System Monitor vs. Reality (black water)!

[tomorevam]

In our 19' International (2008) the monitor says the blk water nearly empty, but we've been camping for 4 days and flushing a lot & now the toilet doesn't flush (bowl fills but doesn't empty). We've also hooked into to city water so I'm thinking the monitor may exclude what happens to the tanks when hooked to city water. We're new to trailering so maybe it's just a matter of learning what to expect???

Any help/advice appreciated. Thanks.

Tom

[RLS]

I have given up on the system monitor. It is nothing but junk! JMHO Now with that being said, you need to look visually down at the opening of the toilet when flushing to see how full it is. That is the only sure way to know how full it is getting.

[tomorevam]

Bob, thanks for your feedback. I agree that the monitor is not accurate -- water holding tank, grey, black -- with the possible exception of battery. Have you considered replacing the monitor with another device??

Tom M.

[eubank]

We've seen lots and lots of problems with these monitors across many different RVs here. Usually, it's a matter of having dirty sensors within the tank(s), but there are other problems that appear as well.

For sensors in less than fresh environments, one fix we've passed on is to add a big bag of ice along with a little water, then to take a nice, bumpy ride. The ice knocks off the gunk and melts. But there are other remedies as well.

Oh, and welcome to the forums, Tom!


Lynn

[steverino]

I've found that I can trust mine a lot more since I recalibrted mine. I read on the forum somewhere that the factory does not actually calibrate each unit upon assembly, they just load a profile according to the model. It's possible they loaded the wrong profile, and a recalibrate may help.

[dznf0g]

I agree with Steverino. I recalibrated mine last year and it is consistently....um....off. What I mean is, I can't seem to get them calibrated where they are correct for the entire range from empty to full. A half tank indication may actually be 3/4 full, for example. BUT, I have them where empty is pretty empty and full is pretty full. I just have gotten used to the actual in between reading vs. actual level and it's no big deal. It did take me pretty much an entire afternoon to get the recalibration where I could live with it; and wasted a lot of water.

[TBRich]

Originally Posted by tomorevam

In our 19' International (2008) the monitor says the blk water nearly empty, but we've been camping for 4 days and flushing a lot & now the toilet doesn't flush (bowl fills but doesn't empty). We've also hooked into to city water so I'm thinking the monitor may exclude what happens to the tanks when hooked to city water. We're new to trailering so maybe it's just a matter of learning what to expect???

Any help/advice appreciated. Thanks.

Tom

Hey Tom...welcome to the forums! Oh the misery of tank monitors.

A few comments: If you are filling your bowl with water each time you use it, the holding tank will certainly fill up in no time at all. You don't need to put a lot of water in the bowl before using it. And if it is not emptying when you flush, you are VERY FULL and you need to dump your black tank at the earliest opportunity. It if gets so full that the bowl won't empty you are beyond "full," and I wouldn't use it any further until it's emptied.

Also, being connected to city water does not alter the way the monitors work ... the monitoring system does not care if you are hooked up to city water or not.

We have been fairly lucky with our monitors. Our grey water monitor is a bit flakey but we have learned what to expect from it. If the grey water holding tank gets too full it wil back up in to the shower.

Good luck with getting it figured out and/or recalibrated.

[withidl]

I calibrated the monitors on my 2002 ASCL 31' a year or so after purchase in June of 2001 (if memory serves me correctly they were not that far off from the factory) and have found them to be consistantly fairly accurate. After use I always empty the black and grey tanks, add dissolved pool shock (chlorine), fill both tanks with water, let them fester for about 10 minutes, then drain and flush twice to remove the chlorine.