Name: MacSync LCS X1 LoRaWAN Capacitive Fuel Level Sensor
Brand: Macnman
SKU: MacSync-LCS-X1
Availability: InStock

Question 1

How does a capacitive fuel level sensor work?

Accepted Answer

Two concentric metal tubes form a capacitor inside the tank. Diesel sitting between them acts as the dielectric, and because diesel's relative permittivity is about 2.0 to 2.2 against air's 1.0, capacitance rises in proportion to how much of the probe is submerged. An oscillator converts that capacitance to a frequency the electronics read. There are no moving parts, no float and no sliding contact to wear out.

Question 2

Capacitive or ultrasonic — which is better for a diesel tank?

Accepted Answer

Capacitive, in most diesel installations. A capacitive probe is in contact with the fuel and is unaffected by surface turbulence, foam or vapour, which is why it holds accuracy on moving vehicles and vibrating equipment where ultrasonic readings degrade. Ultrasonic's advantage is that it needs no tank penetration, so it suits sealed tanks you cannot drill and installations where an external mount is itself the anti-theft measure. If your tank cannot be penetrated, use our LoRaWAN ultrasonic level sensor instead — this one is a dip stick and has to go into the tank.

Question 3

Does temperature affect a capacitive diesel probe?

Accepted Answer

Far less than most comparison tables claim. Diesel's dielectric constant falls by roughly 0.032% per °F as it warms, while its density falls by roughly 0.033% per °F. The two coefficients very nearly cancel, so the capacitance a probe measures stays substantially stable across the working temperature range. This is specific to hydrocarbon fuels — the same claim would not hold for water or aqueous liquids, which are conductive and behave quite differently.

Question 4

Does biodiesel blending change the readings?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it matters in India. Relative permittivity rises linearly with biodiesel content, so a probe calibrated on neat high-speed diesel will read differently once the tank is filled with a blend. IS 1460 permits up to 7% biodiesel (B7) and India is targeting B5 nationally by 2030. If your fuel supply changes blend, re-run the calibration. Tell us your expected blend when ordering and we will advise on the calibration procedure.

Question 5

What is Exd II C T5, and does my diesel tank need it?

Accepted Answer

It is three separate things. 'Ex d' is a flameproof enclosure, built to contain an internal explosion and stop it propagating outside. 'II C' is the most demanding gas group, covering hydrogen and acetylene, and equipment certified to IIC is acceptable wherever IIB or IIA is required. 'T5' caps the maximum surface temperature at 100 °C. Whether you need it is a separate question — see the next answer.

Question 6

Is a diesel tank actually a hazardous area?

Accepted Answer

Usually not, and you should be sceptical of anyone who tells you otherwise to sell you a certificate. Most grades of diesel have a flash point above 60 °C, which makes them combustible rather than flammable liquids, and petroleum fluids handled below their flash point generally do not create a hazardous area needing zoning. Zoning does apply where diesel is heated above its flash point, pressurised, or can be released as a mist — and it always applies to petrol. The Exd II C T5 design matters when you need that headroom: petrol tanks, heated fuel, and licensed petroleum installations.

Question 7

Do you hold PESO approval for Indian hazardous areas?

Accepted Answer

No, and you should know that before you specify. Macnman does not currently hold PESO certification for this product. The probe is built to an Exd II C T5 flameproof design, but in India equipment entering a classified hazardous area requires PESO approval, and ATEX or IECEx certificates do not substitute for it. In practice most diesel installations are not classified areas at all — see the previous answer — so this rarely blocks a deployment. If your site is a PESO-licensed petroleum installation, tell us at the enquiry stage and we will be straight with you about what we can and cannot supply rather than letting you discover it at commissioning.

Question 8

How accurate is ±1% of full scale on a real tank?

Accepted Answer

±1% of full scale on the standard 1400 mm probe is about ±14 mm of level, with 0.1 mm reading resolution. But the probe is usually the smaller error. Converting level to litres depends on the tank's shape, and a cylindrical or irregular tank converted with a single linear factor can be out by considerably more than the probe's own figure. That is why the sensor should be commissioned against a calibration table rather than one multiplier — see the next answer.

