The Commodore Says "That's the way it's supposed to look."
The cushions are—officially—done.
We've rebuilt the old cushions to provide suitable access below the various berths and settees.
And we've got new, nice-looking fabric.
And everything is clean.
And.
Rebuilding Frankenpillow was a total success. It looks great on the settee with the other pillows. A perfect match.
Total Success.
What's In There?
Red Ranger has a fair amount of tankage.
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Two 90 gal. water tanks (and a third water tank that leaks)
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One 70 gal. fuel tank (and a second fuel tank that may leak)
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One 40 gal. holding tank
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Two propane tanks (20 lb. and 10 lb.)
We've purchased an 8-channel Profile tank monitor from Ferriello Sales, LLC. Now, we need to connect up the various sensors. Of these, some are simple, and some are not so simple.
Worst Case
The water tanks must use the PVC pipe sensors. There are two ways to install these.
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Tap 1" NPT pipe threads into the top of the tank.
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Use a bushing for an existing SAE 5-hole fitting (about 1.65" with 5 #10 tapped bolts).
Of course, we have neither. We have a ⁵⁄₈" inspection port presumably with NPT pipe threads.
Tapping 1" NPT pipe threads means that we need to cut a hole which is 1 ⁵⁄₃₂" in diameter. Really.
Knowing nothing about plumbing, I bought a 1" hole saw to cut the initial hole before tapping in the threads. The tap however, is quite clear that the hole must be 1 ⁵⁄₃₂" .
That's close enough to 1 ¹⁄₈" that I think I can make do.
So. I drilled. I tapped (as best I could).
I wound up with a 1" NPT threaded hole in the water tank cover.
Okay, it was at an angle. A big angle. It was my first time. What more can I say?
It was a threaded hole. 1". NPT. Into which I could thread the sensor.
The sensor looks shabby tipped over at an angle. But, a little plumber's tape and some silicone goo and it's good to go.
Right?
Wrong.
It turns out that I did not measure well. Directly under my newly-tapped hole is a baffle.
How did I miss the baffle?
Baffling.
So. I have to screw a 1" plug into that hole.
And cut another hole. Sigh.
Other Cases
The holding tank can have an external monitor. This is a pair of foil strips that are glued to the outside of the tank. Much simpler to install.
A Propane tank can have a float sensor. That can be wired to the Profile monitor. We don't have a tank with a float sensor (yet) but that will be a potential upgrade. We have to add wires for that, but that's easy.
The fuel tanks have standard sensors that are simply wired to the Profile monitor. Simpler still: just move the wires.
At this point, we have a bunch of blood, toil, sweat and tears. But I've actually installed nothing useful.
Lessons Learned
I have found that it will be a lot easier to drill an oversize (1 ¼") hole. I can then thread a 1" bushing over the sensor wand on the inside of the tank. The heck with tapping in NPT pipe threads.
To balance off CA's total success with the cushions, we have my total failure with the tank sensors.
