Freshwater level

[MisterMR]

A call out to those of you who have a freshwater system on their boat(s).

I'm trying to figure out if I should be resetting my expectations regarding how to measure the level of fluid in my freshwater tank.
The word so far from Cobalt is that it is normal for me to not have a gauge or any other means of checking the freshwater level, even though the tank is hidden by a fixed panel on my new R6.

Is this the case with other Cobalt boaters, whether recent or more classic? Or do you have some factory-installed means of checking the level, whether by physical gauge, digital NMEA connection, or some other way to visually check the level?

[jwill323]

I have a "gauge" similar to the one attached.

Subject.png

It's located in the head so not very handy. Ive been looking for a NMEA converter. What type of NMEA display of you have?

[MisterMR]

That was the factory-installed gauge?
I know that I *may* have options to install something myself (I can't yet get a good look at the tank itself to know if a float switch can even be installed), but I'm trying to figure out whether my my current lack of a freshwater gauge from the factory is/has been typical for Cobalt.

For the record, I have twin Garmin 8610's.

[jwill323]

The one pictured was from the factory. I had a 280 seaway before the Cobalt and it had a freshwater tank without a gauge for it and it really couldn't be manually checked either. If your not overnighting on the boat i would think keeping close tabs on the water level is not critical on a day boat. My guess is that it's probably pretty typical to not have a gauge on a day boat. I really use very little water on mine and never used the tank on the 280. The only reason i carry any water is for the head if someone needed to use it and maybe the wash down on the swim platform. I never really liked lugging around another couple hundred pounds of water anyways. How do you use your boat? You may find that you don't use much water plus if the water sits in the tank unused it can start to cause other problems with getting stale or moldy. I end up dumping and refilling the tank a couple times over the season just to keep the water fresh and usually only put 8-10 gallons in. I think the lack of a gauge might just be based on the type of boat and that is probably typical of all builders and weather it is deemed important. On a large cruiser keeping track of water levels on a multi day trip is probably pretty important for drinking, cooking and showers etc. On a day boat i guess they figure you can just fill it up every day and you won't be living on the boat so no need for a gauge.

[jwill323]

1 other point on the fresh water is i think both our boats are plumbed with the sinks draining into the sump and then pumping into the holding tank. I never like to carry enough water to fill up the holding tank if someone ran a bunch of water into the sink. Id rather run out of water then fill the holding tank!

[Titaniumboy]

I added the factory tank a couple of years after I bought our boat. No tank gauge was provided in the kit.

I added an access port in the bottom of the rear seat compartment so I could still do maintenance if needed, but it certainly is not very useful to determining the tank level.

[MisterMR]

I reached out to Cobalt directly and they have decided that they need to redesign the freshwater tank bulkhead to ensure that the tank can be visually examined. And they have assured me that it will be made to be retrofittable on my R6.

A victory of sorts.