Black water sensor issue.

[larryo]

We have purchased a used Puma and although it's empty the panel says 3/4 full. I understand that this is a common problem but I'd kinda like to get it working. My fear is that a piece of "something" has stuck and dried to the sensor. Here's what I'm thinking. 1 cup water softener, 1 cup detergent, a whole lot of ice and go drive around like a nut for a while. Your thoughts please.

[vinmaker]

That might work. But sometimes stuff just gets stuck. Others will chime in with all kinds of tricks.

Vin.

[Rupkin2]

This is a the problem with units that are seasonal, they dont' move and if any TP or other substance lands on the probe its pretty much there for the duration.

Its probably to late for the softner and detergent to do anything right now, as for the ice good in thought but it will probably melt before you get your rig off the driveway.

My thought would be to fill your tank about a 1/4 or 1/3 and get into some stop and go traffic. Get the water to slosh around violently. Sometimes you get it first attempt sometimes not.

Those probes are notorius for being inaccurate, they are more so a guide line.
Maybe when you tank is actually full the indicator will register as full. Thats all you pretty much need anyway. Once the indicator says full you have some flushes left but you will need to dump soon.

My understanding for the water softner is this will soften the water and materials are less likey to stick to the tank walls and probe. As for the detergent, well that just cleans and helps dimish the odour.

Well thats my couple of pennies, I'm sure others will pipe in and may be able to help you better.



Enjoy the time out and don't fret of this........

John

[larryo]

Oh, I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Actually, one idea is to pour 5 gallons of boiling water down the toilet, with the tank empty of course. Theory is that the steam may soften the stuck on stuff.

[Evereddie]

Fill the tank and use RV Digest-It. Maybe double strength.Many good reports.

[D_B Travelers]

I agree that it may resolve itself if you travel a bit with some "stuff" in it. We do put some Calgon in our tank when we put in the little blue packet. When we picked up the TT the RV guy told us it helps to keep "stuff" from sticking as badly. Kind of like throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder to keep away bad luck when you spill the shaker. It most likely makes no difference, but it doesn't hurt or cost much to do it anyway. Good luck.

[JoeNanMinn]

I wouldn't advise boiling water in plastic plumbing. Especially RV plumbing.
I too have heard good reports about the RV Digest-IT. I have had this issue on two different campers. It was hit and miss. But it seems like whenever we moved or traveled with some liquid in the tank that helped more than anything. Good luck.

[siskom]

Sure fire fix...When you are leaving for a outing to a park that has a dump station put 1/3 full water (estimate) put two or three bags of ice down toilet and drive the ice will act as a cleaner in the water and clean off any stuck debris when you arrive at location dump tank before parking.

[Edmund]

I have been full-timing for twenty years and haven't found a trick that works for more than two fills. You can drive yourself crazy trying to get the d--- sensors clean only to have them mess up again in a week. A 35-40 gal black water tank will take care of two people for at least a week and a half.

[siskom]

It could be a pain but ice works and less harmful to the tank and cheap. Also I found that using 2 ply paper does not cause issues that much either.

[Toddupton]

Or just save yourself a lot of trouble and replace the whole system with a see level monitor that does not go in the tank. Since it is on the outside nothing gets "stuck".
https://www.garnetinstruments.com/rv-shop/products/

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by siskom

Sure fire fix...When you are leaving for a outing to a park that has a dump station put 1/3 full water (estimate) put two or three bags of ice down toilet and drive the ice will act as a cleaner in the water and clean off any stuck debris when you arrive at location dump tank before parking.

There is a myth buster on u-tube, he put ice in and showed it has no affect at all. Along time ago I did the stupid thing of leaving my black tank valve open hooked to a sewer, never been hooked to before. Well we all know what will happen. And it did. Had a mobile repair guy and he said he didn't want to touch it being I would need to replace the tank being it was full. Well I went and got some of that disgust stuff And put like 3 times the amount in. It sat for two days. Then I pulled the handle and walla out it came. I mean it was plugged solid. I would get that stuff and fill my tank full with water and dump that in and let it sit for a couple of days or even a week it will clean it out.

[Herk7769]

I would recommend RID-X or RV-DIGEST-IT in 4 gallons warm water; fill to capacity and let sit 72 hours minimum.

The enzymes and bacteria will clean the scum off the walls.

The Calgon water softener and detergent are a great "after every dump" to prevent this from happening in the future.

[siskom]

Put some toilet paper in a five gallon pail let it dry to the sides put bag of ice in and water shake it around send results to myth busters.

[Tiggerdad]

Leave the ice out and shake it around. Paper will dissolve.

[BamaBob]

X2 on the RV DigestIt. It is expensive but magical stuff!


For your day to day chemical treatments, we picked up this nifty gadget at last year's FROG Rally in Goshen:
Chemical Dispensing Systems for RV & Marine | Blue Streak LLC


We use a homebrew chemical - 1/3 PineSol, 1/3 Dawn, & 1/3 Water (a mix developed by OldCoot) cheap as can be and works like a charm!


We add a dollop of calgon to each gallon we mix. Pack it away and fill the BlueStreak as needed throughout the year.


1 -2 times a year on especially long campouts (1+ week) we will dump in a cup of RV DigestIt and let it do it's magic

[bubbles]

Kind of late for this input but if one would use this procedure from the start there would never be a problem. All my units never had an issue with black tank readouts following these steps. I could not do this at a dump site as there were other campers waiting. Takes about 20 minutes for my tank to fill up. Flying J's is where I dumped when not coming from an rv park with full hookups. Anyway the indicators always read correctly. Watch the video if you have time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6sv4d3PsTo

[Herk7769]

RV Tank Sensors &The GEO Method | Wheeling It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH6acEmqvcw

Ice cubes do not work at all.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob

X2 on the RV DigestIt. It is expensive but magical stuff!


For your day to day chemical treatments, we picked up this nifty gadget at last year's FROG Rally in Goshen:
Chemical Dispensing Systems for RV & Marine | Blue Streak LLC


We use a homebrew chemical - 1/3 PineSol, 1/3 Dawn, & 1/3 Water (a mix developed by OldCoot) cheap as can be and works like a charm!


1 cup Super Clean, 1 cap Pinesol, rest water in the Blue Streak 1 quart Super Clean, cup Pinesol 5 gal. water and tow for the grey tanks.
We add a dollop of calgon to each gallon we mix. Pack it away and fill the BlueStreak as needed throughout the year.


1 -2 times a year on especially long campouts (1+ week) we will dump in a cup of RV DigestIt and let it do it's magic

Correction in Red.

[derek6669]

Your initial idea was almost the same as the geo method. I tried the geo method last fall and got the results I was hoping for. I have now made up 8 bottles to start the season and plan to treat the black & galley tank every 2nd dump. The grey will look after itself with. Here is the link. https://sites.google.com/site/cbruni/