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Old 12-20-2021, 04:41 PM   #21
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Originally Posted by Osprey69 View Post
Bought the SCAD with the external strip. New tank so should be able to calibrate accurately. Thank you Head Mistress and other posters.

Good system. I installed one a couple years ago.
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Old 12-20-2021, 06:18 PM   #22
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Dhays-many thanks. Of course you are correct, somehow I transposed this holding tank thread with another on fuel tanks. My bad-sight glasses are of course ridiculous!
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Old 12-20-2021, 06:24 PM   #23
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Installed SCAD system last year with solid fiberglass tanks and cannot calibrate it.
Admiral tried and thank God she couldn't figure it out either. Called tech support and they tried to talk us through it and does not work at all. We're both college grads and full time liveaboards, we maintain every system on our boat and this is a true waste of money
I have a running $50 bet with anyone that can make it work, so far 6 have tried and I still have my money!
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Old 12-20-2021, 06:31 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by crusier3650 View Post
Installed SCAD system last year with solid fiberglass tanks and cannot calibrate it.
Admiral tried and thank God she couldn't figure it out either. Called tech support and they tried to talk us through it and does not work at all. We're both college grads and full time liveaboards, we maintain every system on our boat and this is a true waste of money
I have a running $50 bet with anyone that can make it work, so far 6 have tried and I still have my money!

Sorry to hear that. I'm curious what the shape of the is and if there are any metal tank fittings near the strips?
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Old 12-20-2021, 08:00 PM   #25
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They can be a pain to program the first time around.

What is the sensor light located at the holding tank doing?

Do you know what the parameters are that you programmed in?

When in doubt go in to program mode on the display and video the settings as it steps though them.
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Old 12-21-2021, 09:56 AM   #26
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SCAD monitors

To answer a few replies I received.
No metal fittings, 3/4 solid fiberglass tanks (Hatteras) one is triangular shaped and we tried to program for that. The other is rectangular and we tried to program for that.
After numerous and I mean numerous attempts we are going to a different product yet undecided. The good thing is we have wiring where we need it!
We have decided that we will put in another system and try to get one system that can handle the water tanks, fuel tanks and waste tanks even though there might be multiple panels to make it easier to wire.
Thanks for the help folks, I just wanted to offer our experience with the product.
I'm glad it works for some.
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Old 12-21-2021, 11:11 AM   #27
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As in 3/4" thick fiberglass? Yeah, I doubt that would work with a Scad type sensor. Or any external sensor.
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Old 12-21-2021, 11:51 AM   #28
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You can buy the external (non fouling) sensor that Scad uses for about $40 directly from the people that make it (tankedge.com). I hooked this directly to a Victron Cherbo with the 140 tank sensor, seems to work pretty well. You can get this forwarded to N2K as well.


Somehow I’ve missed that all along. Thanks. Already have the Cerbo, just ordered the sensor.
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Old 12-21-2021, 12:24 PM   #29
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I used a Sierra Tankwatch on the aluminum waste tank on my Island Packet that worked very well for us. It was a simple float switch with a red indicator light when the tank was approaching full (no 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, etc.). We didn't really need to know exactly what the level was as we almost always had a weekly pumpout, but because we had an electric fresh, pressure water toilet I wanted to make sure that we didn't inadvertently overfill/overpressure the tank or lines.

I mounted the sensor in the top of the tank and the indicator light in the aft head (which had a manual Jabsco). Our forward head had a Raritan electric fresh water and I was able to wire in the Tankwatch switch using a relay to switch the + / - so it would illuminate the "Full" light on the Raritan control switch and disable the head when the tank was almost full.

Simple and effective and we had no issues with the system for seven years and as far as I know it's still going strong (it was when we sold the boat).



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Old 12-21-2021, 02:36 PM   #30
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Not a good fit unless you already have Victron in the house or are headed that way. The Cerbo works great with other Victron equipment (inverter/chargers, solar, battery monitor, etc.). I can also monitor my boat from 2000 miles away. But it is sort of an ecosystem you have to buy into. The GX Tank 140 is an accessory that plugs into the Cerbo (or I think any Venus OS device) and has a set of I/O including tank inputs. The Cherbo will also put this on N2K.

