First Of Its Kind Fuel Tank Gauge

1991 - Volume #15, Issue #4, Page #04

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New fuel gauge eliminates the need to climb up on top of overhead gravity-feed fuel tanks with a measuring stick.
Invented by Alberta farmer Jim Bergeson, the new "Fuelevel" simply taps into the outlet valve at the bottom of the tank. It reads like a gas gauge in a car. Fits any size tank and works with any liquid.
Bergeson tested a lot of designs, including sight gauges and pressure-filled liquid tubes. He finally developed a mechanism that uses a piston and needle that measures the pressure that fuel exerts inside the tank. "The first one I built used a diaphragm from a Holly carburetor. It worked good but then it took a long time to get the parts I needed to make production models. Now I've got a simple gauge that works on all gravity-fed tanks."
When the gauge gets down into the "red" zone, that means there's 8 in. of liquid left in the tank. That's true whether it's mounted on a 1,000 gal. tank or a small 5-gal. pail. "Eight inches of liquid always exerts the same amount of pressure," he notes. The gauge actually measures inches of pressure and is designed so that when there's 48 in. of liquid it reads full. Most 500 gal. tanks are 48 in. in dia., so the gauge will read "full" when the tank is filled. On a 1,000 gal. tank, the gauge will read "full" until liquid in the tank gets down below the 48 in. level. On a 300 gal. tank, which is usually 40 in. dia., the gauge will never read "full".
To manufacture the guage, Bergeson searched all over the world for a plastic that would stand up to wide range of liquids. Initially he sold the gauges himself at farm shows but now he has sold the rights to Westeel, which is distributing it throughout the U.S. and Canada. Sells for $29.40 ($33 in Canada). Takes just minutes to install, fitting between the valve on the tank and the refill hose.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Westeel Inc., 803 25th St. N., Fargo, N. Dak. 58102 (ph 701 232-3201). In Canada, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Westeel Inc., P.O. Box 792, Winnipeg, R3C 2N5 Canada (ph 204 233-7133).

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First of its Kind Fuel Tank Gauge ENERGY Miscellaneous 15-4-4 New fuel gauge eliminates the need to climb up on top of overhead gravity-feed fuel tanks with a measuring stick. Invented by Alberta farmer Jim Bergeson, the new "Fuelevel" simply taps into the outlet valve at the bottom of the tank. It reads like a gas gauge in a car. Fits any size tank and works with any liquid. Bergeson tested a lot of designs, including sight gauges and pressure-filled liquid tubes. He finally developed a mechanism that uses a piston and needle that measures the pressure that fuel exerts inside the tank. "The first one I built used a diaphragm from a Holly carburetor. It worked good but then it took a long time to get the parts I needed to make production models. Now I've got a simple gauge that works on all gravity-fed tanks." When the gauge gets down into the "red" zone, that means there's 8 in. of liquid left in the tank. That's true whether it's mounted on a 1,000 gal. tank or a small 5-gal. pail. "Eight inches of liquid always exerts the same amount of pressure," he notes. The gauge actually measures inches of pressure and is designed so that when there's 48 in. of liquid it reads full. Most 500 gal. tanks are 48 in. in dia., so the gauge will read "full" when the tank is filled. On a 1,000 gal. tank, the gauge will read "full" until liquid in the tank gets down below the 48 in. level. On a 300 gal. tank, which is usually 40 in. dia., the gauge will never read "full". To manufacture the guage, Bergeson searched all over the world for a plastic that would stand up to wide range of liquids. Initially he sold the gauges himself at farm shows but now he has sold the rights to Westeel, which is distributing it throughout the U.S. and Canada. Sells for $29.40 ($33 in Canada). Takes just minutes to install, fitting between the valve on the tank and the refill hose. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Westeel Inc., 803 25th St. N., Fargo, N. Dak. 58102 (ph 701 232-3201). In Canada, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Westeel Inc., P.O. Box 792, Winnipeg, R3C 2N5 Canada (ph 204 233-7133).

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