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DMT · 05-28-2012, 05:09 PM

The black water sensor in my 2011 27'FB has never worked from day one. I've read all the pertinent info on the forum I could find, finally arriving at the .pdf instructions to recalibrate the offending sensor.

The recalibration sequence proceeds as per the instructions until the step to toggle the status switch when the black tank is full. After I do this the LED illuminates red, indicating the sensor failed calibration. The MicroPulse manual then instructs the user to turn off the monitor and repeat the calibration. I have done this several times with the same result. OK, I can live with a faulty black tank sensor, but my problem is the MicroPulse monitor will not exit from the calibration mode. Nothing I have tried will put it back to the way it was before - every time I turn it on it is in calibration mode. Can anyone help?

Don

Alumitater · 06-09-2012, 06:32 AM

I had a similar problem with our black water tank sensor, and was attempting the re-calibration drill. I found the instructions a bit confusing, so I called the manufacturer and asked for help. One of the employees got on the line and actually led the through the process right on the phone while I performed the calibration. They were super helpful, and I bet they would do the same for you. Hope that is helpful.

SeeMore · 06-09-2012, 07:33 AM

Interesting dilemma and one I would find somewhat encouraging. Our monitoring system hasn't worked at all during our ownership despite having tried everything short of complete removal. I've come to believe they are just decoration units for the wall.

Ahab · 06-09-2012, 07:49 AM

Hmmm...after I did the calibration ours has been working fine.

Bruce B · 06-09-2012, 07:50 AM

We had issues when we first purchased our Bambi. Everything worked for a couple of weeks then it began to go wonky. After recalibrating several times with no good results I called the manufacturer and had a talk about what I could really expect. They assured me that the units do indeed work well but that sometimes there are several easy to correct problems that need to be addressed.
Ours had a bad sensor on the fresh water tank. I was told to look carefully at the connections at the sensors as this is a common source of problems too. Once I had the sensor replaced and the wire ends cleaned and re-snapped in, I carefully went through the calibration procedure (I actually measured water in 3 gallon buckets and knew exactly where I was in the filling of the tanks).
After this everything works perfectly! They are accurate and thus far problem free...
Bruce

SailorSteve · 06-09-2012, 09:23 AM

We had a similar problem and symptoms and wasted a lot of water and time trying to recalibrate after replacing the fresh water sensor. We had our unit over at the Mothership for other repair issues and asked them to do what they could.
They found that there was corrosion on the terminals at both ends of the cable for the fresh water. I had examined the terminals earlier but the corrosion was not visible. The techs replaced the terminals and then the system would calibrate and has been working fine for the past five months. They told me when I asked them to work on the system that they'd do what they could but would give no guarantee of success or that it would continue to work.
Steve Barth at CatCon told me that corrosion was a frequent problem. If the system goes wacky on us again, I think I'll start by replacing terminal ends. Of course getting to the terminal ends for the sensors is a real challenge. :-(
Good luck!
Steve

DMT · 06-11-2012, 04:54 AM

Thanks for the tips. AS are sending me a new black tank sensor along with instructions for installation and calibration. Looking under the trailer it appears the tank and sensor are covered by a galvanized belly pan. Not sure how to access the sensor but hopefully this will be explained when the package arrives. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Don

Bruce B · 06-11-2012, 05:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMT

Thanks for the tips. AS are sending me a new black tank sensor along with instructions for installation and calibration. Looking under the trailer it appears the tank and sensor are covered by a galvanized belly pan. Not sure how to access the sensor but hopefully this will be explained when the package arrives. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Don

I found it interesting to speak to the manufacturer of the system. They had some useful information and I'd suggest that after you get the new parts and have decided exactly what you need to do to install them, you call MicroPulse for a quick heads up.....
Bruce

DMT · 06-13-2012, 07:19 PM

I was able to contact Catcon and the instruction to get the MicroPulse Monitor out of calibration mode are as follows:

Turn the power on. All LEDs will light green signaling "Ready for Calibration"
Toggle the status switch one time . The unit will light green for all installed functions, and the bottom LED will light green. This signals the unit is in diagnostic mode.
Toggle the status switch one time. As soon as the 1/8 LED is illuminated toggle the status switch four times in a row.
The display will go blank, and then start-up in normal mode.

I did this and sure enough the monitor is back in normal mode. Still have the problem with the black tank always reading empty but the new sensor en route from AS will hopefully fix that.

Don

robinndi · 03-15-2013, 05:55 PM

I followed the instructions in the previous post, glad to have found a way out of calibration mode. But for me starting in calibration mode, all green. One push gets to the dead sensor display which correctly indicates that I have two dead sensors ( top two leds are yellow, fresh water & grey water ). According to the previous post, one more push should get should show the 1/8 LED. Instead, mine jumps straight to 1/4 LED. Then four pushes does not seem to work to exit calibration mode. Fiddling around, without filling the black water tank (the one that works), I end up with the black water led red indicating that calibration failed and remain stuck in calibration mode!

I also followed the "selecting a single tank for calibration" which mentions a two-second delay between "select tank" and "ready for empty", but I see no such delay and no opportunity to select just one tank for calibration or give 4 pushes and exit calibration.

My real problem is the water pump does not work and has no 12 VDC at its in-line fuse. And that 12 VDC would seem to come from the pump switch on the MicroPulse panel. Does Calibration mode disable 12VDC to the pump?

I gather from the manual that there is a RJ11 connector at the sensor end. It is hard to imagine an RJ11 connector operating successfully for any reasonable period in the hostile environment of the underpan with not much between it road water and road salt. RJ11's are intended for use in household conditions. From the previous comments, Airstream techs don't have much confidence that the system can be reliable. Why don't they tell the factory! Mine lasted just 12 months from new!

