Glossary

Tank sender

Also Level sender, Tank sensor

What is Tank sender?

A sensor that detects the fill level of a tank and supplies it as a signal to a display — depending on the design, via a variable resistance, via pressure or contactlessly.

What matters about Tank sender in practice?

The most common mistake is the pairing: sender and display must speak the same characteristic curve. Modern monitors allow the curve to be defined freely and can therefore also reuse existing third-party senders.

The second question is the tank shape. A linearly measuring sender in an irregularly shaped tank delivers a height, not a content — if you want to see litres displayed, you need a stored tank calibration curve.

What types of tank sender are there?

  • Resistive senders with a float or a resistor chain in a dip tube.
  • Pressure sensors on the tank bottom, without moving parts.
  • Ultrasonic senders fitted to the outside of the tank wall.

Why does the tank gauge read wrong?

Most often sender and gauge do not match. Common ranges include the European range of about 10 to 180 ohms and the American range of about 240 to 33 ohms. Other causes are a sticking float, missing calibration in irregular tanks or a poor ground connection.

Which sender suits which tank?

Almost all types work for fresh water; for grey and black water use non-contact senders or pressure sensors, for diesel only senders approved for it. An overview by medium and tank shape is on the page tank monitoring on board.

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