Community Forums

ABrask · 03-03-2022, 10:21 AM

Turning to the experts…. New 2022 Aspire 44B with VegaTouch. Fresh water and Black tank sensors work perfectly. Grey water was working fine, but stopped indicating any fill a week ago. I’m used to dealing with sensors that won’t clear after a dump, but not sensors that won’t indicate as the tank fills. I’ve rebooted the VegaTouch/Firefly with no change. I’m thinking there must be a control box of some kind that interprets the sensor input and feeds the VegaTouch screen the signal to display the fill percentage, but I have no idea where this might be located. Thinking there could also be a loose connection of the wires from the Grey tank sensors themselves, although I should mention the failure occurred while the coach was sitting still. Any information or assistance would be appreciated. TIA, Alan

Gary.Jones · 03-03-2022, 10:36 AM

Well, back in the old days (18-19), volume was sensed by metal strips glued to the side of the tank and they frequently fell off. I think it is a different system now and may not be dependent on that type of fragile metal sensor.

The fix on the old system was just glue or tape the sensor back on the tank.

GARY

brobox · 03-03-2022, 10:56 AM

The sensors have not worked properly since Firefly switched to their own sensors on 2020 coaches. Check to see that you have the current update of 1.4.18. If you do, call Firefly and be at the outside monitoring panel in the wet bay. Firefly will have you go through the test procedure to analyze the problem. They had me replace the sensors but it is still sporadic. They are a simple screw in to replace.

derba · 03-03-2022, 11:09 AM

I had the same issue. The sensors are now ultrasonic screw in sensors. Supposedly, the 'plumbness' of the tank itself is a factor. Firefly initally wanted me to verify that the tank wasn't installed on an angle.. if you will.

I played along, 'verified' for level, then they updated the little panel in the basement right at the water tank, then, finally, after none of that fixed it (of course), sent me a new sensor. I removed and replaced and, imagine that, it worked!

The sensors don't seem to be the most robust.

Archer2 · 03-03-2022, 11:15 AM

Hi Alan. I (unfortunately) have some recent experience with this, at least as far as where things are and how they work.
The sensors themselves are mounted in holes about 1 inch diameter on the side of each tank near the bottom. If you remove the access cover in the wet bay you can see them. Each of them has a twisted pair of wires that are spliced to individual orange RV-C cables. The sensors work what is on basically sonar. There are 4 sensors total (1 fresh, 1 gray and 2 black).
The sensor cables go across the vehicle and end up in the compartment that is just inboard of the big 12V disconnects in the 4th or 5th basement compartment on the passenger side. The cover is secured with screws and Velcro. In the attached pic the actual module that controls the sensors and interfaces with the VegaTouch CANBUS network is circled in red.
My advice would be to first, identify the gray tank and locate the sensor. Follow the wires and make sure they are securely crimped to the long, orange wire.
If that isn’t successful you could try cycling the power by accessing the compartment in the pic. Then locate the circled circuit board and trace the single orange cable that is plugged into it. Carefully disconnect that orange cable from the board (it’s connected with a tiny 4 conductor plug and is a little fragile). Wait a couple of minutes and then reconnect. You can’t just use the “salesman switch” because the board power comes directly from the Batteries.
Here’s a pic

ABrask · 03-03-2022, 11:18 AM

This is great information…thanks! I’ll expand my troubleshooting efforts accordingly.

ABrask · 03-03-2022, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archer2

Hi Alan. I (unfortunately) have some recent experience with this, at least as far as where things are and how they work.
The sensors themselves are mounted in holes about 1 inch diameter on the side of each tank near the bottom. If you remove the access cover in the wet bay you can see them. Each of them has a twisted pair of wires that are spliced to individual orange RV-C cables. The sensors work what is on basically sonar. There are 4 sensors total (1 fresh, 1 gray and 2 black).
The sensor cables go across the vehicle and end up in the compartment that is just inboard of the big 12V disconnects in the 4th or 5th basement compartment on the passenger side. The cover is secured with screws and Velcro. In the attached pic the actual module that controls the sensors and interfaces with the VegaTouch CANBUS network is circled in red.
My advice would be to first, identify the gray tank and locate the sensor. Follow the wires and make sure they are securely crimped to the long, orange wire.
If that isn’t successful you could try cycling the power by accessing the compartment in the pic. Then locate the circled circuit board and trace the single orange cable that is plugged into it. Carefully disconnect that orange cable from the board (it’s connected with a tiny 4 conductor plug and is a little fragile). Wait a couple of minutes and then reconnect. You can’t just use the “salesman switch” because the board power comes directly from the Batteries.
Here’s a pic

Thanks so much! This appears to have solved the problem. You’re awesome!

Gary.Jones · 03-03-2022, 11:50 AM

Alan

Which of Keith's several suggestions was the one that worked?

Gary

ABrask · 03-03-2022, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary.Jones

Alan

Which of Keith's several suggestions was the one that worked?

Gary

Pulling the plug to reboot the control board.

Archer2 · 03-03-2022, 12:02 PM

Glad to hear that you figured it out. It’s worth mentioning that the same compartment also holds lots of other useful things to know the location of. For instance, notice the little circuit boards that have several orange network cables plugged in along with a blue cable coming from the top. Those are RV-C “drop taps”. They are devices that can accept wiring from up to 4 CANBUS network devices and connect the data to the main CANBUS backhone. Also there are the circuit breakers for the macerator, the jack pump and the slideout controls. Note the 12Volt ground busses as well as a bunch of other fuses.
Lots of “good to know” stuff.

brobox · 03-03-2022, 01:10 PM

Kieth,
Thank you for the additional troubleshooting steps. I will try them on mine to see if it corrects the erratic readings.

Craneboy302 · 03-03-2022, 05:32 PM

Hi have a 15 Aspire & the black tank goes to 93% & stays there for awhile then 96% so I know it is time to dump. Then the display in the wet bay reads different then the ones in the bathroom. Once I empty the gray tank it says 32%.
Haven’t check any resources yet because I just dump when I think it is full. Not sure how the sensors work in my year model
Thanks bruce

777 Driver · 03-03-2022, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craneboy302

Not sure how the sensors work in my year model
Thanks bruce

Hi Bruce,

There's probably more than you want to know about the tank sensors on your '15 Aspire (and some other things, too) in this document: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q1c...ew?usp=sharing The tank sensor info starts on page 17.

Take care,
Stu