fuel tank guage removal

[spincycle]

i want to remove the fuel tank guages from my aft and forward fuel tanks. I'm not sure if these are original guages, they have two wires coming from the plastic dial that unscrews from the top portion of the metal mount covering the hole in the tank. There is an "R" inscribed into the black plastic portion that holds the red needle in this clear plastic viewer. when i removed the plastic portion with the red needle, it only comes out with the two wires. the rest of the "guage" portion is still mounted in the tank, looks like a 1-3/4 inch socket will remove it from the tank. do I just remove that portion of the guage and see why it is not sending a signal to the bridge. there is a unit there on the bridge to read the fuel in all four tanks plus my fresh water. all my readings are not correct in the bridge guages as well as the readings on each guage mounted on the tank.

Spincycle
1990 Hatt.

 

[Genesis]

Those are PROBABLY magnetic pickups over the original OEM mechanical gauges.

The problem is in the pickup if the mechanical part reads correctly. If it doesn't, a BFW (big f*ing wrench) will get the mechanical part out. The mechanical part rarely goes bad.

Use PB Blaster liberally on the threads if it doesn't want to turn and PATIENCE. For obvious reasons I do not recommend heat.

 

[Pascal]

first time around i used a pipe wrench on mines, they're really big, at least 2" or so. the mechanical portion is pretty accurate athough i like to use a dipstick to really know what i have... i dont' have any senders on mine, just the mechanical.

 

[philmeup]

first time around i used a pipe wrench on mines, they're really big, at least 2" or so. the mechanical portion is pretty accurate athough i like to use a dipstick to really know what i have... i dont' have any senders on mine, just the mechanical.

Pascal,
How did you figured out the fuel guage via a dipstick,I would prefer to do it that way myself,Phil
53 MY JACE

 

[philmeup]

Hello Pascal
How did you figure out the level in the tanks via a dipstick,as I would prefer that option a lot better. Thanks,Phil
53MY JACE

 

[Pascal]

i have marks on the dipstick, which i marked when adding fuel. I've marked the lowest 100 gallons or so which is what matters! but you need to take the tank shape into consideration as on the 53 the tank bottom is Vee shaped so the last few inches dont amount to a lot of fuel.

but the mechanical gauges are very precise... pretty impressive... the problem is that, like any gauge, you never know when they're going to fail or stick.

a dip stick doesn't lie!

 

[REBrueckner]

As Pascal notes, to accurately determine fuel contents you need to mark a dipstick while filling a virtually empty tank with fuel, say at 25 or 50 gal increments, and at the same time record the readings from any mechanical or electrical gauges.

On my 48ft YF, my two aft 250 gallon tanks appear rectangular, except perhaps for the bottom when they may be sloped to the hull bottom shape, but using the above method I determined that lower than half full readings from the mechanical gauges in the top of the tanks are off considerably....I don't remember the exact figures, but for illustration, when my fuel level drops on the mechanical gauges from say 1/2 to 1/4 I actually have used LESS fuel than indicated....In other words, when I refill, instead of it taking 1/4 of 250 or about 62.5 gallons, about 50 gallons fills that particular increment on the gauge.....that's not so big a deal when tallying up fuel usage on an entire tank of fuel, but in that more limited range it can really throw off any fuel use estimates ...it's off,for some reason, by over 20%....

 

[ritchievail]

The mechanical gauges on my 53' seem to be stuck. One at FULL the other at EMPTY. Has anyone ever taken them out to clean them?

Rich

 

[Genesis]

Yes.

The "empty" one probably has a distintegrated float.

 

[spincycle]

even if my guages are magnetic pick ups, they will still have a float on them, correct?

Spincycle

 

[dastahl]

I went to Harbor Frieght and bought a huge socket set ($125). Skooch has no room for a pipe wrench. I had to take off several fittings to get the huge socket on, but with the four foot bar and plenty of penetrating oil they came off easily.

I am most of the way thru replacing all 6 of my tank gauges on Skooch a 42 1980 LRC. I have four fuel and two water tanks. Both water tank floats had fallen apart and one had a broken weld, they both read empty all the time.

