Community Forums

Deerhunter · 01-01-2013, 08:23 PM

I have an 03 Newmar DSDP. While camping at Skidaway State Park in Savannah I noticed that the fresh water, gray & black water holdings tanks all indicate they are empty. All of these tanks have enough in them to read close to half or more.
I checked the wires at the tanks and all seemed to be okay.

Does anyone have a schematic for the wiring or know where I should look next.
Leaving tomorrow for home.
Thanks
Denver

Mr_D · 01-01-2013, 08:39 PM

Did they work at one time and they just quit or what?

Deerhunter · 01-01-2013, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

Did they work at one time and they just quit or what?

Yes they were working when we were camping in November. I filled the fresh water tank before leaving on the 25th of Dec and noticed after 10 minutes of filling it was not registering anything but empty. Knowing our next campground didn't have potable water, I drained the tank. Knowing I could fill the tank at 5 gallons a minute, I allowed 20 minutes for refilling. Again no indication except empty. Of course the other tanks were empty.
After camping all these days I should have an indication on the gray water and black water tanks but they also showed empty.
Any ideas??

okmunky · 01-01-2013, 09:11 PM

Dearhunter,

Pure and simple -- they all lie! And even if they didn't lie, the readings are too vague to be of much help. Someone needs to invent a better way to gauge tank volume status.

CampDaven · 01-01-2013, 09:17 PM

No worries.

I just dump them all every 3 or 4 days.

The guages have lied to me on 3 rigs, 84, 96, 11.

Guages? I dont need no stinking guages!

KSCRUDE · 01-01-2013, 09:18 PM

The fresh water tank on my Newmar is semi transparent and you can open a bay door on the curb side and visually check the level from full to bone dry. The gray and black are black tanks so nothing to see but black.

Mr_D · 01-01-2013, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okmunky

Dearhunter,

Pure and simple -- they all lie! And even if they didn't lie, the readings are too vague to be of much help. Someone needs to invent a better way to gauge tank volume status.

The ones Newmar uses are pretty accurate if adjusted correctly. They use sensor pads mounted on the outside of the tank so they don't gum up at all. Ours still function very well after 10 years but you never will get one gallon readings.

Deerhunter · 01-01-2013, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KSCRUDE

The fresh water tank on my Newmar is semi transparent and you can open a bay door on the curb side and visually check the level from full to bone dry. The gray and black are black tanks so nothing to see but black.

Since we entertain under the awning a lot, we have a 42" TV mounted in that bay. I had to remove it and the pegboard that Newmar outs in there to check the wiring and sensors.
I can't believe all the sensors went bad at one time. Prior to this all tanks on the monitor worked very well.
That's why I was interested to see if anyone had the schematic or the monitor systems.

Deerhunter · 01-06-2013, 06:13 PM

I have to assume no one else has encountered this problem and resolved it.
I contacted Newmar Customer service and they emailed info on the monitoring display system. Unfortunately it didn't cover the system that's installed in my coach by Newmar.
I searched KIB Electronics' website who makes most of the units that Newmar uses but was unable to find any info on my unit.
Thanks to all who offered advice. The system is a good system that can be depended on for the info needed. It has worked well for 9 years and I'm looking forward to using it again.
I'll try some other RV Forums on the Internet. There has to be some troubleshooting or schematics out there somewhere.

"007" · 01-06-2013, 06:29 PM

Denver, the one thing that is common to your display is the ground wire that feeds the system.
I would start at the 12v fuse panel that feeds the tank display system.
Mine is easy my panel is in the bedroom along side my 110 load center box.
Its necessary at times to check the wiring on the ground buss for 12 volts and tighten the screws that hold the white ground wires because they can loosen up from road vibrations while traveling.
The same goes for all wiring in your load center, TS Box, and battery cables on chassis frame and batteries. Stranded wiring will flatten out and lose there holding power under the screw termination.
If that does not help than you may have to drop the display panel out of its cabinet and check the wiring spade clips on their terminations in back of display board.
loose wires will happen it has on all my coach's over the years.

Deerhunter · 01-06-2013, 06:42 PM

Thanks 007! Best advice I've had so far. I finally figured out that the ground is the only common wire between the sensors so I'm on a ground wire chase to the finish. I've checked the fuse located as your is and hadn't thought of the grounds and spade connectors getting loose until you mentioned it. Now I have some new paths to cover. I really like the display system and depend on it when staying multiple days at State Parks. I'm determined to get it back operating again.
Thanks very much for your advice and experience.