2020 Classic 33 SeeLevel II accuracy test

[ghaynes755]

So with time on my hands at Hart Ranch in Rapid City SD I decided to check the accuracy of the SeeLevel II tank monitor. I've found the fresh water tank to be nearly spot on when I fill it and check with my digital flow/qty meter.

Today I wanted to check the grey water tank. Always a bit suspect on the readings. I hooked up to city water, flow rate was about 1.2 gals/min. Attached to the kitchen sink by removing the spray head and using a Water Bandit to attach the flow meter.

Dumped the grey tank. Checked the meter with the first gallon into a measuring can and it was off slightly but not by much. Proceeded to fill the grey tank capturing the actual gallons vs the readout on the SeeLevel monitor. The grey tank is spec'd at 37 gallons. Trailer level front to back, side to side.

Percent on SeeLevel Actual Gal
10 7.3
20 jumped from about 18% to 30%
30 10.5
40 12.2
50 13.6
60 17
70 18.5
80 22.2
90 23.6
100 25.6


Once at 100% I continued to fill. The sink stopped draining water at 32.6 gal.

I took a gallon in the measuring container to the bathroom. The bathroom sink would not take but about a cup of water before stopping.

Poured the rest into the shower and it didn't take any water.

Conclusions:
1. Sensor alignment added to my fall warranty items. SeeLevel uses inductive capacitance strips that mount to the side of the tank. The usual test for mounting is to fill the tank to 10% or so below full and then align the strip for 100% at that level. I had the re-install the SeeLevel strips on my old Classic and know that they can be nearly dead accurate at the fuller end of the scale.

2. What the heck. 32.6 gals in a 37 gallon tank? 88% of specification capacity. Something doesn't sound right since my fresh water tank will fill from empty right up to 57 gallons/spec.

3. 100% on the gauge is really 69% of spec capacity and 78% of actual capacity.

Your mileage my vary since the various tanks are of different heights. SeeLevel loves deep tanks, not so much shallow tanks.

But the system is by far better than the old MicroPulse (not) system.

Didn't test the black tank. I usually run out of fresh water long before I need to dump the black tank. Have yet to see the warning light come on for the Dometic monitor.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

A *lot* of this is dependent on exactly how your trailer is leveled. An inch at the wheels can give you a 10 or 20% change in any of the tank readings. The same is true of front to back level.

One example:

When we pulled out of the last campsite, fresh water was below 10%. At this campsite it's above 20%. Indeed we did *use* water in-between those two readings ....

Bob

[ghaynes755]

Agreed since the inductance strips, at least in the past, are attached to the outboard end of the tanks.

[SSquared]

Gary, what flow meter do you use?

It would be interesting to repeat the test with the trailer intentionally tilted a bit, to see if you get the full amount of water into the tank.

[ghaynes755]

Squared I have a https://www.amazon.com/GARDENA-WATER...8656561&sr=8-8


Don't know that tilting would be a valid test. Trailer is parked level and towed pretty level. On my previous motorhome I had 100 gallons of water. But would lose some of that through the over fill port sloshing down the road. That doesn't seem to happen with the AS since the overflow is up much higher.

[crispyboy]

When I installed the See-Level system on my 89' AS trailer the strips came in a size that were smaller than the tank height.
Fresh water - I mounted the strip closer to the bottom as I wanted to know when the tank would be empty.
Grey and Black tanks - I mounted the strips closer to the top as I wanted to know when the tanks were full.
I hope you report back your findings when your warranty items get fixed. I would be curious to know if the systems level strips were skewed on the tank or if there is incorrect sized tanks.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

At every campsite we set up at, we level the trailer. We get it as close as the blocks will allow us to get. There is no "crazy off level" if the crew is going to be sleeping at the site. Despite that, there *is* a significant change in the tank level readings between sites.

Bob