Waste Tank indicators - mystery

[Audrey & John]

I've heard that tank indicators are pretty unreliable, so I shouldn't be surprised at what we are seeing.

Our previous RV - a tiny 17ft Casita - had a 15 gal black tank and a 25 gal grey tank. We had no waste tank indicators at all. You just learned from "experience" .

On our Alpine, the black tank indicator seems to be way off. After dumping it shows empty. But after just adding the initial 2 or 3 gallons of water to the tank it registers 1/4 full already - impossible! It's a 78 gallon tank for goodness sake.

After 9 days the black tank indicated full - what!?!. The grey water tank, however, never got above 1/2 full.

We don't believe the indicators. On our little Casita it would take 5 days or more to fill the 15 gallon black tank enough where we needed to dump it. The grey water tank would fill more quickly unless we were frugal in our water usage. So we are quite familiar with our water usage patterns.

Theoretically, given the tank capacities, there should be no way that the black tank is full before the grey water tank is full. We know from our Casita experience that the grey water tank fills first - grey water usage is always higher.

So far we've gone 9 days between dumps. Seems like (based on the grey water indicator) we should be able to go longer and I guess we'll just have to ignore the black tank full indicator until we start to see liquid at the bottom of the pipe from the toilet into the black tank (or 14 days, whichever occurs first).

Given our experience so far think we "should" be able to go 14 days between dumps - or at least until the grey tank is full. I guess we'll see if we can get the grey water tank to ever indicate 3/4 or more full.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Audrey

P.S. Sorry for the long and rambling post!

[Audrey & John]

I've heard that tank indicators are pretty unreliable, so I shouldn't be surprised at what we are seeing.

Our previous RV - a tiny 17ft Casita - had a 15 gal black tank and a 25 gal grey tank. We had no waste tank indicators at all. You just learned from "experience" .

On our Alpine, the black tank indicator seems to be way off. After dumping it shows empty. But after just adding the initial 2 or 3 gallons of water to the tank it registers 1/4 full already - impossible! It's a 78 gallon tank for goodness sake.

After 9 days the black tank indicated full - what!?!. The grey water tank, however, never got above 1/2 full.

We don't believe the indicators. On our little Casita it would take 5 days or more to fill the 15 gallon black tank enough where we needed to dump it. The grey water tank would fill more quickly unless we were frugal in our water usage. So we are quite familiar with our water usage patterns.

Theoretically, given the tank capacities, there should be no way that the black tank is full before the grey water tank is full. We know from our Casita experience that the grey water tank fills first - grey water usage is always higher.

So far we've gone 9 days between dumps. Seems like (based on the grey water indicator) we should be able to go longer and I guess we'll just have to ignore the black tank full indicator until we start to see liquid at the bottom of the pipe from the toilet into the black tank (or 14 days, whichever occurs first).

Given our experience so far think we "should" be able to go 14 days between dumps - or at least until the grey tank is full. I guess we'll see if we can get the grey water tank to ever indicate 3/4 or more full.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Audrey

P.S. Sorry for the long and rambling post!

[gamaca015]

Not sure what your coach has but our 99 Alpine has a way to calibrate the idicator. Basically you fill the tank up all the way then turn a little adjuster to indicate "full". You should have a manual.

[Mike & Nancy]

Audrey.....Here calibration for our 04 Alpine

Monitor Panel Measurement and Calibration
2004 Alpine Coach 36 MDDS
Serial # 74905



Measurement:

To measure the level of a tank, simply push button on the display panel corresponding to the tank you wish to measure. The lights on the panel will turn on in sequence, indicating the level of the tank.


Calibration:

Your monitoring panel comes to you factory calibrated for accuracy and should not need to be adjusted, but in the event that the system does not read accurately, recalibration may be necessary. The procedure for re-calibration is simple; first fill the tank to be re-calibrated. Second, using the adjustment tool (or any small flat-bladed screw driver), simultaneously push the button for that tank and rotate the adjustment located above the button and behind the face plate counterclockwise until some of the lights turn off in sequence. Then slowly rotate the adjustment clockwise until the FULL light is completely on. Repeat this procedure as necessary for the remaining tanks. The system is now calibrated correctly.


Mike

[Trehcub]

I have a 2002 Alpine and got tired of not being able to trust the gauges. I changed to a sealevel gauge by Garnet Technolgies.
They use a radio wave gauge system that reads thru the tank wall. There is no calibration besided cutting the lenght of the strips and attaching them to the tanks. i have had no problems with this sytem and can trust what my gauges are saying. They normall have a booth at FMCA.

[Cedar41]

There should be a tool to calibrate. I think you do all of them when they are empty. Not sure about the fresh water. There is a plug () right above the button on the panelthat pulls out and you you use a tiny screw driver in it to make the lights agree with your empty. But, ours still does not work right, so not so sure how much this information helps you. We plan to address this again when we return.

["007"]

I have always calibrated my tanks after three or four days of camping, with three ladies in house doesn't take to long especially two being teenagers.
What I check for is tanks filling up, gray tank back fills into shower, look down thru toilet with flashlite for black tanks, have two on this rv. Has worked for 13 RV's. --"007"

[Audrey & John]

OK thanks! We found the screws, so we know how to calibrate now.

We were missing the documentation on the monitor panel so didn't have a clue. I've requested the documentation - we had a very few missing manuals but that was one of them.

Audrey

[Lindenberg]

Anyone know where I can get a copy of the manual that accompanies the monitor panel that came with the 2000 Alpines? My main interest is getting the wiring connection diagram.

[takepride]

Tom and Laurel:

Have you tried getting a copy of your wiring diagram from WRV?

[Lindenberg]

I'll give them a call tomorrow.

[Barbaraok]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Audrey & John:
OK thanks! We found the screws, so we know how to calibrate now.

We were missing the documentation on the monitor panel so didn't have a clue. I've requested the documentation - we had a very few missing manuals but that was one of them.

Audrey </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't be surprised if this doesn't work. I recalibrated the black tank and it now seems to work pretty well. I've given up on the grey tank. I've tried and tried recalibrating it, but I can never get it to give an accurate indication. Just dump when the black indicates it is close to full or when it backs up in the shower, which ever comes first.

[dgerstel]

For those of you who dry camp and want good gauges, I would highly recommend the sealevel gauge by Garnet Technolgies. I have tired others and was not that happy with them. These are easy to install and require no calibration. The stock ones are OK for those times when you are not using the tanks "close to the limits." I love mine. You can get them from Vagabondwater here.

http://www.vagabondwater.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=produ...ls&view_productID=26

Dale

[Jim A]

I second what Dale said. I also got the SeeLevel gauge from Vagabondwater, and I am very happy with it. I also highly recommend it. The original tank sensors had come lose from the black tank and never would have indicated full.

The gauge shows the levels in 3-4% increments. No more guessing how much water is left in the fresh water tank after the 1/4 light goes out. The black and gray tanks have never been above about 50% full even after a week. I trust the indicated levels.

The only calibration is for the propane sensor. And that wasn't even necessary since it showed the correct 100% when I filled the tank.

If you dry camp, I think they are well worth the money. I installed it myself without having a wiring diagram from WRV. I can give you the color codes from my '04 if it does you any good.