Thanks for all the ideas. Here is another one I came upon whilst browsing fuel dip sticks on t’internet.
Anyone heard of a “wine thief”?. It’s a tube put into a cask, it fills up to the level of the wine. A finger over the open end prevents the wine from flowing out and the “thief” can be removed full of wine.
Here’s a very very rough first prototype Just to see if it works on the fuel tank.....and it does despite petrol having a low surface tension effect. I’ll report back when I’ve got a better version.
21-08-2020, 05:31 PM (This post was last modified: 21-08-2020, 05:32 PM by Reckless Rat.)
Howard, while I like the wine thief idea, I would apply the KISS principle and try not to overcomplicate it. The more things you poke into your tank the more likely something is going to melt, dissolve, drop off or otherwise cause you problems.
The final version of my petrol thief dip stick. A brass tube milled with a slot and a tight fit plastic tube running down the inside. Works very well. My only concern is the reaction of the plastic to petrol but I’ve had a small bit of the plastic pipe soaking in petrol for several hours without ill effect. The plastic will only be in contact with petrol for a few seconds each use. I’ve just got to put some saw cuts in the brass to calibrate it.
27-08-2020, 11:30 PM (This post was last modified: 28-08-2020, 03:38 AM by Tony Press.)
Both my original Prima petrol dipsticks and the reproduction indicate the petrol level in the 4 gallon scuttle tank very well and quite easily read- all fitted with red fibre 'sticks'