Tank level probes

[Don Bradner]

I got the parts in yesterday, and replaced the waste-water ones today. Decided
to replace all the stainless hardware as the screws had a lot of corrosion from
the brass nuts on their ends and it was inexpensive to get new.

The inserts are Wellnuts, apparently common but not something that I've run into
before. See them here:
http://www.emhart.com/products/pop/wellnut.asp

The specific part sent was J-1032. The parts I'm replacing are not readable, but
the depth appears to be greater, and the head flange is less substantial on
them. 1032 is the screw size/thread, and the J version is .7 inches in length,
with a head diameter of .75 inches and head thickness of 2mm.

In looking around the net for Wellnut info I saw a note where someone said their
local hardware store had them. I looked at the fairly small Ace store where I
bought the stainless hardware, and they did indeed have a small tray of
Wellnuts. There were some 1032 items in the tray, including 10S and 10SL, which
are .5 and 1 inch in length, respectively, but the head diameter is only .56
inches and 1.3mm thick. I think the 10SL may have been the original part used. A
well-stocked hardware store might have more choices, but probably won't save
much over the Blue Bird price.

On 6/5/2007 at 12:57 PM Don Bradner wrote:

>I didn't see any response from this, posted May 9th. Today I flushed the
>waste tank very thoroughly and removed a couple of the level-sensing
>screws.
>
>What I found was that they are inserted into a specialized rubber grommet,
>which has a captive nut on the inside, and when you tighten it swells up
>to seal the connection. The two I removed were in bad shape, typical for
>17-year-old rubber exposed to wastewater, I suspect.
>
>Earl says he has them in stock at $1.08 apiece, so I ordered 16 to do both
>black and grey tanks.

Don Bradner
90 PT40 "Blue Thunder"
Eureka, CA