The fuel tanks all seemed to work but when the two side tanks read below empty I could only get 100 gallons into the 180 gallon tanks. I am sorry but I cannot run the boat when it says its empty even though I know it must have fuel in it. I replaced the sender with one that is 31 inches deep instead of the 24 inch Hatteras issue. Possibly Hatteras wanted more emergency back up than I want, but now I have my fuel log (count the hours at 4g per hour) and electric gauges on the helm. The water tank gauges read in the aft cabin.

I bought Wema senders and guages like my friend Walt put on his big LRC. Wema.com. So far I am very happy with them.
Skooch
Worton Creek MD

 

[Genesis]

even if my guages are magnetic pick ups, they will still have a float on them, correct?

Spincycle

Correct - the underlying gauge is a mechanical float on a twisted square shaft that turns the pointer as the float rises and falls, assuming they're stock.

 

[Brian Degulis]

The PO on our boat aparently had lots of trouble with the OEM tank gauges (lots of old parts laying around) At some point he put in a Tank Tender system for all 4 tanks and made up tables to convert inches to gallons. It's trouble free very acurate and all levels are read in the pilot house not very expensive or hard to install either.

Brian

 

[Nonchalant1]

Wait! Maybe you don't need to take it apart. Your original post said you need to determine why it's not sending a signal to the helm????

The "R" stand for Rochester Gauge which is the company that makes the senders. The plastic part that came out of the bronze dish on top of the tank has a magnet in it that senses the position of the spiral float rod in the tank. The sender should have a small red needle indicator from empty to full. As that needle moves, it changes a variable resistor inside. It can be tested by putting any small magnet underneath the sender and rotating it. If the red needle moves as you rotate the magnet, hook it up to the wires to the helm and see if the helm gauge reading matches the sender needle reading. If it does, the sender is OK. If not, just replace the sender. Rochester gauge still exists and they have replacement senders. If not, I have a perfect NOS Rochester gauge sender around somewhere that I can send to you.

If the sender works OK but doesn't change when the fuel level changes, you'll have to fix or replace the spiral rod sensor in the tank. I made a new float for mine and it works fine. The only way to get the sensor out is with a huge socket wrench and breaker bar. It's the same size socket as most prop nuts on many Hatts.

Doug Shuman

 

[spincycle]

Well, i tried the magnet idea and the gauge attached to the tank is fuctioning and the gauges in the helm are working too. so then i got out my giant socket and removed the float units form two tanks. both units in the aft and bow tank were removed and the cork looks old. i don't know were to get replacements, but after cleaning the rods and bending them a little bit i now have the floats working propely,and it is sending the correct readings to the helm gauges. I am not sure how long the corks will last, I still want to replace them , they have been in there 18 years! any one know were to get new corks?

Spincycle

 

[Nonchalant1]

Mine lasted almost 30 years in the fuel tanks, but drowned after 25 years in the water tanks. I just made new cork floats with good quality raw cork and refitted the original bronze float guides and counterweights. I had to glue 2 large cork pieces together with MarineTex. Seems to work perfectly. I believe Sky Cheney made floats out of a modern material too.

Doug

 

[JonHupp]

Magnetic Fuel Gauge repair or replace?

I have a 1983 53ED MY. My forward fuel tank gauge is stuck between 1/2 and 3/4. I removed the gauge and the mechanical part is fine (it is magnetic and the cork is good).
The problem is the needle (magnetic) is stuck lose inside the guage.



Does anybody know if they just sell the needle/display part as I don't need the entire assembly?

Has anybody taken apart magnetic pickup gauge. It looks like it was is aluminum and was press fit.

Thanks.

 

[tracy]

call sams they have replacement I just purchased two several months ago

 

[SEVEN]

I removed and replaced both of my gauges. I ordered new ones from Sam's at 130.00 each. Once I made the switch I took the old ones home and cleaned them up. The cork float was sticking on the two rods they rise on. Just unscrew them, plug the opening and take them to the work bench and use some 60 grit sandpaper. Put a little (very little) WD40 on the rods and start working it up and down. You will most likely find you do not have to replace them. It's very easy, and whom ever said it was a 2" nut is correct if memory serves me. I used a monkey wrench with no teeth. Good luck.

 

[SEVEN]

The mechanical gauges on my 53' seem to be stuck. One at FULL the other at EMPTY. Has anyone ever taken them out to clean them?

Rich

Rich, look at my last post. I did it for the same reason but I ran out of fuel because mine said 3/4 full. That will never happen again. Very easy to remove clean and replace.