watchman sensor

hobbo2

I too am having a  problem with my watchman sensor. I did remove it but saw no way to open except dismantling. A power tube is mentioned on the forum. Do I dismantle the sensor to get at this.
Hobbo2

Rodders53

Picture of your watchman may help;  even better find the installation/operating manual that came with it.

Power tube version is old but is a battery in a copper tube that unscrews from the tank monitor.  See
https://www.commercialfuelsolutions.co.uk/downloads/manuals/oil_watchman.pdf

More recent Watchman uses a coin cell that needs the monitor/transmitter unscrewing from the tank and opening via removing screws on the underside to change.  https://commercialfuelsolutions.co.uk/files/attachments/219/oil_watchman_sonic.pdf

I believe there's yet another more recent version, with an App...

I recently had to change my Watchman Sonic's cell;  it was easy to do.

QrizB

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Sorry, I'll get my coat ...

Rodders53

QrizB said:

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Terry Pratchett?

(You may, now, suspect I never did Latin at school)

Qyburn

hobbo2 said:

I too am having a  problem with my watchman sensor. I did remove it but saw no way to open except dismantling. A power tube is mentioned on the forum. Do I dismantle the sensor to get at this.
Hobbo2

If you have the old one with the copper "power tube", this just unscrews from the sensor. The tube contains four normal AAA alkaline cells (mine were Duracell and well past their date).

In our case it still didn't work after replacing the cells, so I ended up getting a new Watchman Sonic, this fits the same mounting holes on the tank. Instead of numbers, the Sonic display show bars which is a bit naff as you have to count to see if it's reading say 8 or 9.

QrizB

Rodders53 said:

QrizB said:

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Terry Pratchett?
(You may, now, suspect I never did Latin at school)

He borrowed the phrase, bit it's a bit older than that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quis_custodiet_ipsos_custodes?

CliveOfIndia

Qyburn said:

hobbo2 said:

I too am having a  problem with my watchman sensor. I did remove it but saw no way to open except dismantling. A power tube is mentioned on the forum. Do I dismantle the sensor to get at this.
Hobbo2

If you have the old one with the copper "power tube", this just unscrews from the sensor. The tube contains four normal AAA alkaline cells (mine were Duracell and well past their date).

In our case it still didn't work after replacing the cells, so I ended up getting a new Watchman Sonic, this fits the same mounting holes on the tank. Instead of numbers, the Sonic display show bars which is a bit naff as you have to count to see if it's reading say 8 or 9.

When ours packed up years ago I did a bit of research, found that a new power tube from Watchman was an exorbitant price.  Then found something that showed you how to just replace the batteries yourself, as you rightly say.

It worked OK for a while, then gave up the ghost again.  At which point I invested in a wonderful invention called "Garden Cane".

It's really no bother to dip the tank once every few weeks.  Actually, I only bother dipping it when it gets down to about the last third or so, if it's fuller than that then you can just remove the filler cap and see near enough roughly how full it is.

I often wonder why they don't have sight glasses on them any more like they used to have years ago - seems a much simpler solution to me.

FreeBear

CliveOfIndia said: I often wonder why they don't have sight glasses on them any more like they used to have years ago - seems a much simpler solution to me.

Potential for leaks. Plastic sight tubes discolour over time and become difficult to read. Glass tubes are easy to break.

CliveOfIndia

FreeBear said:

CliveOfIndia said: I often wonder why they don't have sight glasses on them any more like they used to have years ago - seems a much simpler solution to me.

Potential for leaks. Plastic sight tubes discolour over time and become difficult to read. Glass tubes are easy to break.

Ah, makes sense I guess, thanks

Qyburn

CliveOfIndia said:

It worked OK for a while, then gave up the ghost again.  At which point I invested in a wonderful invention called "Garden Cane".

I used to measure down from the top. It's not that straightforward to convert depth to litres or % unless it's a cuboid tank. A sight glass is the same of course.

CliveOfIndia

Qyburn said:

CliveOfIndia said:

It worked OK for a while, then gave up the ghost again.  At which point I invested in a wonderful invention called "Garden Cane".

I used to measure down from the top. It's not that straightforward to convert depth to litres or % unless it's a cuboid tank. A sight glass is the same of course.

A very fair point.  But in my experience you only need to get a rough idea - e.g. whether there's a quarter or a tenth of a tank left, that sort of thing.  And you get to know how quickly you use it - I usually reckon on ordering some more when I get down to about 4 inches or so.

It's not an exact science, of course, but it works well enough