Water Tank Level Monitoring

Olivier · 03-06-2020, 05:45 AM

Hi, i have a new.... 1995 T-1740 Solaris, and i dont see any tank level monitor.
Is there a way to know your tank level, i was used to have a little 4 led indicator in my other RV. And if there is none, is there a neccessity for it ? and if yes what are my option?

Please excuse my written english ... i am French Canadian.

Thx

mainah · 03-06-2020, 08:32 AM

My T1700 has none. The tanks are very flat and wide so I'm guessing there is not enough depth to be any kind of accurate.

**JohnB** · 03-06-2020, 04:19 PM

Welcome Oliver!

And congrats on your new Sunny! No worries on your written english, it is very clear to understand.

No tank monitor panel, h'mm well you are right! Never knew that in a 95 camper. Looking up in the 95 brochure it seems once the camper got up to a T2362 or 2363 size, a monitor panel was added. Not really sure why the camper size mattered, but that appears to be just the way they offered them back in 1995. In more recent models, tank monitor panels were in all campers. Not sure what year it applied to all but for sure my 2004 all had them.

It really does not affect the operation of the camper not having a tank monitor panel. Many have issues with the gray and black tanks with false readings if the sensors become dirty. They can read full or fuller than they really are. And even full when they are empty. But that is a different issue in your case and a different fix to stop the problem. You will never had a false tank reading!

For the black tank, you can open the flush valve and look down in the tank with a flashlight to see how full it is or not.

The gray tank, you cannot see that level, but when it gets full gray water will back up in the shower drain. Then for sure you will see it. I'm assuming your camper has the combo shower in the floor of the bathroom or a wet bath I think they called it.

The fresh tank, that one you can look at the side of the white translucent tank to see how full it is. I'm not sure your fresh tank is inside your camper or outside under the camper. Different floor plans have them in different places. When you get low on water, and you are using the fresh tank as your water source, the water pump will suck air over the water line when it gets close to empty and stop pumping. The pump sound will be different too. When you hear that, turn the pump off as running is for an extended time with no water pumping will harm the pump.

It is also good practice to shut the pump off when you leave the camper/campsite. If the pump runs to pressurize the system and you are close to that too low point in the tank, the pump will run non stop when it sucks air in. If you are away for 2 hours on a walk, it will run that long and that can create a pump failure.

Hope this helps and have fun in your new Sunny this season.

John

mainah · 03-07-2020, 05:40 AM

I'm guessing his tanks are like mine they are less than 6"deep and go just about side to side and are about 2- 3' wide so getting a accurate measurement with little depth over that span would be hard. They are not translucent so you really can't tell. They are big volume so if you are not connected to the water mains it is kind of doubtful you could full them. With the old 4 sensor system that would be at best 1.5" between them.

**JohnB** · 03-07-2020, 11:56 AM

mainah, OK got it. A tank 6" in the middle and tapering to 2 -3" at the edges is going to be harder to get 3 levels out of using the digital probes. If one really wants an analog tank sensor, Sealevel make an analog system they claim can detect 3/8" differences. See here https://www.garnetinstruments.com/rv...31182861328125

The last I checked they are a little pricey depending on which you get. See here for some of them https://www.rvupgradestore.com/RV-Ta...stem-s/164.htm

I had a camper buddy convert his Skyline camper to the SeaLevel system. He did say it worked very well.

I was looking at upgrading a while back. It never made the "had to get done list" yet anyway. We have gotten use to how long our tanks can go while boondocking and is not as much a problem anymore not knowing exactly. If camped in the same place for more than 4 days in a row, I need to start doing blue tote choirs.

