Community Forums

traveler of california · 11-12-2014, 02:31 PM

My gauges have been working perfectly for the first 3 months of ownership but the gray water tank now will measure 1/3 full when emptied. I figured I might have a problem with the black water tank, but not the gray water tank. Any suggestions for correcting/cleaning the gauge monitor?

luvlabs · 11-13-2014, 03:52 PM

Same response that you got from TRVN - either ignore them or add SeaLevel guages. You will never get the tanks clean enough to make them accurate.

traveler of california · 11-13-2014, 06:55 PM

That was a friendly response.

gemini5362 · 11-13-2014, 10:30 PM

Luvlabs actually gave you great advice. I have tried every known trick i could find to get my tank gauges to work on the coach I bought used. This was after having the same guages In my 5th wheel that I bought new. The result was the same after a few months of use in my case it was the black tank. It would read half or 3/4 full when i finished emptying it and using the built in cleaning jack. I tried the fill it with 50 pounds of ice and driving down a big mountain with a lot of curves. I tried the various cleaners etc. Nothing worked. I was at a tiffin rally and there was a mobile tech there installing sea level II gauges. I think he installed 20+ sets in the week he was there. I wanted a set but he had sold out. I watched him install them and realized i could do that so I bought a set and it took me since i did not know what i was doing about an hour. He did it in about 30 min. I have had my see level gauges for a year and a half and they are still working great. The new ones in my 5th wheel lasted about 3 months. Other advantages to see level ( besides the fact they work) is the sensor is on the outside of the tank so nothing to contaminate it in the tank. The guages read in 6 per cent increments. So you know when your black tank is 6 per cent full or 12 per cent or maybe 86 per cent full instead of somewhere between 3/4 and full. Also the see level gauges are a digital signal which only needs two wires to go to the monitor. If you put it near the old one you can use a couple of the wires from your old monitor to wire it to and not have to run new wiring. The last thing I love about it is since it is a digital signal you can run more than one monitor. I have one in the coach where the old one was and then I have one in my wet bay. When i am filling up the fresh tanks I can monitor them right there at the connection instead of having to go in and out of my coach watching to make sure i do not over fill. I know that everyone i have ever met that had the original guages had problems with them pretty quickly after starting to use them. I realize that did not answer your question about what to do about cleaning them but i do not beliieve there is a good answer to how to clean them that works.

traveler of california · 11-14-2014, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by luvlabs

Same response that you got from TRVN - either ignore them or add SeaLevel guages. You will never get the tanks clean enough to make them accurate.

l was referring to the "same response that you got on TRVN - really unnecessary as I had read that and double posted here to expand the knowledge base.

Just seemed like an unnecessary way to phrase a response since I assume the lists exist to help and his response was flippant. Yours on the other hand was thorough useful.

luvlabs · 11-15-2014, 08:57 AM

Nick,
Just call them like I see them. You can expand your knowledge base by posting across forums but not when the answer is going to be the same. I suppose you could do this, get hundreds of answers, and pick the one you like but that is kind of like the QC system that repeats the test until the product passes.

This is one of those subjects that gets posted every month or so (you should try search) and the answer is always the same - factory gauges are bad, you will never get the tanks clean enough, and SeeLevel and other aftermarket systems are really the best solution.

So sorry if I annoyed you but I did give you the correct answer.

gemini5362 · 11-15-2014, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by traveler of california

l was referring to the "same response that you got on TRVN - really unnecessary as I had read that and double posted here to expand the knowledge base.

Just seemed like an unnecessary way to phrase a response since I assume the lists exist to help and his response was flippant. Yours on the other hand was thorough useful.

Thank You,
If you decide to buy them and want to install them yourself it is really not a hard job. I have a 2005 Allegro Bus. Like I said in my earlier post it took me and my friend about an hour. You have to run the wires between the circuit boards that stick to the outside of the tanks. Then run them over the tanks to the wet bay ( A close hanger will help with this job unless you have the correct tool for fishing wires.) I two of the wires going to the original sensors and did not have to run wires into the coach. The professional that did it at the rally cut a hole the size of the monitor in the middle of the old display panel. I had a lot of room so I just cut a new hole in the panel. Look on the back of the old monitor get the two sensor wires ( color coded) that you used to hook up the new sensors. Take the +12 volt wire, negative wire and LPG gas sensor wire move them to the new monitor panel and then calibrate it. The instructions are well written and easy to follow.