Oil Tank Watchman Sensor peculiarity

Battery failing in the transmitter on top of the tank??

Oil watchmen are s**te

If you want a spare one you can have mine. Did the same thing

They are just basically crap. Windy weather and trees are bad news if the distance is significant.

I ran out of oil TWICE because I couldn't get a reliable reading.

Taking it apart and emptying water out followed by a day in the airing cupboard helps a lot as does a fresh battery

So I built my own, but even that has 'issues' Sometimes it doesn't connect at all, sometimes it tells me the tank is full, but mostly I know what the level should be so can disregard the errors. Right now its giving me the right reading. Tank temp 25.4°C (its in the sun), 640 litres, battery voltage 5.1V and RSSI -81dBm on the wifi link

There are other options these days that will talk to an 'app' on your phone, presumably via bluetooth, if DIY is not your bag

Thanks Gordy, that is a possibility, although according to the operating instructions a flashing warning triangle should appear in the display window to indicate that, which it does not, so I will have to see if the situation re-occurs.

Unscrew it and shake it. If there is water sloshing around inside open it and dry it in a warm place. Might as well replace the battery if you do.

Getting the O-ring to seal properly is no trivial.

Mine ran out of range long before the battery warning symbol ever appeared.

Hi TNP thanks for your input.

I will check the battery in the sender unit, as that may well be the cause.

The tank sender unit is no more than 3 metres from the internal display unit and there are no trees or foliage in between.

sender battery getting to end of life - lower voltage at night when colder?

Thanks Alan

Give up on it and make yourself a dipstick - I found bamboo garden canes seem to be the best. Fix the top into a block of wood so it can't fall into the tank and set the length so it doesn't quite reach the bottom. Mark it every 50mm, measured from the bottom (50-100-150, etcetera). You might be able to find a calibration graph if your tank isn't rectangular (mine isn't) but if you use a spreadsheet to plot the dip every week (say) you will soon be able to predict usage and when to order. Put a note in your phone to remind you to dip every Sunday evening (say).

Forgot to add ... here's my record of volume, usage and price for the last 9 years:

FWIW, if you have the Watchman that takes CR2430 button cells you can use the much more common (and much cheaper) CR2032 instead. I've had one in for about a year with no problems.

Thanks that's a good tip.

Personally, I recommend the Apollo. It doesn't have an alarm, but is more reliable than my original Watchman, that just failed one day.

There are files available on the internet for 3D printing a suitable adaptor.

Thanks for all suggestions a new battery has fixed it!