Is your fresh tank black or a translucent white color? I would think the fresh tank would be whitish in color being a polyethylene potable water tank. The black tanks are often ABS plastic and I'm sure harder to get the potable water rating on them.

mainah · 03-07-2020, 03:57 PM

See Level gauges are excellent gauges nothing by high praises for them but before buying one be sure they will cover the depth there is a cut off point I can't remember if it was 4 or 6" If you buy a See level gauge they are adhesive so the tank side needs to be real clean (it's good adhesive though) once it is in place a coating of spray undercoat will insure nothing gets into the sensor board. I had one on my old Toyota MH it was spot on a very simple to use I think it comes with 3 sensors and has a few little extra things like battery voltage. Being external there is nothing to interfere with their readings either.

ggrvguy · 03-12-2020, 11:30 AM

On my 90 StarRay there is no Monitor also. I used a hole saw to cut a couple holes in the paneling next to the fresh water tank so I can shine a flashlight in to see the level in the Tank. It's a translucent white plastic. My black water tank is 25 gallons so I doubt I'll fill that up . I've trying to think of a way to monitor my gray tank, maybe with just 1 led to indicate almost full, but I haven't got around to it and it's not a big deal to me yet.
Gary G

mainah · 03-13-2020, 06:35 AM

Pretty much having less water storage than the waste tanks hold will ensure you will have no problems the caveat comes when you are connected to the water mains!

ggrvguy · 03-13-2020, 07:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainah

Pretty much having less water storage than the waste tanks hold will ensure you will have no problems the caveat comes when you are connected to the water mains!

Agreed. Probably 50% of the time we have hookups. We're both pretty well trained in the art of boondocking and conserving water, but we haven't been out long enough to max out the gray tank yet. It would be nice to know when we're getting close. Any ideas on a diy single tank monitor system?
Gary G

mainah · 03-13-2020, 05:08 PM

See Level would be my choice they are good outfit maybe you could contact them and ask about depth You will need to measure the tank depth and see if their gauges will cover it.

**JohnB** · 03-13-2020, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ggrvguy

Agreed. Probably 50% of the time we have hookups. We're both pretty well trained in the art of boondocking and conserving water, but we haven't been out long enough to max out the gray tank yet. It would be nice to know when we're getting close. Any ideas on a diy single tank monitor system?
Gary G

If you are looking for a simple, low cost, and want to know, "is the gray tank getting full", the KIB probe system will do that. You can drill and put the full probe in the tank where you want to know it is in the "getting full" zone. And you can then still have X gallons of your choosing left in the tank before it overflows into the shower basin.

While you can add the other probes in the kit where you want them, they can give you a general state of the tank level.

The SeaLevel system if it will work on your shorter tank, is the cadillac. There is more to the technology they use and it does cost more.

In our case, we have the KIB probes that Sunline put in from the factory. They drilled the holes in the wrong location from what I can see on my tanks. There are even molded in dimples from the tank manufacturer at the 33%, 66%, 90% level marks. Yet Sunline for reasons not known, decided to drill them at other distances. The gray tank is off the most. I reach 33% of tank full with maybe only 2 or 3 gallons of water in a 35 gallon tank. It is way off. The 666% and the 90% full probes are not that bad. I just always have to ignore the gray 1/3rd full mark.

But that said, I do use the fresh tank monitor which is not that far off in calibration to the tank volume. Since we boondock often and are water mizers, I can tell as the days go by if we are in sync with being able to last 4 full days with showers and dishes buy just knowing when the tank monitor level "drops off" the full mark, then drops off the 2/3rd mark and drops off the 1/3rd mark. Granted you have to watch the readings, monitor the tank levels and use it enough to know what each means when it just, left that level to have a big picture idea of what the tank level is.

KIB has several different styles of displays, each adds more switch features. This one for ~ $26 does all 3 tanks and even has a pump switch. https://www.amazon.com/KIB-M21VW-Mic...4158904&sr=8-2

The probes are separate from that kit, shop around you may find a better kit for your needs if you go the KIB route.

mainah · 03-15-2020, 08:35 AM

All campers are not created equal but I don't think it is possible to fill either of my waste tanks with a full water tank.

ggrvguy · 03-16-2020, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mainah

All campers are not created equal but I don't think it is possible to fill either of my waste tanks with a full water tank.

Mine is the same as yours, 25 gallons for each of the tanks. I only think about it when we have fresh water hookup and we tend to be less conservative with the water usage. It hasn't been a problem so far. I've been hoping I would run across a used monitor panel or a diy panel on youtube, since I like to tinker more than I like to spend money. Plus it's certainly not a priority on my shopping list. I could talk myself into the KIB setup, but not the more expensive one.
Gary G