Caravan Water Tank(s) Gauge

[Four_Happy_Campers]

Flow Meter with Flow Sensor for 1/2" Pipe

Stumbled across this little beauty this morning $28.00 including postage (no drilling into tanks)!

http://www.futurlec.com.au/Flow_Sensor.jsp

*Displays number of litres left in your water tank.
*Counts down litre by litre from a preset amount.
*Know how much is used for washing, showers etc.*Know your daily water usage in litres*Stay longer when bush camping.*Fitted in water line, nothing is fitted to water tanks.
*Can be fitted in 5-10 minutes.
*One unit can be used for any number or size tanks.
*It can be used in conjunction with your current system to accurately know your capacity and usage.
* Essential for bush/ free camping.
N.B. Does not include hose connectors

Flow Meter with Flow Sensor for 1/2" Pipe
Compact Easy to Use Flow Meter with 1/2" Pipe Flow Sensor Included. This unit displays the current Flow Rate as well as the total amount of Water that has passed. The unit is battery operated and easy to read. Mounting is suitable for all standard 1/2" pipes and a long sensor cable is provided.

The unit is powered by 2 x AA Batteries and can easily be mounted.

Low Battery Power Alert
When the battery power lower than normal working level, the buzzer will beep twice to notice and
the battery symbol on the screen will blink to notice user to change the battery. Once the batteries
are replaced, the alert will be released. The data will be kept in memory and stored back when user
replace the batteries.

Will let you know how it goes after I fit it. A lot cheaper alternative!

 

[boots33]

That certainly looks like a viable (and cheaper) alternative to drilling holes in the tank. Be sure and post a follow up on how it goes.

 

[Adam G]

Looks good, I'd love to hear a report from you on how accurate this unit is.

 

[Wanda]

Hi @Four_Happy_Campers I've been scanning the forum looking for info on water tank gauges and came across your post. I was wondering what the out come was for this one. Any good? Thanks, Mrs Wanda

 

[Four_Happy_Campers]

Hi @Mrs Wanda
It was put in just b4 Easter. It did not take very long.
It was a gr8 success. I thoroughly recommend it.

 

[Wanda]

Excellent, thank you for that. Will start nagging Mr. W that we NEED one I hate not knowing what is left in the tank.

 

[Wanda]

So the story goes:
7/6/14 ordered the flow meter from futurlec - order processed and will be shipped shortly.

16/6/14 we sent an email asking for an update on our order - sorry, currently out of stock, eta 1 - 2 months.

6/10/14 (nearly 4 mths later!!) we sent another email - still want our flow meter, please follow up and advise.

7/10/14 (the next day!!) we received email - Your order is complete and ready for shipment;
we have been unable to clear the amount from your credit card, It appears your card expiry date is wrong. Please can you check with your bank and advise us a new expiry date so that we can re-check your credit card account and can proceed your order.
The last 4 digits we have are **** with an expiry date of **/**
You can enter a new card detail for your account at http://www.futurlec.com.au/YourAccount.jsp
Simply click on the link at the top right of the "Your Account" page to change your credit card.
Please let us know when this is complete and we can recheck your order.

So to be safe I copy and paste the address into google to go to their site which works ok but the "http://" part of the address is no longer displayed. We then try to log in to access our account, this results in a new page, the address bar now shows the "https" part of the address but with a big red line drawn across it and a red x over the padlock sign "Your connection is not private. Attackers might be trying to steal your information. Server could not prove that it is www.futurlec.com.au. It's security certificate expired 146 days ago. This could be a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection etc etc.

Can anyone shed any light on this for us? Is anyone else currently dealing with this company? Any advise would be appreciated. This sounds so dodgy.

Many thanks, Mrs Wanda

 

[Bmhdg76]

Nope.... walk away. sounds like something dodgy.

BJ

 

[chartrock]

Nope.... walk away. sounds like something dodgy.

BJ

I agree. Very dodgy. Was your card expiry date over as they reckon?

 

[Alan]

I put an order in during June and have being mucked around by them up to about 3 mths ago. I have been busy but have just sent off a nasty email so I will post any news.

 

[Big Al]

I have question. Does this meter measure the water as it is being put into the tank or does it measure as you pump it out. Which would mean you would have to fill the tank up every time. What happens if you only wanted to put alittle amount of water in the tank. May be I'm missing something.

