Tank sensors for SK to replace Bavaria sensors
My Bavaria sailboat (10y old) has simple sensors that are not network connected: two water tanks have only indicators by quarter (simple 4 length rodes), black tank has simple 75/full indicator on the panel and fuel has just gauge on volvo panel.
I would like to bring this data to Cerbo GX and Signal-K to be used on dashboards and displays.
I looked into doing ESP32 for existing sensors, but more than I think I should just get new sensors that have some kind of network connectivity (wifi, n2k...). What sensors or solutions do you use on your boat to get tank (water, waste, fuel, gas...) data?
10 Replies
A lot of people seem to be using the Mopeka sensors with Venus OS
I have my mine wired to the Cerbo
I replaced the sensors on my Bavaria (Ocean 40, c.2000) with Wema float sensors which work well. I did have them feeding into a Venus GX last year, but unfortunately it got wet and so I'm about to install a new Cerbo.
In order to keep the Bavaria gauge on the switch panel working I built a small circuit with two double pole relays, so that when the gauge is activated, the sensor is connected to the gauge and disconnected briefly from the GX. Works well - circuit diagram attached - if I can work out how to attach a document!
I should add that the Wema sensors were wired back to the relay circuit using new 2 core cable replacing the old ribbon cable which was damaged. The fuel sensor is connected into an Actisense EMU-1 which also monitors the engine and is connected to the NMEA2000 bus.
@Steve so Wema resistance sensor to EMU-1 to n2k to Cerbo.
As Cerbo does not have resistance inputs AFAIK
It does
I have 3 Wema sensors connected to it
Which Wema sensors are you using?
I forgot that Cerbo has 4x resistive tank sensor inputs. I thought that there is only digital input and their temperature
I don’t have the exact models in front of me, they are resistive
ok, tnx, will check this out
The beta of the bt-sensors-plugin-sk supports Mopeka and Gobius sensors which are wireless.
The Mopeka's measurement is finicky until it is installed and set up correctly. I don't have any direct experience with the Gobius but @kmon6369 has five running on his boat. Bluetooth signal strength to the server was the main issue with the Gobius.
Note: the Mopeka is wireless end-to-end. Runs on batteries for years according to the manufacturer. The Gobius is powered by the house battery bank or the NMEA 2K bus.
Wema resistive water level sensors into Cerbo (via my relay switch). You need the US type to work with the original gauge. Fuel is original volvo/bavaria into the emu, n2k out.