Water gauge or sending unit problem

T

tim f

Member
Joined
Oct 17, 2001
RO Number
6461
Messages
193
I have a 1997 Carver 355 ACMY that I have owned for 17 years. My water tank is empty, yet when I turn on power for the water tank level indicator the gauge pegs full. It was working fine a couple of weeks ago. The sending unit in the tank is original. It has 3 wires (send, negative, and positive) attached to the top of it. the sending unit has a 1/2" PVC pipe extending out the bottom of it with a wire wrapped around it, and there appears to be a resister inside the 1/2" PVC pipe. How do I test whether my gauge or the sending unit is shot? I did a continuity check between "pos" and "neg" and got "OL", between "pos" and "send" and got "OL", and between "neg" and "send" I got 371 ohms. I also put the sending unit in a bucket of water with half the sending unit under water and it still pegged full. The gauge does not raise slowly when power is applied, it immediately pegs full. Any help would be appreciated.
Tim
 
It's been a long while since I've tested one of those sending units but I think if you raise/lower the unit in the water with your probes attached to the the 'neg' and 'send' the ohms should change accordingly. Don't hold me to this.
 
Thanks Bob. Since I posted my question I have done a lot of troubleshooting. The sender is shot. It was original with the boat and I believe it was made by Livorsi. I called them and that sender is way outdated and would be expensive to replace. They have a new one out that replaces the old one for less money (go figure that one out). Anyways, I have a new, updated sender on the way.
 
Just make sure the sender has the same resistance at empty, half full and full as old one, else your gauge will be off. May need to replace gauge also.
 
Thank you for the information, I will check it out. The new unit arrived yesterday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top