Coolant Presence Sensor. Any experience out there?

[Industrial Toys]

I would like a coolant presence sensor for one of my generators. There is no reliable way to measure temperature in the absence of coolant. Most sensors will actually show a cooler reading after your coolant is gone! Then the real damage starts, and finally your probe may get heat through convection, or conduction, but the damage is probably done.

All the coolant presence sensors and systems I found are strangely in Australia.

The most interesting one was made by Montronics, is stand alone, has a 1/4" NPT mounting and internal transistor switch.

I tried to E-Mail SALES, and had my E-mail deleted, unread. Discouraging.
My phone plan doesn't cover Australia.

Any knowledge of such devices out there?

Murphy has a chamber with a float that has to be plumbed in, but that is too big and involved for this project.

 

[ovrszd]

How about a windshield washer level indicator from any of the dozens of models/manufacturers that use them??

 

[Industrial Toys]

Many such sensors do exist, to go in the recovery bottle, but would not survive the radiator environment. Most are plastic.

 

[ovrszd]

Many such sensors do exist, to go in the recovery bottle, but would not survive the radiator environment. Most are plastic.

As are most radiators.

Does your generator have a recovery bottle? If not, add one?

 

[RickB]

As are most radiators.

Does your generator have a recovery bottle? If not, add one?

My first thought.

 

[Industrial Toys]

It does. I bought one but I don't know how that is supposed to work. The maybe two feet of hose has no coolant in it, so it first has to get filled with hot coolant. Plus, I could find no information on mounting height or location of such a tank.

But in general. I don't think a release of coolant, due to a ruptured rad hose, will cause any indication in your recovery tank.

They say that the tiniest bit of dirt under the rubber flange can render such a recovery system useless. I have never been under the impression that they work well.

 

[grsthegreat]

ive replaced coolant level sensors on generac liquid cooled generators in the past. they do exist....

 

[ovrszd]

It does. I bought one but I don't know how that is supposed to work. The maybe two feet of hose has no coolant in it, so it first has to get filled with hot coolant. Plus, I could find no information on mounting height or location of such a tank.

But in general. I don't think a release of coolant, due to a ruptured rad hose, will cause any indication in your recovery tank.

They say that the tiniest bit of dirt under the rubber flange can render such a recovery system useless. I have never been under the impression that they work well.

Two answers here.

How a recovery tank works is if the radiator gets too much pressure and pukes out fluid it is caught in the tank. Then when the system cools the hose draws the fluid back into the radiator thru the two way cap.

I agree. A blown system that instantly causes the machine to lose all coolant will not be indicated by a sensor in the still full recovery tank.

What you need is a heat sensor similar to a heat gauge sensor. This sensor then needs to be wired into the run system of the engine. So overheated condition causes ignition shutdown.

I've saw these systems for oil pressure and heat used on tractors that power stationary systems such as a grain dryer or irrigation pump system. No operator needed to monitor engine.

Not sure what to tell you to search for to find that in Google. But I know they exist. Go out West into AG irrigation country and you'll see stationary engines pumping irrigation water with no one around. No doubt they have this protection.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I looked into a cylinder head temperature sensor, but have no place (I know of) to put it on this ISUZU 3LB1 motor.

I had installed a new bung on the new Yanmar Rad I got off E-Bay, to accommodate my electric fan thermostat. I ran the motor and watched with an infrared thermometer. The temperature was climbing but the fan wasn't coming on. It seems that the motor was purging itself of air and the rad level was down, to the point that my sender was not seeing coolant.

And that started my paranoia!

 

[Jeepnford]

You might try some places that service standby generators. I think all of the newer ones we have at work have a low coolant sensor. They are threaded into a bung at the top of the radiator tank. I don't know if one will work however stand alone since the generators are controlled by a PCM.

 

[Jeepnford]

Try this. Davies Craig DC-1 - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

 

[MossRoad]

Our 2000 Chevy Impala had a coolant level sensor located near the top of the radiator.
The sensor is less than $10 at Autozone....

How you hook it up to a circuit? I do not know. But that could be figured out fairly easily, I'd think.

Here's a video of how to change it out if it goes bad....
Radiator Coolant Level Sensor Replacement - YouTube

 

[ddbackhoe]

I would like a coolant presence sensor for one of my generators. There is no reliable way to measure temperature in the absence of coolant. Most sensors will actually show a cooler reading after your coolant is gone! Then the real damage starts, and finally your probe may get heat through convection, or conduction, but the damage is probably done.

All the coolant presence sensors and systems I found are strangely in Australia.

The most interesting one was made by Montronics, is stand alone, has a 1/4" NPT mounting and internal transistor switch.

I tried to E-Mail SALES, and had my E-mail deleted, unread. Discouraging.
My phone plan doesn't cover Australia.

Any knowledge of such devices out there?

Murphy has a chamber with a float that has to be plumbed in, but that is too big and involved for this project.

Not sure exactly what you have in mind, but we can start here. Do you want a level sensor or just a switch? Guage or light bulb?
Level Switches & Transmitters
Liquid Level Sensors & Switches for Measuring Fluid Media - Gems™
Honeywell Sensing and Internet of Things

 

[Industrial Toys]

Thanks for the replies. I like the Monotronics one as it has a transistor that switches up to one amp. Run a relay and switch off the fuel solenoid.

Apparently many senders use capacitance which is interesting, rather then resistance. Kind of like a touch lamp, or elevator button. Basically a tuned circuit. Some probes, even have the sensor element protected inside a sleeve for better long term reliability.

That Davies Craig link didn't work for me. Something about updating drivers. I had seen the Davies Craig products and was of the impression that they are systems (with annunciation) and whole kits only.

 

[franklin2]

How about a flow sensor? They make many different types, this is one type.

Magnetic SUS 3�4 Stainless Steel Water Flow Switch Sensor thread 3/4 New | eBay

Flow switches are used in many places in a HVAC system. For instance if the circulator pump quits, there is usually a flow sensor that will shut down the boiler. You could put this in a short loop like you would if you were using a cab heater, but instead of a heater core, your loop would just go from the pump output to the pump suction. This would even stop the engine if the fan belt broke and quit turning the waterpump.

You may need to incorporate some sort of delay timer in the system to get it started and establish flow before putting it in the shut down circuit.

 

[Industrial Toys]

The flow would only stop when the pump had no more coolant. This might be a bit late. I am still curious why this is so popular in Australia. Not like NA doesn't have hot weather.

 

[ishiboo]

Boats use coolant flow sensors which are VERY useful. It can also be useful to measure cylinder head temperature.