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Holding tank monitor for E38-200

ddoles

Member III
Has anyone installed a holding tank monitor in their E38-200? I'm replacing hoses and while I've got things torn apart I thought a monitor for the holding tank would be a useful upgrade. The challenge as always is access for the installation and reliability of the unit in an unpleasant environment. Any experience and suggestions would be helpful.

Dave
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
Well according to my notes I installed a Sealand Tankwatch Holding Tank monitor system back in '95 - the type with two extended probes, and one probe just under the lid, all of which are float operated. Our oddly shaped tank was 25 gal, and I calculated that placing one probe down 12" gave 1/3 full, while placing the second down 6" indicated 2/3 full. And it did work, but I wouldn't recommend the system. On the way up, with a clean tank, everything worked just fine. But if you then just emptied the tank without filling it with fresh water up to the probes, the probe floats would often get fouled by the solids, in the down position, and would then sometimes take a long time to work free on the way back "up" so to speak. Which meant that you felt you couldn't really trust the lack of a 1/3 or 2/3 alarm light to mean the tank was mostly empty. More than once I had to undo the wire, unscrew the probe, and soak it in a bucket to get it working again. Trust me, this is NOT something you want to have to do. Filling the whole tank with fresh water after each pump out was the best way to be sure it would work, but who has time at the fuel dock to pump in 25 gallons of water, and then pay for a second pump out?

If I had to do it over again I would for sure look for one of the types that had a sensor strip on the outside of the tank.
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
I also have the Legacy SCAD tank monitor. Mine's over 5 years old and works fine. It looks like just the display has been changed in the current model. The two external metal strips are easy to install and eliminate any inside the tank float issues. I extended the sensor wires so I could mount the display at the Nav desk with all my other displays.

Mark
 

ddoles

Member III
Thanks for all the feedback. This confirms my concern for the reliability of the float type sensors and preference for the external sensors. My challenge is how to get access to the side of the tank all the way to the bottom. I was not planning to remove the tank, but will need to remove the floor section in the cockpit locker. Hopefully that is manageable.
 

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
My challenge is how to get access to the side of the tank all the way to the bottom. I was not planning to remove the tank, but will need to remove the floor section in the cockpit locker. Hopefully that is manageable.

OK, I'll admit I'm a very young guy and don't understand the ways of the world. That said, please explain why you want the tapes to go all of the way to the bottom. I would think that all you really care about is the top 1/2 or 3/4 of the tank.

I've had one of the Scad monitors with a different name for 11 years. No problems. They were sold under a variety of names over the years. Mine was labeled "Profile". I mounted a piece of plywood to protect the tapes from the rest of the sail locker. Besides that, because of the shape of the tank, on my E-34, the monitors readouts are only an indication, not really related to volume. Only the bottom and top are calibrated, and that was done with water, not effluent, for obvious reasons.


Tank Monitor 002 (Medium).jpgTank Monitor 003 (Medium).jpg
 

ddoles

Member III
Great question Tom. I'm not sure I actually need it go all the way to the bottom. But I think ideally that would be best. If I can't easily do that, only monitoring the top half (vertically speaking) would still allow me to monitor the most critical level as it nears full. And because of the triangular tank shape would still be monitoring more than half of the volume. That may be my solution in the end and still a significant improvement over my current guessing and hoping approach.
 

ddoles

Member III
On a related topic, has anyone ever precisely measured the holding tank capacity on the E38-200? I measured the outside dimensions, as best I could given limited access, and calculated about 20 gallons capacity. I am assuming the tank is perfectly triangular in shape as shown in Tom's photo above, and may in fact be the same tank used on the E34-200. The E38-200 manual sites a capacity of 25 gallons. What is right?
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Quantifying your 'waste'

Our stock rectangular tank was from Ronco, and they stamp/mold their part # onto the exterior. That way you could look it up the capacity on their site or perhaps email them if it's out of production. Only difficulty is that the information may be on a side against a bulkhead... ours was. :p
 

Tom Metzger

Sustaining Partner
I measured the outside dimensions, as best I could given limited access, and calculated about 20 gallons capacity. I am assuming the tank is perfectly triangular in shape as shown in Tom's photo above, and may in fact be the same tank used on the E34-200. The E38-200 manual sites a capacity of 25 gallons. What is right?

FWIW, The E-34 Ronco B-187 tank is 20 gallons and the manual states that the tank is 25 gallons. I assume the manual was wishful thinking before reality set in... I know Ericson wouldn't lie to us.

Oops, gotta run, company is here. Happy Turkey Day.
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
On a related topic, has anyone ever precisely measured the holding tank capacity on the E38-200? I measured the outside dimensions, as best I could given limited access, and calculated about 20 gallons capacity. I am assuming the tank is perfectly triangular in shape as shown in Tom's photo above, and may in fact be the same tank used on the E34-200. The E38-200 manual sites a capacity of 25 gallons. What is right?

I measured the outside dimensions, and get 5918 cubic inches, which equates to 25.6 gal. Take away the volume of the sides, and that makes 25 gal sound pretty reasonable.
 

ddoles

Member III
I measured the outside dimensions, and get 5918 cubic inches, which equates to 25.6 gal. Take away the volume of the sides, and that makes 25 gal sound pretty reasonable.

I would think I should have the same tank. Do you have the dimensions (LxWxH) you measured? I'd like to compare to what I measured to see if due to limited access my measurements are off. I am particularly skeptical of my H measurement since I cannot see all the way to the bottom.
Thanks
Dave
 

u079721

Contributing Partner
I would think I should have the same tank. Do you have the dimensions (LxWxH) you measured? I'd like to compare to what I measured to see if due to limited access my measurements are off. I am particularly skeptical of my H measurement since I cannot see all the way to the bottom.
Thanks
Dave

Well let's see if this works - here's a scan of my notes in my maintenance log.
 

Attachments

  • Holding Tank Sketch.pdf
    209.1 KB · Views: 14

ddoles

Member III
Thanks everyone. This is a big help. As I'm dealing with limited access I was not able to see and measure the complexities of the dimensions shown. This would certainly explain the difference in calculated capacity. In the end, this is good news that my tank capacity should be as documented.
 

ddoles

Member III
As I looked a bit more, I was able to find the Ronco model number on the tank. It reads "B-187 E34". So this is the same as Tom and is 20 gallons, not 25 gallons as listed in the manual. It is interesting to see the E34 designation. It makes one wonder if there was ever a larger E38 version that didn't make it on to the boat. There would appear to room for a larger tank. Nevertheless, this is what I've got and will be keeping.
 
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