/2 and stays there for quite some time until it then quickly reads empty - we are not the only Ranger with this issue with the fresh water gauge.