Stuck fresh water level sensor maybe ?

[baz]

Last October I filled my fuel tank and filled the 30 gal fresh water tank. Today I was checking things to be ready for a small cruise tomorrow and came across the fresh water level dial showing empty (water pressure breaker was on). I ran the sink faucet a bit and plenty of water came out. I flushed the fresh water toilet and that was just fine. I rocked the boat side to side quite aggressively but the water level dial insisted on staying on Empty.

Hmmm, how can this be, as I'm sure I had filled the fresh water tank properly last October.

Well, in desperation to figure out what was wrong I decided to see if I could fill more water into the tank. So out with the hose pipe and by golly I was able to put around 10 to 15 gallons into the tank before the overfill started spurting.

Assuming that I did fill the fresh water tank last October properly and I'm sure I did as I use the water level dial on the console to sanity check the level and it was showing full as best I recall. So where on earth did the 10 to 15 gallons go I asked myself.

I checked the engine bilge and the midship bilge. There's always a bit of water in the engine bilge and the midship bilge was completely dry.

FYI... The boat is kept in water all year round in a covered slip.

Any ideas ?

BTW... no one had been sleeping on the boat between October and today... just in case you're wondering.

My guess is, that assuming there's no leaking from the fresh water tank, that even though I'm quite sure I had filled the tank last October, I simply must have not fill the tank properly.

Has this happened to anyone else ?

Thanks... 🙂

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Hi Barry:

Some times when I overfill our water tank the tank float seems to stick on full for a long period of time, my guess is that the float just needs to work a bit to become loose....maybe that short cruise will do it. Make note of when you refill the water tank if the level of water drops down again, without you running the water. If so this could indicate you have a water leak somewhere higher in the tank or water line...lets hope not. Keep us posted.

Jim

 

[aussie]

Hi Barry,
Our tank float gets stuck on empty it stays that way even when we fill the tank. The only way we found to get it to work is taking a cruise in some nice sea swell 🙂 always a good excuse to have some fun 🙂 But guess one day I will check it out and hopefully solve the sticking problem.

Cheers
Peter and Ronie B

PS this problem might be because we are down under in Australia hehehehehe 😉

 

[baz]

Peter & Ronie B: When you post I initially think you're located nearby my neck of the woods as I interpret "WA" to mean Washington state and not Western Australia. 😱

You must be at the center of world activities these days what with all the efforts at play trying to find MA370.

From the responses I will assume the fresh water tank's level sensor is the cause of the issue. Yesterday when placing more water into the water tank the level indicator was at first reading Empty. After a few gallons had been pumped in the level indicator rose quickly to around 75% full and then steadily and faster than normal climbed up to Full and stayed at that point for at least the last 5 gallons I pumped in before the overfill spurted.

I also have to assume I did not fill the tank completely last October as there is simply no water visible anywhere I've looked below decks... unless there a critter below somewhere drinking it. :roll:

 

[Irish Mist]

Mine has a venting issue.. I thought I fixed it but it still seems to be there... My tank will read full for quite a while the. If I remove the filler cap I can hear the air rush in and the water gurgling and the guage drops substantially .. For now I just try to remember to open the cap every so often untill I take the fridge out again and climb in and play with the vent hose. Good hunting here's hoping no leaks .

 

[The Bud's Tug]

I need to bring this up again. On our 29 the fresh water gauge never goes below 3/4 of a tank...even empty? I've tried opening the water access, I can hear gurgling and a release of pressure, but eh gauge does not move. I've left the water pressure on when traveling hoping the movement would solve it...but no.
Any ideas? Is this gauge an electronic sensor? Or a float? Is there access to the fresh water tank on the 29?

Thanks for any help.

 

[S. Todd]

We have a 2015 R25SC. The first three years the fresh water tank gauge worked with extreme accuracy. This year when I fill up the fresh water tank the gauge still reads empty. I filled the tank and drained it twice. Gauge read empty the entire time. I filled the tank went on a week long cruise (across Lake Michigan and back again) using water throughout the week. The gauge read empty the entire time and still reads empty. The red light within the gauge works so it is getting some power. Any ideas about what might be wrong or how to fix this? If I need to access the gauge in the tank, how does one do that?

