Low water sensor expansion tank

[pmessling]

Having removed my expansion tank with my refurb i saw there is a float sensor. I've just tested it with a multimeter and am thinking of wiring it in to a buzzer good idea or pain in the arse long term?



Peter

[spongy]

good idea i would say sir

[Jimm218]

Sounds like a good idea to me. With a nice how too guide as well

[pmessling]

Just trying to find a buzzer or light to use. My snow symbol has never worked so may use that, was thinking an LED and buzzer would be best, given the noise of the car i've found one that is over 100db so would certainly hear that.

[scotty_d]

A light or Led on the dash would be good and it does seem like a good idea would have been for me on the way home from Chatsworth when my matrix was losing a little water allowing plenty of time to top it up with out panicking every 20 miles letting it cool down to check it,

[1Dog74]

Jimm218 said:

Sounds like a good idea to me. With a nice how too guide as well

Excellent idea, I looked at this when I changed my expansion tank but didn't do it in the end.

[anonymous-user]

This seems too simple to be not thought of by anyone else over the last 16 years!

New expansion tank is on my parts list, so very much worthwhile thinking about this. I guess the value of it depends on the individual car though, some owners seem to say their cerb runs perfect with no coolant in the expansion tank, whilst others say theirs is always full.

Edited by djstevec on Saturday 12th May 22:31

[pmessling]

Mine always ran fine with little water in the tank. Had the system pressure tested and all was good but lost water some where. With new pipes etc soon perhaps the level will remain better. But the sensor will give piece of mind

[Mr Cerbera]

Connect it to an MP3 player which kicks in with this

[anonymous-user]

Mr Cerbera said:

Connect it to an MP3 player which kicks in with this

[PoleDriver]

The only thing is that those expansion tanks were designed to have a water level about half way up the tank but in the Cerb it's a lot lower. It may sense low water when it's running at the correct level?

If it does work I'd be tempted to put the LED in the water temperature gauge if at all possible, makes it much easier to draw your attention to what it's indicating.

Good luck!

[pmessling]

Every ones say that the correct level is the seam between the lower and upper parts of the tank which is correct according to the marks on the side of the bottle that can not be seen when in the car. When
I tested the bottle with water in it to see what happens, and given the max mark the sensor would pick up on the low level as expected, so if its topped up as it should be the sensor should work, given my car always running lower even when topped up the sensor could be a pain, but once i have changed all the pipes and hoses other than the radiator i hope the level stays constant.

[pmessling]

just whipped up a quick circuit to test it using a single LED, although i may use a buzzer as i won't have to drill the dash panel when mounting, although will look at the ice warning led as it don't work any way.

With the tank upside down the sensor is indicating that it is full



Turning the tank the right way up indicates that it is low completing the circuit and lighting the LED