Black & Grey

[EscFmHere]

All, this is my first post. I have been screening since we got our new coach in May.

We are about a month in to what will be a six month full-time period of use.

We have lost all faith in our holding tank sensors. The usually say full, but never drop below 2/3, regardless of how full they are.

Are we needlessly concerned? Any veteran advice would be appreciated.

[TURBS]

its common to not trust the sensors partly due to the fact that in the black tank toilet paper and debris cover the sensors and they read wrong .
as far as the grey same thing soaps and scum from dishes and what not cloud the sensors readings .
there was an excellent post on here a few weeks ago about using water softener and laundry detergent in the tanks to help keep clean.
im sure someone will post this .


by the way WELCOME to the forum!

[Bill_C]

Originally Posted by EscFmHere

All, this is my first post. I have been screening since we got our new coach in May.

We are about a month in to what will be a six month full-time period of use.

We have lost all faith in our holding tank sensors. The usually say full, but never drop below 2/3, regardless of how full they are.

Are we needlessly concerned? Any veteran advice would be appreciated.

Welcome to the 'stock tank level indicators are crap' club. We have had 5 fifth wheel trailers. Not one of them had a dependable tank level indicator. You will find the same consensus with about everyone here. In fact, I would like to hear from someone that has a dependable stock indicator.

[Boyd]

This mid-level veteran says, "I gave up on using the sensors first trip out." There are ways to clean them and they'll indicate accuratly for a short time. Don't get too happy, they'll soon foul again. My guess is you'll get tons of advice on how to clean them and what favorite products to use to accomplish the cleaning. Or---You can do a search here on this forum and find enough material for an afternoon's reading.

[EscFmHere]

Turbo, Bill, and Boyd,

Thanks for the prompt replies. You all kind of confirmed my suspicions. We will go with the current "wow, the are actually full" method of gauging the tank levels.

[Ovair]

Well let me be just one more.
The sensors aren't very useful.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by EscFmHere

Turbo, Bill, and Boyd,

Thanks for the prompt replies. You all kind of confirmed my suspicions. We will go with the current "wow, the are actually full" method of gauging the tank levels.

at least you can have some comfort knowing there are better sensors out there if you are willing to buy them and or have them installed .

[Dave_Monica]

After a while, you'll get to know the normal amount of days use you're able to get with each tank.

Gray tanks' easy...when water stays in the shower base, it's full. For us, that's about 5 days normal usage.

With the black tank you can usually see the level looking down through the toilet valve with a flash light. For us, that's about 10 days normal use.

I don't worry about the indicated tanks levels as they're seldom correct.

Dave

[bclemens]

Even the "expensive" senors have their issues. We used a "sonar" type digital sensor (no internal probes) at the request of a dealer. They still pick up interference from surrounding areas. If you solve that issue, they still only last about a 2 years or so before the electronics give out.

[Pilotdaddy1]

I am a member of the "when the shower doesn't drain, it's full club" and the "look in the crapper with a flashlight" club.

[cfsoistman]

Horst Miracle Probes for Wastewater Tanks in Recreational Vehicles RVs

I have a set of these, won them at the Hershey RV Show but haven't had the time to install them. I believe Herk7769 has a step by step installation posted on here as well. These are highly recommended by Gary Bunser [The RV Doctor].

[JimF]

Have been in the same club for years, but actually not so much. The grey are normally pretty accurate, the black never reads below 1/3 but above that is pretty accurate. We clean the grey tank (chemical through drain) about once a year. When the black start acting up I throw ice cubes in the toilet just before we pull out, by that evening travel I flush and then it is accurate back to the 1/3 reading. This has worked on all my rigs dating back to the 70's. I use the gages for when to dump.

[BigDTx]

I am in the "RV-Digesst it" club!! IT works for us! Clean tank/no stink!

[Rugged Brown]

Anyone use a dipstick?

[Dave_Monica]

If the toilet is straight into the black tank, you could just reach in with your arm...break up some of the solids while you're at it!

Dave

[TURBS]

I knew there was a reason wee only pee in our trailer !
number two is cg facilities .

[Pilotdaddy1]

Ditto on the pee only, but the factory gauges still suck.

[Trempert]

I had a Rockwood 8317ss travel trailer and now a Georgetown 350 and the sensors on both gray and black water worked fine. HOWEVER, I did have to learn a few things about them. First, I thought I was emptying the gray water all the way because the sound of water would stop after a while and I'd shut the valve. I could never get the gray water to read empty. I got a see-through connector and discovered that after about a minute all the air had been filled with water in the drain tube and the emptying process was silent, but water was still flowing. I now let it run until I SEE no more water and it reads empty every time.

In the travel trailer I would get readings above empty and I found if I flushed the system several times it would eventually read empty. With the Georgetown, it has the built in flushing system so I just flush it for a few minutes when I empty and get an empty reading every time.

Maybe I've just been very, very lucky.....

[sparks1032]

Yeah, stock gauges crappy many alternatives in after market to include see-level system

[Timex]

Hey f1100turbo, he could just let his grey water drain on the ground. Oh please, I hope we can get that going again! That went 18 fun pages!