The TankEdge capacitative gage is an oddball, putting out somewhere around 0 - 4V, depending on length of the foil, spacing, thickness of tank, etc. Most gages are resistive, some are 4-20ma gages, a few are a voltage source. The GX140 will read this and can be calibrated for the installation. If you want to go directly from the TankEdge to N2K, you need a gage interface that has the ability to read a voltage source gage, that can be calibrated for the 0-4V range, and also supply 10-12V regulated power signal.

The reason to use the TankEdge is it seems to one of very few sending units that will not foul in a holding tank, being outside of and not in contact with the contents. And it is inexpensive.
DDW-
Thanks for the details! I am 100% switching to Victron, the day my Magnum goes up in smoke. While I do like it and functionality-wise it has done very well, I just don't feel like Magnum is putting in the R&D money for the next-gen equipment.
A couple months into Covid I called and spoke with a great tech, their customer service IS TOPS in my opinion (spent almost 2 hours on a call with me)... I was really trying to dig in deep with them about whats coming out, software/hardware upgrades, specifically to put the device on the N2K network. They said they were looking into it, but when Covid hit, all those plans were shelved...
That being said, I really like the forward thinking Victron has put into their gear and what they have and are also bringing to the market... Solid gear that can be expanded upon...
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Old 12-21-2021, 08:24 PM   #31
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Somehow I’ve missed that all along. Thanks. Already have the Cerbo, just ordered the sensor.
To be clear, you will also need the GX tank 140, the Cherbo itself only reads resistive and mA gages directly, not voltage gages. The 140 is a nice little unit though, a collection of I/O including the tank inputs. I've found a few other uses for it like bilge pump warnings and temperature inputs. There are a few relay outputs as well. Make sure you update your Cherbo OS, the earlier software will not recognize the GX 140.

The Tankedge gage will read a bit more accurately if supplied with a regulated power supply (the GX tank supply output cannot be used for this as it is a 24V output). TankEdge sells a little regulator you can use, or almost anything else works if you are handy.
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Old 12-21-2021, 10:54 PM   #32
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I have tried several "sonic" units and they all fail as gunk loads up the walls of thew holding tank.Switched to a KUS holding tank level sensor and a gauge.Works perfect.
I did the same thing with the same results.
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Old 12-22-2021, 08:48 AM   #33
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To be clear, you will also need the GX tank 140, the Cherbo itself only reads resistive and mA gages directly, not voltage gages. The 140 is a nice little unit though, a collection of I/O including the tank inputs. I've found a few other uses for it like bilge pump warnings and temperature inputs. There are a few relay outputs as well. Make sure you update your Cherbo OS, the earlier software will not recognize the GX 140.



The Tankedge gage will read a bit more accurately if supplied with a regulated power supply (the GX tank supply output cannot be used for this as it is a 24V output). TankEdge sells a little regulator you can use, or almost anything else works if you are handy.


Thanks, I did pick up on the gx140 in another reply. I double checked another device I’ve already got and it is also resistive, so I’ll pick up the gx140. Only two left at fisheries, might have to swing by there this morning.

As far as the regulated 12v goes….welll rats. I’m about 32 years stale on building a proper power supply. But here goes… Actually didn’t you already note one of the features of the gx140 was that it provided a stable 24v reference voltage. If it is stable, seems like a simple voltage divider would be all you would need/want. Maybe a pair of 1k ohm resistors should do it without any further fanfare.
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Old 12-22-2021, 11:27 AM   #34
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Yes, the GX140 does supply a stable 24V and a resistor divider would work for a limited number of devices. I had 4 Tankedge type senders, the current output of the GX is modest and the current requirement of the 4 sender somewhat unknown. Tankedge will sell you a 3 wire device (unregulated 12V in, regulated 10V out) inexpensively if you need it.

I believe the GX140 does not read resistive tank inputs - but those inputs already exist on the Cherbo.
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