DIY Blackwater Tank Sensor Install using SignalK and SensESP/ESP32 - Tech E20 - Après Sail

[@jorgenovo9763]

your tutorials are fantastic, thank you very much👌

[@ApresSail]

Glad you like them, thanks for the feedback!!

[@svgabrielle]

Hi, very interested to see you using XKC-Y25 tank sensors ... I've completely failed with these! Work fine testing on plastic kitchen tub with water but will not work on holding tanks. Tried two sensors on both of our tanks. Tried popping off sensor cover to adjust sensitivity but output either always high or always low., Suspect it is either thickness of tank plastic or layer of scum on tank inside. Wonder if you had any difficulty getting them to work reliably? Many thanks.

[@ApresSail]

So far they all worked with the Pink liquid. I will do an update next year when cruising for a while

[@adam6806]

So far I'm having no luck with the ESP32 board and getting it to communicate with the SignalK server. It does see that there's a server on the network, it tries to send an access request. I never see the access request in the server and so it never is able to connect.

[@adam6806]

Nevermind I figured it out was the firewall. So I tested the template project and checked everything was working with the SignalK server I have setup. All good. Now I grabbed the liquid level sensors and I have another problem. I tested it with my water bottle and it works great. I can see the red led on the back is off and then it goes on right as it hits the water level. However, when I put it on my tank wall it stays on all the time. Now I'm guessing this must be due to the higher density of the material. It's not a metal tank this is the holding tank on my boat.

[@adam6806]

Tried decreasing the sensitivity by turning the screw under the cap clockwise but it continued to read as if it was detecting liquids. I may just not be able to use this style sensor for the holding tank. Maybe there are things stuck to the inner wall. I do have a capacitive sensor I can look at using. If you have any thoughts please let me know @ApresSail

[@adam6806]

Just tested it on a water tank and it works great so unfortunately it would seem it won't work on the holding tank. Bummer as that's the one that I would really like to measure.

[@ApresSail]

if it is things stuck to the inside, at the end of the season, I empty the tank and then add white vinegar and water until it is nearly full. sail around a bit and see if it shifts the debris from the inside of the tank.

[@jimhooper6204]

Hi, I'm having trouble with the code. I copy both the main.cpp and platformio.ini exactly. No changes. When I start a new project I specify the DoIt board that I'm using. I connect to SignalK and get the access request. Each time I try it, the data browser shows it reading 60%. Tanks.black_state.1.currentLevel, tank 2 and tank 3 are triggered. Showing 1 not 0. I doest this even on a board without the sensors connected. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

[@ApresSail]

your board may have different I/O pin outs which may be causing the issue. I had a similar issue with some other code where the board was different and had to define the pin number. not exactly the same as the pin number is defined, but its position on the board may be different

[@ozgegunaydin85]

🐋🦀😍🤩 all i need

[@ApresSail]

Good Luck!!