Gauges not registering accurately

[gregshade]

After reading different threads maybe I am beating a dead horse but is it possible to get gauges working?

Currently my 2007 25FB black water is 100% regardless of amount full. I have done 3 GEO treatments while traveling along with 8-10 fill and flushes. No change.

The gray water reads 75% when empty. When full it reads 100%. Done several heavy Dawn soap flush and fills. No change. This is the one I would like to fix as it’s hard to manually tell how full I am. At least with the black tank I can look down the toilet.

What should I try next?

[Tim A.]

I believe you have the tank gauge system that relies on pressure sensors in the tank. Even if you would be successful in getting them calibrated and/or reading right, they would soon stop functioning correctly.

As far as I know, only the SeeLevel system comes anywhere close to giving consistent, accurate readings because the sensors are mounted on the outside of the tank. Is the system perfect? No, but much better than any of the others. It is possible to retrofit to the SeeLevel system. I just did so last year for our 2002 19' after previously (a number of years ago) changing to the pressure sensors . That's why I know how poorly the pressure sensors work.

Tim

[GMFL]

Tim is correct. The micro pulse system you have for monitoring tank levels relies on pressure sensors to read the liquid level the tanks. This system is not accurate at all and even with multiple calibrations and cleaning your results will likely not be any better than they currently are.
The SeeLevel system work by attaching a long sensor to the side of the tank and can measure the tank liquid levels very accurately and more importantly, with repeatable consistency.
I swapped my system from the Micro Pulse to the SeeLevel system last year and have never looked back. Install is fairly straight forward and you can use the existing wiring.

[Rich W]

In my 2006 23' the black tank sensor is not working. I've checked the connection and there is a broken tine inside the phone jack plug. I took the sensor out (located right at the end of the black tank drain) and it's not looking too good either. The replacement is around $50. We just use visual

The gray tank sensor works, somewhat. I can tell when it's getting full so I drag out the blue boy tote and draw it down. I've done some resets but it's never really worked well.

The fresh water tank sensor stopped just shortly after we bought the AS. Since we rarely are anywhere that we need to use it, I don't worry about it. I think they have to cut a hole in the belly pan for that one, but I'm not sure.

[sallye]

Our sensors seem to work sometimes and not others. But even a stopped clock is right twice a day, so . . . .


We just have learned how long it takes to fill the grey and black tanks and act accordingly. We always camp at places with full hookups and just leave the grey tank open so it empties constantly, and then we empty and flush out the black tank every "n" days. To save a bit of gas we travel with little water in the water tank - just enough to used the facilities once or twice while in route.



This works for us, but we never boondock.

[awkirch]

This is great information. I have been struggling with the micro-pulse system in our 2007 Safari 25FB since we bought it. I am on the website to order the SeeLevel 709-P3 system, but it asks for the length of the sensor strips that I want. It comes with 12" strips standard, but you can request 6" or 16". How do I know which size to use for the 25FB? Thanks a lot

[Tim A.]

You need to know the height of each of the three tanks and order the appropriate length sensors. Sounds onerous, but it will help you know how to get to the relevant sides of the tanks for the eventual installation.

Tim

[awkirch]

Thanks, Tim. So, I tried to get under my trailer (no easy task at my age and agility level). The black and grey tanks seem to be fully enclosed by a belly pan. I can't see any access to the tanks themselves, nor do I see any sensor wires. Fresh water tank is visible, but again, no obvious sensor wires. Is the SeeLevel retrofit something that I am going to have to get done at a service center?

[Tim A.]

You might well want to have the installation done for you, if you aren't handy with tools or if the process might be physically too challenging.

Our 19' trailer has the fresh water tank completely inside so it was easy to manage. Our black water tank is accessible from inside the trailer with effort. The external cover on our gray water tank has a riveted-on access panel, so a bit of initial drilling and post-install re-riveting took care of that.

Others have used the telephone-type wiring from the micropulse system (by pairing up the 4 wires). I ran new wires in our trailer. I also installed a relay for the new water pump switch because our pump draws too much current for the switch on the SeeLevel panel.

Tim

[SMKovalchik]

Nope. 45 yrs of RVing and have NEVER found working, let alone accurate, gages. Black tanks, dump on Sunday and Wed. No worries.