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Ray Ray is offline
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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the top.
At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without using a
dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where to
go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.



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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

Ray wrote:

We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the top.
At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without using a
dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where to
go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is
connected and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those
some distance from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter
tube between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

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Ray Ray is offline
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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to find.
I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if not
precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when we get
down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.

-- Ray

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Ray wrote:

We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the
top. At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without
using a dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where
to go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is connected
and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those some distance
from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter tube between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.



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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

Ray wrote:

Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to find.
I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if not
precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when we get
down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.

-- Ray

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Ray wrote:


We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the
top. At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without
using a dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where
to go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is connected
and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those some distance
from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter tube between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.






OK, so what's the vertical height of the tank?

If it's not too much taller than 44" you could use a Scully
"Econ-O-Gage", they are available almost anywhere, and will give you a
pretty good relative reading of the oil level via a little white button
which moves vertically inside a clear plastic vial.

http://tinyurl.com/263wvc

HTH

Jeff (Who happened to have been Chief Engineer at Scully in the 1970s,
and it's a hoot to note that they are still producing some of the stuff
I designed back then. G)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

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Ray Ray is offline
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Posts: 136
Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

It's a horizontal tank -- about 4 feet deep and 6 feet long.

Where could I get the "econ-o-gauge"?


"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Ray wrote:

Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to
find. I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if
not precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when
we get down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.

-- Ray

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Ray wrote:


We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the
top. At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without
using a dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know
where to go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is
connected and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those some
distance from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter tube
between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.






OK, so what's the vertical height of the tank?

If it's not too much taller than 44" you could use a Scully "Econ-O-Gage",
they are available almost anywhere, and will give you a pretty good
relative reading of the oil level via a little white button which moves
vertically inside a clear plastic vial.

http://tinyurl.com/263wvc

HTH

Jeff (Who happened to have been Chief Engineer at Scully in the 1970s, and
it's a hoot to note that they are still producing some of the stuff I
designed back then. G)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.





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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:39:42 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:

Ray wrote:

We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the top.
At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without using a
dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.


-snip-
If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

-snip-

And for low tech- I got one from this guy a few months ago-
On ebay.com -- item #7609939951
$27 delivered and no electronics to fail. [check to see if it is the
right size for your tank- mine is a 275gal.

Search ebay and froogle for other styles- "fuel tank gauge".

Jim

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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

Ray wrote:

It's a horizontal tank -- about 4 feet deep and 6 feet long.

Where could I get the "econ-o-gauge"?



C'mon Ray.....I can't do EVERYTHING for you y'know.

Open the local Yellow Pages and look for heating and plumbing supply
houses. Or, ask whoever you buy your fuel oil from who they buy their
whistling tank overfill alarms and gauges from.

Scully has been around since the early 1930s, they are a standard
"industry name".


Jeff


--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 21:24:23 GMT, "Ray"
wrote:

It's a horizontal tank -- about 4 feet deep and 6 feet long.

Where could I get the "econ-o-gauge"?


There is a Buy It button right on the webpage.


"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Ray wrote:

Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to
find. I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if
not precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when
we get down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.

-- Ray

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...

Ray wrote:


We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the
top. At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without
using a dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know
where to go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is
connected and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those some
distance from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter tube
between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.






OK, so what's the vertical height of the tank?

If it's not too much taller than 44" you could use a Scully "Econ-O-Gage",
they are available almost anywhere, and will give you a pretty good
relative reading of the oil level via a little white button which moves
vertically inside a clear plastic vial.

http://tinyurl.com/263wvc

HTH

Jeff (Who happened to have been Chief Engineer at Scully in the 1970s, and
it's a hoot to note that they are still producing some of the stuff I
designed back then. G)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.



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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:22:54 GMT, "Ray"
wrote:

Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to find.
I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if not
precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when we get
down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.


The same page he gave you also has the mechanical one you liked.

Jeff, that's pretty clever how it's made so that it all goes in
through the one small hole. Did you do that? Or you're talking about
other items you designed.

No wonder they are still selling it. What could be better?

-- Ray

"Jeff Wisnia" wrote in message
...
Ray wrote:

We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the
top. At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without
using a dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where
to go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.





If you want to go hi-tech, with ultimate convenience try this ultrasonic
remote reading one. It'll work on tanks up to 10 feet tall.

http://www.oil-equip-mfg.com/docs/productsrocket.html

There are also some gauges which operate by having you pump up a little
air pressure when you want to take a reading. The air displaces the oil
from a tube run down into the tank. A small air pressure gage is connected
and calibrated to read the oil depth. You can locate those some distance
from the tank if you're willing to run a small diameter tube between them.

A heating and plumbing supplier should be able to get one of those for
you. In the olde days they used a mercury manometer as a readout device,
but I'm sure that's verboten now, they probably use a diphragm pressure
gauge.

Jeff



--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.



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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:12:40 -0400, Jeff Wisnia
wrote:


OK, so what's the vertical height of the tank?

If it's not too much taller than 44" you could use a Scully
"Econ-O-Gage", they are available almost anywhere, and will give you a
pretty good relative reading of the oil level via a little white button
which moves vertically inside a clear plastic vial.

http://tinyurl.com/263wvc


I should probably say that I have one of these, though I don't
remember if I could see the maker or if it was Scully.

HTH

Jeff (Who happened to have been Chief Engineer at Scully in the 1970s,
and it's a hoot to note that they are still producing some of the stuff
I designed back then. G)




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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

On Aug 16, 11:21 am, "Ray" wrote:
We have a very old, 1,000-gallon heating oil tank which loads from the top.
At present there is no way to tell how much oil we have without using a
dip-stick, which is very difficult to do in our situation.

I understand that there are gauges for such tanks, but I don't know where to
go to get one, not what to ask for. Any help appreciated.


Others have given you sources to buy one. First try my approach. I
asked my oil delivery man where to get one. He provided one at no
cost. Slips through the hole in the tank. My tank sounds identical
to yours.

Harry K

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Default Old fuel tank gauge? ? ?

mm wrote:
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:22:54 GMT, "Ray"
wrote:


Thanks Jeff, but that looks a lot more expensive than I was hoping to find.
I'm under the impression that there are inexpensive gauges, even if not
precisely accurate. All we want is something that will tell us when we get
down to around 200 gallons in a 1,000-gallon tank.



The same page he gave you also has the mechanical one you liked.

Jeff, that's pretty clever how it's made so that it all goes in
through the one small hole. Did you do that? Or you're talking about
other items you designed.

No wonder they are still selling it. What could be better?


No, I can't take credit for that one, the basic design was probably
there before I was born.

I graduated as an electrical engineer and Mr. Scully hired me to help
bring the company into the electronic age.

So, most of the stuff I did involved "Fayle-safe" (TM) electronic
overfill protection sensors and flow shut off systems used on things
like gasoline delivery trucks and huge storage tanks, though I did help
"modernize" some of the existing mechanical products with newer
materials and manufacturing techniques as they came along.

All in all, my 13 year sojurn with Scully was probably overall the most
enjoyable portion of my career, and included participating in marketing
calls to major oil company facilities around the world, back when
business air travel was much more of a "luxury" than it's become. G

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.

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