Community Forums

TXBart · 12-02-2016, 07:38 PM

I have been suspect of the readings we get from our waste tanks, we seem to fill them very quickly.

I know our showers add 11-14% to the gray tank. This morning I took a shower with the gray tank showing 89%. I finished standing in about 1" of water!

Didn't mind that with the gray tank but don't want to repeat a similar experiment with the black tank!

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

Old Crows · 12-02-2016, 07:55 PM

Gauges are not accurate because they are not calibrated to the tank. They may be non-linear in response. Meaning they are like the old GM fuel gauges that would indicate full for 200 miles and suddenly peg Empty in the next 50 although there may have been 1/4 tank left. Gauges are only a reference.. A guess.

Depending on flow rate and length of your shower you could easily add a significant quantity to your tank.

Although your RV may be level....the tank may not be and that can through off the readings.

Regardless the gauge reading....a tank is full when you can see the liquid in the neck and empty when nothing more comes out. Between those data points, its a guess unless you have carefully callibrated the sensors to the actual volume of the liquid in the tank.

Just drive on and don't worry about it. Empty when you have a chance.

Ann n Gene · 12-02-2016, 09:01 PM

Actually the Entegra gauges are usually fairly accurate. Mine are close enough to give you a good idea of where you tanks are. A long shower can put that much water through the system. If you want a check, operate off your fresh water tank and not the readings on both tanks before and after a your normal shower, hint have above 0% in the gray tank when you do this. All JMHO

2016 45 B Topaz Cornerstone
2014 MKT towed

DeeGee · 12-02-2016, 10:00 PM

Heck, my wife can put over 30% in the tank with one shower if I don't remind her.

TXBart · 12-02-2016, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann n Gene

If you want a check, operate off your fresh water tank and not the readings on both tanks before and after a your normal shower, hint have above 0% in the gray tank when you do this.

Right now my fresh tank reads 8% but visually it is half full!

I will continue to dump when I have a chance. We tend to be able to get 4 showers and one dishwasher run before we have to dump the gray tank. I always dump the black tank while I'm out there and use the first of the gray tank to flush the empty black tank.

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

Ann n Gene · 12-02-2016, 11:11 PM

I would contact Entegra in your case, it appears you definitely have a gauge problem, maybe sensors in wrong place, not stuck on tight etc. they can run you through a couple of checks and troubleshoot it with you.

2016 45 B Topaz Cornerstone
2014 MKT towed

TXBart · 12-03-2016, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ann n Gene

I would contact Entegra in your case, it appears you definitely have a gauge problem, maybe sensors in wrong place, not stuck on tight etc. they can run you through a couple of checks and troubleshoot it with you.

I have discussed it several times with CS and their techs checked it during my PDI last year. It is what it is, in my case, and I have adapted.

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ

brobox · 12-03-2016, 05:27 AM

My TS was like that, I had to visual those tanks as well. At least we can see the fresh water tanks and the black tank was by smell.

I did have to replace one of the Entegra monitor panels and it is working accurately again.

Are both the inside and outside monitors reading the same? If so, I would think sensors.

Cruzer · 12-03-2016, 05:50 AM

I've never had a problem with the SeeLevel tank monitoring system and I've had them on a number of coaches in the past. The SeeLevel gauge sensors are strips that attach to the outside of the tank and send a radio beam from the right side of the sensor through the wall of the tank that is received on the left side of the sensor strip. It measures capacitance that varies with the density of the tank wall, in other words it knows when there is fluid level on the other side of the wall. It does this over the length of the strip so gives pretty accurate readings.

The strips are cut to fit the height of your particular tank but can only be cut in 1-1/2" increments so odds are good that your strip isn't the same length as your tank height. Ideally, a fresh water strip would be placed closer to the bottom of the tank so that it is most accurate when running near empty while the holding tank strips should be near the top of the tank to warn you when they are getting full. That's not to say that whoever installed your strips followed that procedure however.

The sensor strips also need to be shielded from metal. If there are steel braces next to the strip or wiring looms dangling next to them, the strip could probably be in a better location. I also like to install them in the center of the tank if at all possible. That way if I'm on a slight grade I'll still get a fairly accurate reading.

Right now I do have an issue with my black tank strip - the first time that I've ever had an issue. My black tank strip reads fine most of the time but as I drain the tank I can see the numbers going down, as they should. But when I get near the bottom the numbers change from 11 to 7 and then it displays either 68 or 64. I never get to 4 or 0, even though the tank is thoroughly draining. I checked with Don at SeeLevel and found out that the system works on a differential basis. What happens is that there is a 1/2" buildup of material at the 64-68% level in the tank. So today, as I'm driving south towards Atlanta I've mixed a batch of Happy Camper Extreme Cleaner and will slosh that around in the black tank, which will be about half full. Hopefully tonight the sensor will read zero when I dump at Bowling Green.

Note that if your sensor strip has pulled away from the tank a bit in one spot you'll also get a false reading. I've also found it impossible to remove an existing strip to relocate it. The circuitry in the strip doesn't survive any flexing so you will most likely have to replace the sensor strip if you want to relocate it because it probably won't survived being removed. I've tried carefully in the past but they were always DOA.

WallyRover · 12-03-2016, 06:21 AM

Vance, am I misunderstanding your percentages?

You said taking a shower adds 11-14%. You started with 89%. That adds up to 100%-104%, i.e., overflow.

Did you mean that the tank read 89% after the overflow at the shower?

wmpbauer · 12-03-2016, 06:40 AM

Take shorter showers?

Pat Bauer, President
Entegra Coach Owners Association
2017 Anthem DEQ
Ford Edge

AndyE_ · 12-03-2016, 06:48 AM

I find my gauges are spot on

DSL417 · 12-03-2016, 08:48 AM

I generally trust the sensors (both 13 Anthem and current), in that they tell me when it is time to dump OR time to pay more attention to levels. That said, the black, in particular, MUST go through a thorough rinse (I usually do 30-45 minutes). About every six months, I will run a couple of cups of Pine Sol into the grey and fill it up and then empty (after all, you are sending some measure of grease and other stuff into the tank when you rinse dishes/dishwasher.

I talked with the owner of SeeLevel at FMCA in Redmond (2014), and he STRONGLY recommended Pure Power Blue (liquid or packets) for use in keeping the black clean. He explained what Cruzer has ID'd as how the system worked. At the time I had explained to him that it seemed like every time I emptied and rinsed the black, it would read 40-60% after the rinse(we had a macerator toilet in the Anthem then and it is tough to use a bag of ice with a half full tank to abrasively "wipe off" the sides of the tank). I found his recommendation for tank cleaner and longer rinse to be on the mark and haven't experienced the issue since.

TXBart · 12-03-2016, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WallyRover

Vance, am I misunderstanding your percentages?

You said taking a shower adds 11-14%. You started with 89%. That adds up to 100%-104%, i.e., overflow.

Did you mean that the tank read 89% after the overflow at the shower?

Pete,

I meant that the gray tank reading was surprisingly accurate. 11-14% shower starting at 89% should have given me overflow, which it did.

Vance & Robin
Dexter and Winston - Old English Sheepdog Security Service
2014 Entegra Anthem 42DEQ