My VDO fuel sender has packed it in. It sits in a bilge shaped tank from the top of integral keel to under the deck. So a linear measurement doesn't provide an accurate fuel quantity.
Questions
Is there a sender that I can calibrate for a certain quantity and that will send the quantity via NMEA or my current gauge. Ie at 50L it's 1/4, 100L it's 1/2, 150L it's 3/4, 200L it's 4/4. But not linear on the sender?

If I decide to just change the sender, it's too corroded to see a part number, how do I get the correct resistance, for the VDO head unit?

Perhaps get the part No. off the gauge and that may lead you to the right sender or if you want to spend some real money you could try this from Scintex "Engine Fuel Consumption Gauge Kit (Supply & Return Lines". It seems to do what you are requiring, can be calibrated for 6 level points for odd shaped tanks and is NMEA 2k compatible.
Mike

Mike,
Thank you for the response, a fancy bit of kit but my pockets aren't deep enough.
I can't see the serial number of the sender, it's covered in heavy surface rust after 42yrs of duty. When I am next on the boat I will find the details of the gauge and then try and work it back from there.

The cheap version may be replacement of sender then just filling my tank in 20L increments and then marking the gauge with a white paint pen writing the capacity on the gauge.

Select to expand quote

EastCoastSail said..

The cheap version may be replacement of sender then just filling my tank in 20L increments and then marking the gauge with a white paint pen writing the capacity on the gauge.

I use a stick to dip in the tanks, calibrated it with a few notches, can't get it to connect to my wifi network yet but other than that it works great.