Just
played with some electronics tonight :-) In our fuel tanks we're
installing the AE Fuel Guardians. These are simple optical
sensors that are completely independent of our fuel senders and
guages. The sensors mount in the side of the tank. They
emit an infrared beam that is dispersed in the fuel as long as fuel is
covering it. If the fuel level goes below the sensor it triggers
a light on the instrument panel indicating low fuel in that tank... so
this is our 'idiot light'! We're testing the system in the pics
below. We picked up a couple of D-cell battery holders from Radio
Shack and zipped-tied them together. This allows us to wire 8
D-cells (1.5 Volts each) in series, that gives us 12 Volts. We
then wired the system up according to its instructions and then
immersed the tip of the sensor slightly in a bowl of water (back right
of the picture). The panel light is visible just to the right of
my hand in the foreground. With the sensor covered by liquid
(simulating fuel in the tank) the light is out, as expected. In
the lower pic, the sensor is raised out of the water (simulating a low
fuel level) and the light comes on... kewl! It works!
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