>  Date:    04/21/2000 7:19:51 PM Central Daylight Time
>  From:    mwsnow@HOME.COM (Michael Snow)
>
>  I know I have mentioned this before.  My 1983 ASI diesel camper has a
>  propane tank from Manchester tank with a built-in level gauge.  The gauge
is
>  made by the J. Y. Taylor Company of Garland Texas.  I doubt that this could
>  be retrofitted to an existing tank, as it is installed in a welded bung on
>  the side of the tank.  Incidentally, the tank is mounted on the right side
>  below the sliding door, possibly counterbalancing some of the kitchen.
>  Anyone interested in purchasing a new tank may want to pursue this further.
>  I found this address on Yahoo.
>
>  J Y Taylor Mfg Co
>  101 W Avenue D
>  Garland, TX 75040
>  (972) 276-1148
>
>  I hope this helps someone.
>
>  Mike Snow
>  Camp Pendleton, California
>  1982 Westfalia 1.6TD
>  1983 ASI 1.6D

Mike -

When I ordered a replacement tank for my Westfalia from
Manchester Tank, I asked about getting one with a gauge.
They said they don't put gauges in tanks that small, I guess
because there's only so much space for bungs, and the space
is pretty well used up by other fittings.  (Your tank is presumably
a bigger model than the Westfalia uses.)

The built-in tank gauge is (if I understand correctly) actually
a float gauge, which measures the level of liquid in the tank.
The standard add-on "barbecue" tank gauge is a pressure
gauge, which measures the pressure of the gaseous propane
that's above the liquid in the tank, on the theory that the pressure
goes down as the liquid level drops.  Manchester Tank and
their local distributer didn't seem to consider them very useful,
since the pressure is drastically affected by temperature.

Still, I would think that would be better than nothing, and I wish
I'd added one when I replaced the tank.  The two varieties
of "color change" gauge strips I've tried (the magnetic plate
and the throw-hot-water-on-it tape) have been utterly useless.

                                                -Steven Sittser