DMT · 03-16-2013, 05:26 AM

Call Catcon. When they finally answered the phone I found them very helpful. Maybe they can get you out of this.

Don

Jammer · 03-16-2013, 06:47 AM

The system as a whole is unreliable and requires ongoing fiddling to keep working. I've had wiring problems, failed sensors, and calibration problems. Most of the problems have involved the wastewater holding tanks.

robinndi · 03-18-2013, 07:53 AM

I will call Catcon (when I made the post it was 5pm Friday).

Re Shurflo pump not working. I pulled the Catcon panel and saw that the pump switch is located with the level indicators, but circuit-wise is nothing to do with it except the level indicator gets its +12VDC from the wiper of the switch. When the switch was was in the on position, I did indeed get 12V at the pump fuse.

Eventually I removed the pump, disassembled it ( removed the pressure switch and the cover on the diaphragms ) then applied power and exercised the diaphragm switch but still the pump refused to go. I decided the pump electronics must be broken and started putting it back together. Due to finger trouble, at some point, I dropped the pump on the floor, the diaphragm partially released from the housing and the pump sprung to life, jumping around the floor of the trailer! I pushed the pressure switch to stop it, pulled the fuse, then reassembled the whole thing. It is now working.

I don't know if it is normal but the pump starts very slowly seeming as though it might not make it, but it seems to. I did a few test runs by turning the pump on and off and opening the cold tap and it seems to work.

Was this some kind of air lock whereby removing the diaphragm fixed it?

We shall see.

mefly2 · 03-18-2013, 09:05 AM

Sounds like that might be the pump issue ...

KJRitchie · 03-21-2013, 04:31 AM

I'm looking at a preowned 2008 25fb. I was playing around with the monitor panel and I probably didn't understand it very well so I downloaded the manual from Catcon. I notice there is a normal mode and a detailed mode.

What I noticed on this particular AS is after playing around with the monitor panel I moved away and continued looking around the trailer but when I came back into the kitchen area all the lights on the monitor panels were flashing. I can't find anything in the manual to indicate this is that way its supposed to work after turning the power on and leaving it. Is it supposed to flash in normal mode. It's kind of irritating seeing it flash.

Thanks

Kelvin

Bruce B · 03-21-2013, 05:34 AM

I am going to retract my earlier post!
After re-calibrating many times, replacing multiple sensors, the display, the wiring between the panel and the sensors and re-calibrating several times on this trip I am giving up on the Catcon MicroPulse system.

In all fairness the black water tank sensor made it 11 months before the sensor failed but I have had continual fresh water tank issues. The black water tank sensor is installed about 2 inches above the floor so every time I rinse the tank (during and certainly after each outing) the sensor is allowed to dry out resulting in a cholesterol like plugging of the hole and thus a failure.
I clean my tanks!

We were at Alumolina and I began asking who's modern trailer had a 100% MicroPulse system. All I got was stares and complaints about the thing. One member of the rally who works as a mechanic for a large Airstream dealer said "forget it"!

While at Colonial for the 1 year anniversary I had a frank discussion about the reliability if the system and my conclusion is that it is coming out of the trailer!!!!
If I have something one of my rules is that it has to work! They had horror stories too..

I gave it my best try. I worked to understand the system, to be sure I was calibrating correctly, learned about temperature sensitivity of the sensors and I spoke at length to Steve at Catcon. I am sure I am missing something on the water tank issue but after 4 sensors, a new cable and a new control head (replaced when an led burned out) with no better than about one month working before it lost calibration or out and out refused to read anything I give up.

i will now begin looking for a replacement system. I'll let you know what I find.
Bruce

robinndi · 03-21-2013, 06:56 AM

Catcon were helpful by email in at least understanding my difficulty in getting out of calibration mode. The initial post here mentioning how do this said one needs to be in the 1/8 position. Mine jumps directly to the 1/4 position and then the 4 pushes trick does not work.

It turns out that this is expected behavior. The 1/8 position is for "Select tank" and the 1/4 position for calibrate. If there are two sensors dead ( as mine) the software does not stop at the "Select tank" and goes directly to calibrate ( the one remaining tank). The four pushes trick ONLY works in when "select tank" is lit. Consequently, there is NO WAY out of calibrate mode if two sensors are dead.

Catcon offered to send me two new sensors and a short cable so that I could temporarily have more than one good sensor. Then I could exit calibration mode and then at my convenience replace the sensors in the tanks that don't work.

Just now I am on the road and not in one place too long so it will just have to wait.

I shall follow with interest the previous poster's quest for a replacement tank monitoring system.

dlb435 · 03-21-2013, 07:44 AM

My black water sensor doesn't work either. Fixed it twice before I just gave up. Now I just look down the toilet when I flush. Works fine and cost nothing.

SeeMore · 03-22-2013, 04:49 AM

I am able to maintain and repair every other system in my trailer without issue. Each year, my routine involves a detail system by system inspection and servicing before the travel season as nothing bugs me more than an unnecessary failure while I am vacationing. Despite my best efforts which includes ensuring all contacts are good and packed with dielectric grease, keeping this particular annoyance operable remains fruitless. Dlb435 and I are in the same club as a majority of owners.

Bruce B · 03-22-2013, 05:03 AM

I have decided to chanje out the Catcom system for one made made by Garnet Instruments. SeeLeveL Gauges by Garnet Instruments Ltd. - Model 709-P3

The sensors attach to the outside of the tanks and should not be impacted by the same issues standard sensors are.

I am purchasing the system directly from the manufacturer and it should be here next week. I will post pictures of the installation and report back here on my success or failure.

Wish me luck!
Bruce