Does anyone else use SmartSense Gas Bottle Level sensors? They work very well and give you an up to the second readout on your smart phone app, of the gas level in your gas bottle. The app can work with more than one gas bottle sensor, so we have two sensors for our two gas bottles. The sensors magnetically stick to the base of your gas bottle and use an ultrasonic sensor to detect the level of gas in the bottle. The sensors send the gas level to you smart phone and work up to at least 20 metres from your gas bottles.
I always found it impossible to use the cheap magnetic strip temperature sensing gas level detectors, as the strip was always full of bends and would never hold onto the gas bottle. The weighing method involves taking the bottle out of the holder which is a pain. So we bought the SmartSense sensors.
The only problem we found was that the battery in the sensor only lasted a year, so I have just wired the 2 sensors to the caravan's 12 volt batteries using a cheap 3.0 volt downconverter. They work perfectly.
Looks good Derek, have tried the strips too, waste of time I reckon.
Nowadays, I prefer to run out of gas when about halfway thru cooking on the Baby Q, at least I know it's empty.
Never fails
Cheers Bob
bomurra said
05:51 PM Jun 22, 2021
Hi Derek,
Thanks for the heads up.
Good to know that these work.
Regards,
Bob.
gdayjr said
07:14 PM Jun 22, 2021
Useful little gadget, at around $75 each, my question is, do you need two of them? they are magnetic, so i guess when you swap the gas bottles over, you simply move the sender to the new bottle?
oldbloke said
09:19 PM Jun 22, 2021
If I'm worried I weigh them with a spring scale. For trips over say 3 or 4 weeks ijust take an additional an bottle now.
Mike Harding said
07:50 AM Jun 23, 2021
I've got this really neat high tech system with my two gas bottles:
When then gas stove won't light or the fridge lights all flash it's an automatic indication that one gas bottle is empty so I walk outside and, by hand, change the gas tap to the full bottle, pretty neat eh? :)
Rob Driver said
10:16 AM Jun 23, 2021
Mike Harding wrote:
I've got this really neat high tech system with my two gas bottles:
When then gas stove won't light or the fridge lights all flash it's an automatic indication that one gas bottle is empty so I walk outside and, by hand, change the gas tap to the full bottle, pretty neat eh? :)
KISS.
No cost either.
Regards
Rob
Mike Harding said
10:52 AM Jun 23, 2021
Derek Barnes wrote:
so I have just wired the 2 sensors to the caravan's 12 volt batteries using a cheap 3.0 volt downconverter.
Be a little cautious here: these units were designed to run from an internal battery and do not expect to have x meters of wire hanging off their power supply terminals and, therefore, will likely not have much in the way of transient voltage suppression in the circuit.
What you have done is add an antenna to them and this will pick up any nasty RF and inductive/capacitive currents which may be around at different times/places. Now they *may* survive all this perfectly well or out of the blue one day one or both of them may fail, adding a 5.6V TransZorb at the point where your new wiring joins the sensors should resolve the issue.
Dick0 said
12:03 PM Jun 23, 2021
I thought most vanners used safety valves that show remaining gas level.
$19.95 each at Bunnings. Simple and effective.
Jaahn said
12:36 PM Jun 23, 2021
Dick0 wrote:
I thought most vanners used safety valves that show remaining gas level.
$19.95 each at Bunnings. Simple and effective.
Hi DickO
These have been discussed on several occasions before. In fact they only indicate anything useful when the liquid(LPG) has run out and you only have the gas volume in the bottle left and the pressure is dropping. A short time to fully empty. Other wise they protect against a failure that should never happen in a normally maintained gas system. I threw mine out years ago !
When we had LPG bottles I used Mike's system or if in doubt just 'weighed' them manually by hand.
Hello
Does anyone else use SmartSense Gas Bottle Level sensors? They work very well and give you an up to the second readout on your smart phone app, of the gas level in your gas bottle. The app can work with more than one gas bottle sensor, so we have two sensors for our two gas bottles. The sensors magnetically stick to the base of your gas bottle and use an ultrasonic sensor to detect the level of gas in the bottle. The sensors send the gas level to you smart phone and work up to at least 20 metres from your gas bottles.
I always found it impossible to use the cheap magnetic strip temperature sensing gas level detectors, as the strip was always full of bends and would never hold onto the gas bottle. The weighing method involves taking the bottle out of the holder which is a pain. So we bought the SmartSense sensors.
The only problem we found was that the battery in the sensor only lasted a year, so I have just wired the 2 sensors to the caravan's 12 volt batteries using a cheap 3.0 volt downconverter. They work perfectly.
Looks good Derek, have tried the strips too, waste of time I reckon.
Nowadays, I prefer to run out of gas when about halfway thru cooking on the Baby Q, at least I know it's empty.
Never fails
Cheers Bob
Hi Derek,
Thanks for the heads up.
Good to know that these work.
Regards,
Bob.
Useful little gadget, at around $75 each, my question is, do you need two of them? they are magnetic, so i guess when you swap the gas bottles over, you simply move the sender to the new bottle?
I've got this really neat high tech system with my two gas bottles:
When then gas stove won't light or the fridge lights all flash it's an automatic indication that one gas bottle is empty so I walk outside and, by hand, change the gas tap to the full bottle, pretty neat eh? :)
KISS.
No cost either.
Regards
Rob
Be a little cautious here: these units were designed to run from an internal battery and do not expect to have x meters of wire hanging off their power supply terminals and, therefore, will likely not have much in the way of transient voltage suppression in the circuit.
What you have done is add an antenna to them and this will pick up any nasty RF and inductive/capacitive currents which may be around at different times/places. Now they *may* survive all this perfectly well or out of the blue one day one or both of them may fail, adding a 5.6V TransZorb at the point where your new wiring joins the sensors should resolve the issue.
I thought most vanners used safety valves that show remaining gas level.
$19.95 each at Bunnings. Simple and effective.
Hi DickO
These have been discussed on several occasions before. In fact they only indicate anything useful when the liquid(LPG) has run out and you only have the gas volume in the bottle left and the pressure is dropping. A short time to fully empty.
Other wise they protect against a failure that should never happen in a normally maintained gas system. I threw mine out years ago !
When we had LPG bottles I used Mike's system or if in doubt just 'weighed' them manually by hand.
Jaahn