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An LP Level Indicator that Doesn't Suck

Dakzuki
Explorer
Explorer
Many of us have propane level indicators inside the RV that are pretty crappy. Looking at the gauge on the tank (for a fixed tank) is often the only way to get a good read on how much you have left. On my RV that tank is inboard of the chassis rails which makes that problematic. This caused me to do some research.

What I discovered is the LP gauge sending unit is 90 ohms. As I understand it, it reads 90 ohms at the 80% level of an LP tank (which is full). Well, many auto gas gauges are 90 ohm gauges too.

Today, as a science project I hooked up a VDO 90 ohm gas gauge ($10 on ebay) and it seems to work. I have int installed so I can use it while RVing and am going to go through a full LP tank empty-fill cycle to verify it's good. I'll then install it permanently with a switch that selects between the OE system and the VDO gauge. What is nice is when it is "full" at 80% it should read full on the gauge as opposed to the OE system. The OE system is in 1/4 tank increments based on 100% tank fill (which shouldn't happen) so when the tank is as full as it should be it's a tick over 3/4.
2011 Itasca Navion 24J
2000 Chev Tracker Toad
1 REPLY 1

Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Explorer II
I installed an aftermarket car fuel gauge for the LP tank on my old Class C. It worked quite well. On my current Class A coach, the tank level monitor didn't work at all, so I replaced it with a SeeLevel system. The digital readouts are in percentages, and the LP 100% level is calibrated with a "full" (80%) tank.
Dutch
2001 GBM Landau 34' Class A
F53 chassis, Triton V10, TST TPMS
Bigfoot Automatic Leveling System
2011 Toyota RAV4 4WD/Remco pump
ReadyBrute Elite tow bar/Blue Ox baseplate