Question 9

How do you calibrate the sensor to a tank's shape?

Accepted Answer

With a calibration or strapping table, not one multiplier. The standard field procedure is to pour in accurately measured volumes in steps of roughly one tenth to one twentieth of the tank's capacity, recording the sensor reading against the cumulative litres at each step. That gives ten to twenty reference points the platform interpolates between, which handles cylindrical, stepped and irregular tanks correctly. The table is built once at commissioning and only needs revisiting if the tank or the fuel blend changes.

Question 10

How do you tell fuel theft from normal consumption?

Accepted Answer

By the shape of the change and by what the genset was doing at the time. Legitimate consumption is a slow, roughly linear fall that correlates with run hours. A refill is a sharp rise. Theft is a sharp fall — typically tens of litres over a few minutes — and the strongest single indicator is level dropping while the generator is off. Set an abnormal-drop threshold and the sensor uplinks the moment it is crossed rather than waiting for the next scheduled report, so the alert arrives while someone is still on site.

Question 11

What causes a capacitive fuel probe to drift?

Accepted Answer

Three things, and we would rather you heard them from us. Water settling at the bottom of a diesel tank is conductive and will affect an uninsulated probe. Bacterial sludge grows at the water and fuel interface and coats the probe, changing what it measures. And the fuel's own dielectric properties shift as a blend ages or changes. The mitigations are straightforward: remove and clean the probe with diesel and a soft brush annually, re-run the calibration if the fuel supply changes, and watch for slow one-directional trends in your dashboard, which are the signature of coating rather than consumption.

Question 12

Will it work with petrol, furnace oil or other liquids?

Accepted Answer

The device is specified and calibrated for diesel. The same capacitive principle works with other non-conductive hydrocarbons such as petrol, kerosene and light oils, but each has a different dielectric constant and therefore needs its own calibration — and petrol is a genuinely hazardous area where the Exd rating becomes necessary rather than optional. Viscous media like furnace oil coat the probe and will need more frequent cleaning. Water and aqueous liquids are conductive and are not what this probe is for; use a hydrostatic or ultrasonic sensor instead.

Question 13

How long does the battery last, and why LoRaWAN rather than GSM?

Accepted Answer

About 2 years at 5-minute reporting, 4 years at 15-minute, and 7 or more years at hourly reporting on the 19 Ah industrial Li-SOCl₂ cell. A 9–36 V DC variant is available where a supply exists. LoRaWAN matters most at unmanned remote sites — telecom towers, mining faces, canal pumps — because there is no SIM, no monthly data cost per device, and one gateway covers kilometres of scattered tanks. For fuel monitoring the reporting rate is usually hourly, which is where the battery figure is at its best.

Question 14

What tank sizes does the 1400 mm probe suit?

Accepted Answer

It is sized for the tanks it is meant for. Generator day tanks, telecom tower reservoirs, skid tanks and equipment saddle tanks typically sit between 600 and 1400 mm of depth, which the standard probe covers directly. Probe length is OEM customisable, so tell us the tank's internal depth when ordering. For bulk storage deeper than the probe range we will point you at a longer OEM probe or a different measurement technology rather than sell you something that cannot reach the bottom.

Question 15

Is the sensor made in India?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Macnman Technologies designs and manufactures the MacSync LCS X1 in Pune, Maharashtra. The device is WPC compliant for legal radio operation in India on the IN865 band, conforms to the RoHS directive, and is supported directly by the engineering team in Indian Standard Time. Because it is built locally, probe lengths and tank fittings can be customised without an import cycle.

MacSync LCS X1 Technical Specifications

Versions

Technology

General Specifications

Interfaces

Chips

LoRaWAN Range

Cloud Platforms

MacSync LCS X1 Dimensions

What's in the Box?

Capacitive Fuel-Level Sensing

Hazardous Area Protection

Installation & Mounting

Wireless Transmission

Battery & Power

Reporting Modes

Device Management

Physical Characteristics

Security & Encryption

Certifications & Compliance