Tank gauges

[Cheaperrooter]

2010 Eagle 318RLS: Always assumed each tank had its own sensor, as there are three separate indicators on my level guage.

But.... Just dumped all three tanks and in empty, the guage is reading 2/3 full for all three tanks? I've heard rumors of toilet paper catching on floats but to have all three read inaccurately at once leads me to believe there is only ONE sensor for all thee tanks, as three sensors malfunctioning at once are very odds not even worth factoring. Has to be one sensor or....there is something I'm missing

Not the guage as batteries and water tank read full.

[tnchuck100]

There is one sensor set for each tank. Not one for all three tanks. Think about it....that would make no sense.

These "idiot light" systems are notoriously inaccurate. Especially the black water tank. There are no floats involved with these sensors. They are simply metal studs through the tank wall. Theoretically as the liquid level rises it will contact another stud and provide a lower resistance at the panel turning on another LED. Since your unit is 5 years old the history of the tanks is probably unknown. They may require an extensive cleaning/rinsing.

Want the best indication system? Get this:

SeeLevel
http://www.rvgauge.com/rv.htm

It ain't cheap but it is accurate.

[norty1]

Each tank has 3 sensors and all of your are either clogged with paper or grease or you have a broken wire somewhere.
Factory sensors are crap unless you upgrade or replace.

[Cheaperrooter]

Can't be clogged or broken wire. As I said, the odds of dumping and reading zero, dumping and reading zero, dumping and ALL three tanks readin 2/3 seems almost impossible that i would have clogged or broken wired three tanks at once.

But, if these things are cheapies and not worth the effort, guess ill just dump every few days and leave it at that.

What exactly happens when a black tank gets filled? When u push the step on the toilet, u just see the water level to the top like a clogged toilet or is worse damage done

[norty1]

The grey tank will back up in the lowest drain, usually the shower or tub.

Black tank will fill up toilet, oh boy!

[oldmanAZ]

Somewhere on this site I read that seeing water standing in the shower or seeing it up in the toilet should not be a problem. At that point it is still contained and should not be leaking anywhere.

Add a little more water and you've got problems.... especially on the 'dark side'.

[ninjahbob]

Water standing in the shower or in the toilet should not be a problem, it is still contained and if it is not
leaking anywhere you may have a drain valve problem. We also had a problem with our gauges and only after filling both tanks to the top 2 or 3 times and dumping did they start working correctly. Cleaning tanks with fresh water seems to help clean the sensors.

[Jeff61]

Originally Posted by Cheaperrooter

2010 Eagle 318RLS: Always assumed each tank had its own sensor, as there are three separate indicators on my level guage.

But.... Just dumped all three tanks and in empty, the guage is reading 2/3 full for all three tanks? I've heard rumors of toilet paper catching on floats but to have all three read inaccurately at once leads me to believe there is only ONE sensor for all thee tanks, as three sensors malfunctioning at once are very odds not even worth factoring. Has to be one sensor or....there is something I'm missing

Not the guage as batteries and water tank read full.

As many stated each tank has 3 sensors. I flush out thouroughly with a flush king or equivalent. What I have noticed is the terminal ends on the studs seem to get a fair amount of corrosion on them. You might carefully remove the nuts so as not to upset the threads and clean the ring terminals with a wire (brass preferrably) brush and the studs and coat with a dielectric grease prior to reassembly. See if this doesn't help your problem. Re do your grounds too. With these things operating on the resistance change completed by the water as a conductor, it don't take much corrosion to upset things. Remember, those sensors are not totally accurate but a relative indicator of whats in the tank

[TexasRelic]

I had a similar issue with my black and grey tanks not reading correctly when empty. When we were planning a trip I added 1 cup of inexpensive dishwashing liquid (dishwashing machine liquid or HE washing machine since they don't suds up like other liquid soaps) to the tanks and poured in about 10 gallons of water and drove about 200 miles and dumped when we got to the camping spot. The water from the black tank was awful and the grey water tank was almost just as bad. Tank sensors work great now.

This will be something that I do about every other time we go out now..