 

[Alan]

You assumption is correct, a flow meter will only tell you what you have used. So if you fill to 80 lts , when it reads 60 lts you have approx. 20 lts left. I had a reply to my email and they say they now have the item and my card was will not be charged until they ship the goods.

 

[Marv_mart]

You assumption is correct, a flow meter will only tell you what you have used. So if you fill to 80 lts , when it reads 60 lts you have approx. 20 lts left. I had a reply to my email and they say they now have the item and my card was will not be charged until they ship the goods.

Still seems fishy, was the date incorrect or were those few emails a scammer pretending to be them and trying to get to your credit card details, that's what it seems like. Probably are back in touch with the real people now but be very wary!
Worked in IT for 40 years and those few emails re your card date and a link asking you to re- enter your card details are 100% phishing (scam).
When you get those warnings from your anti-scam software ( red lines & 'not able to verify') listen to them!
The software is very sophisticated nowadays and detects scams pretty well!

 

[Alan]

I know what you mean. Wanda has had the card emails, not me. They have had my card details since June but have failed to deliver. Due to the facts so far though,there may still be a third party involved with Wanda. IF I get my goods I am going to email and find out why their site is no longer secure.

 

[Wanda]

Thanks for the input everyone. Yes they have also had our card details since June too and we have not been charged, yet. I find it very unlikely that we would have entered an incorrect expiry date (this is a separate card that we keep a small balance in just for online purchases).

I agree. Very dodgy. Was your card expiry date over as they reckon?

No @chartrock, card is not expired, they quote a different expiry month. It's possible we did enter an incorrect number but not likely. If I was able to log in to our account on their website without the warning flashing up I'd be a bit more confident but I can't even log in to see what our order status is!

 

[Wanda]

Still seems fishy, was the date incorrect or were those few emails a scammer pretending to be them and trying to get to your credit card details, that's what it seems like. Probably are back in touch with the real people now but be very wary!
Worked in IT for 40 years and those few emails re your card date and a link asking you to re- enter your card details are 100% phishing (scam).
When you get those warnings from your anti-scam software ( red lines & 'not able to verify') listen to them!
The software is very sophisticated nowadays and detects scams pretty well!

Thanks @Marv_mart, I tend to agree. I never click on links in emails and find it odd that they would suggest that. Surely they would ask me to log onto their website and log into our account to check the details. The problem is I'm not even able to do that without a security warning.

 

[Marv_mart]

Thanks @Marv_mart, I tend to agree. I never click on links in emails and find it odd that they would suggest that. Surely they would ask me to log onto their website and log into our account to check the details. The problem is I'm not even able to do that without a security warning.

Shows all the signs that their site has been hacked and is now under the control of a hacking group.
Take my advice and avoid the site, it has been seriously compromised.
All I can say is that you may be very lucky to get your order but I wouldn't count on it.
May have to count that as a losS rather than them getting into your CC account and taking the lot!
If you use something like Nortons AV, you can send them a query about the security or safety of using the site.

 

[barney120]

I am really annoyed you guys are having all this trouble because I would buy one today. What a top idea as we only have 1 80l tank, we have to watch the water carefully having the outside shower (when free camping) and always start with a full tank. Thinking of putting second tank at a later date, another job on the list....... Barney. Keep us informed how you go please!

 

[Marv_mart]

Can also send the whole email requesting Cc details to your ISP and report the site to scam watch.
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/693900
They have lots of suggestions on what to do and more particularly on what never to do.
Never enter CC details into a form on a web site unless it has valid security encryption (128bit or better)
These are usually on a https:// site and you software recognizes the security certificate as valid with the lock/unlock symbol.
Hackers can and do emulate the valid site and redirect traffic to their site to perpetuate the scam

 

[Wanda]

Can also send the whole email requesting Cc details to your ISP and report the site to scam watch.
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/693900
They have lots of suggestions on what to do and more particularly on what never to do.
Never enter CC details into a form on a web site unless it has valid security encryption (128bit or better)
These are usually on a https:// site and you software recognizes the security certificate as valid with the lock/unlock symbol.
Hackers can and do emulate the valid site and redirect traffic to their site to perpetuate the scam

Thanks for the info @Marv_mart .