Head Light

[Gina Marie]

Can anyone tell me how to fix my head light that registers my holding tank is 3/4 full. I have emptied it and rinsed it and still stays on 45C Sportfish. Thanks Gina Marie

 

[Capten]

I have a vacuum/pressure type switch in the forward stateroom bilge area that sometimes needs resetting. The whole mechanism is about the diameter of a coffee mug and has a red rubber cap. Take the cap off and push down on the actuator to reset. You can hear it 'click'. Maybe yours is similar??

 

[Nonchalant1]

If yours is like mine, it's a pressure sensor tube that sticks down into the tank. When the tank level rises above the bottom of the tube, air pressure builds inside the tube and the pressure sensor switch turns on the light. Sometimes the tube itself becomes corroded by the tank contents and develops a small hole so air escapes instead of building pressure and they won't turn on. Since your light is staying on, it must be that the pressure switch is stuck.

I had to replace mine with the Snake River tank gauge system. You just screw out the 3/4 full tube and screw in a full length sealed PVC tube with sensors inside that never touch the tank contents, and it reads out tank levels in tenths. I have found it to be very accurate. The same display reader can handle your fuel and fresh water tanks too.

Doug Shuman

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I replaced my 3/4 full Jabsco switches with the Snake River tubes based on the recommendations on this site. I may still have the old switches lieing around or I may have tossed 'em. I'll look to see if I can find them. If I do, I'll post it here since I have no use for them anymore. My tubes were really full of black corrosion and the switches just didn't get the pressure to come on and off as they should have. I think the Snake River system will be much better and it was quite reasonable too. I think I've only got about $250 into the whole thing.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

I had the same problem and I found the no cost cure!!! The thing is about the size of a hockey puck and is red. Mine is in one of the step tread lockers. It will always be near and above the holding tank plate,( the one that has the hoses from the head and to the vent). Take the thing off and pull the tube off. This tube is a semi-hard black thing about 1/4" OD. Remove the red pliable rubber cap. You will find an aneroid which inflates from the air in the tube as your tank fills. You won't have a problem here as your light is always on like mine was. The aneroid moves a lever that pushes a little button on the micro-switch. The lever is cad plated and grows little white junk. I removed the lever as it was stuck up and always closed the micro-switch. Clean the corrosion off the lever, coat it with some corrosion inhibiter and lube it. Put the hinge pin back in and it should now work freely. You can test it with an ohmmeter while blowing into a piece of tubing hooked to the aneroid. Don't suck as that aneroid has been exposed to the good fumes from your holding tank. It now should work great for a long time. I then filled my tank with water and on it came. I then pumped my tank out and out went the light shortly after I started pumping.

 

[Gina Marie]

I did find my switch that reads the pressure in the black tube under my front hatch. The circlular tin can with the read top was nothing but a decayed rust switch totally useless. I looked on line at Snake River and their installation the only area I can get to for the tank is in the master suite and that only shows the top not any sides. Has anyone installed this on a 45C. I believe that they are no longer available ?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I did find my switch that reads the pressure in the black tube under my front hatch. The circlular tin can with the read top was nothing but a decayed rust switch totally useless. I looked on line at Snake River and their installation the only area I can get to for the tank is in the master suite and that only shows the top not any sides. Has anyone installed this on a 45C. I believe that they are no longer available ?

Don't use the tape that Snake River sells for the side of the tank. Instead, remove the fitting where the 3/4 full light connects to the top of the tank. Then adapt it to a 1" pipe thread. Then measure the distance from the top of that fitting to the bottom of the tank. This is the measurement that Snake River needs to make an internal gauge for you. It is simply a piece of pvc pipe with the sensors mounted inside of it. It will cost you about $50 for the sender and it will screw right into that 1" fitting. I converted 2 waste tanks to this setup and the total cost was less than $300 including the senders and the monitoring panel.

 

[Genesis]

The problem on the 45C is where that pitot tube goes.

Pull up the forward SR carpet - there may be a hatch under there. I have to check on my boat - there IS access to it, but I have to go look to remember exactly where it is. It is NOT obvious.

 

[Nonchalant1]

The tape type Snake River gauges only work on smooth side tanks, not the woven roving on the thicker hatteras tanks. It's extremely easy to replace the 3/4 full light with the Snake River tube type gauge. Just screw out the old gauge (you might have to buy the right size giant socket from Sears) and buy a PVC adapter at Home Depot or Loews so that you have a 1 inch pipe threaded hole. Measure the depth from the new hole top to the bottom of the tank and call Snake River. They make you a custom tube that you just screw right into that hole. Nothing ever touches the sensors inside that sealed PVC tube so it's supposed to last forever, and it works great.

Doug

 

[Maynard Rupp]

Sure seems like it would be alot easier to replace the original. Talk to Sam's or read the name on the soft red cover. It seems to me that when we had the problem last year, they are available. Ours was only slightly corroded, just enough to freeze up the micro switch lever. They work just fine when you get a good switch.

 

[Nonchalant1]

The only significant benefit to the Snake River gauge is that if you get the Accu-8 display you can read the tank in tenths, which is better to know than 3/4 or more full. You can also add up to 8 total tanks on the one display, like all you water and fuel tanks.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

You don't really even need the Accu-8. The one that does 3 tanks reads in 1/4's and that's still better than the original setup. And, as far as the original switch goes, my switch worked just fine, but the tubes were so corroded that you couldn't rely on them to hold and transfer the presuure to the switch. It was just time for a complete rehab of the entire toilet system.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I found one of my Par microswitches. It looks like it is in good shape. If anybody needs it, let me know. I'll send it out to you. No charge.