 

[baz]

I'm now in my new 2018 R027/OB boat and yesterday I checked my fresh water tank's level via the port side level sensor just fwd of the sink. It displayed empty.

Now I know I had filled it a few weeks to about the 3/4 mark ago and the only use of water was with my daughter being on the boat recently for 3-4 nights and who was visiting us from San Francisco and whom insisted on sleeping on the boat for some 'quality time'. :lol: BTW...she really enjoyed having the use of the Condo-on-the water.

Anyhows, daughter says she used minimum water as she and her sister spent two evenings on the boat drinking wine over long chats etc... yea right... I believed her as well and knew she knew where I kept the Sherry tucked away in the boat... . 🙂 However, she did admit to washing her hair one morning and she did not use the shower although I told her she was welcomed to do so. I told her about the shower wand's valve and to make sure it was OFF otherwise she would get a surprise.... 😱

I'm wondering if when I filled the fresh water tank a few weeks back that some had to fill the water heater which I believe holds 6 or 8 gallons. The fresh water tank's capacity is 40 gallons. So the 6 or 8 gallons would reduce the fresh water tank's level by about 15% to 20% I suppose.... and this aspect matched the 3/4 full mentioned above.

No matter, I went ahead and put more fresh water into the tank and as I did and having poured at least 10 gallons the water level sensor stayed on the Empty mark. I continued to fill the tank and rocked the boat aggressively but still the level indicator needle stayed on empty. Continuing on for a few more minutes with me rocking the boat the sensor needle suddenly jump up to the 3/4 full mark..... by golly, the sensor is now getting excited about the water level. I continued pouring more water and the needle slowly climbed to the full mark and a short time later I could hear the water gurgling loudly in/down the fresh water filler neck. I kept pouring and finally stopped presumably just before the overflow started to expel the overfilled tank's capacity. The needle on the water level gauge was now solidly at the FULL mark. I continue to rock the boat and the needle refused to lower itself. I do think my water tank is now full.

Question: Given the water tank capacity is 40 gallons and the water heater's capacity is 6 or 8 gallons, does this mean I have some 46 to 48 gallons of water onboard ?

 

[S@LTD]

You might double check to make sure your tank is in fact 40 gallons. Often it’s 30 plus the 6 in the water heater with the balance in the hoses to get to the 40 reflected in the owners manual. At least that is what we learned about our boat.

 

[baz]

Well, unless RT can confirm the tank's capacity at 40 gallons excluding what the water heater holds then one could I suppose simply drain out all the water from tank and water heater, then close off the water heater and measure just how many gallons can be poured into the tank.

 

[S. Todd]

I am not sure how much more rocking I could do on my R25SC, if that was the answer to unstick a float on the water tank gauge. Can someone from the factory confirm there is a float sending unit for the gauge on the fresh water tank? I filled the tank and drove 60 miles across lake Michigan with a slight beam sea. I used the tank for dishes and hand washing for three days and returned back to the Michigan side from Wisconsin with 2 to 2.5 foot beam seas most of the way (it was mostly flat in the middle) for 71 miles. I drove another 12 miles after three more days of using the water (I still had about seven gallons left based on what I pumped out before trailering home) in 2.5 foot head seas. All the time the fresh water tank read empty. Is there a way to access the sending unit on the R25SC to verify I still have good wire connections? If so how/where do I do that?

 

[snydzy]

I am not sure how much more rocking I could do on my R25SC, if that was the answer to unstick a float on the water tank gauge. Can someone from the factory confirm there is a float sending unit for the gauge on the fresh water tank? I filled the tank and drove 60 miles across lake Michigan with a slight beam sea. I used the tank for dishes and hand washing for three days and returned back to the Michigan side from Wisconsin with 2 to 2.5 foot beam seas most of the way (it was mostly flat in the middle) for 71 miles. I drove another 12 miles after three more days of using the water (I still had about seven gallons left based on what I pumped out before trailering home) in 2.5 foot head seas. All the time the fresh water tank read empty. Is there a way to access the sending unit on the R25SC to verify I still have good wire connections? If so how/where do I do that?

Check the connections at the back of the gauge......I had a similar issue, It turned out the blue wire had pulled loose from the butt connector....