gmg
Houston, TX, USA
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Joined: 11/14/2004
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We have found that the standard factory installed monitor panel does not give consistant and acurate readings. Often after draining tanks, the gage still shows 1/3 full. Sometimes the blackwater tank goes from showing 1/3 full to full after 3 flushes. Fresh water shows 2/3 full when filler is is running over. We are at the point now of counting the number of showers and estimating the gallons per shower to give us an idea of how full the shower grey tank is. By the way, how many gallons of water do you think the average woman uses when she showers? What ever it is, I'll bet the average man uses half that amount. Do you think the average for all persons would be about 5 gal per shower? Anyway, getting back to the level gages, does anyone have any experience with using more acurate aftermarket retrofits? If so, at what cost.
GG, 03 Silverado 2500 Crew Cab DA; Pullrite Superglide Hitch; 05 Everest 294L 5th Wheel.
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Biggziff
Upstate, NY
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Joined: 12/28/2004
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Most homes will have a showerhead that provides at least 3 gallons per minute. 5 GPM is more the standard. I don't know about the RV showers.
Me and my 3 girls
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Maintcpo
Central California
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Joined: 11/26/2004
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With an 05, go back and see the dealer! Get them to thoroughly check it out. Is this a bad monitor board issue, sensors loose issue, or what? Many times this can be attributed to things accumulating on the sensors inside the tank. I always try to rinse my tanks an extra time when ever I can. Might not be perfect but it helps.
Dan, Ret Navy CPO
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rpitchford
Hacienda Heights, CA
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Joined: 11/18/2003
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This is par for the course with the standard "screws through the side of the tank" level sensors. This system is extremely cheap to implement but just doesn't seem to work well. Some report good results by putting ice in the tank and letting vehicle motion scrub things down, others report that water softeners or other treatments keep things working, but this is all hit or miss. It doesn't take much of any kind of deposits to conduct enough electricity between the contacts to throw these things off.
Is it worth installing a better system? Does it really matter? That's up to you. I found that after living in my RV for a short while, I didn't need this stuff to help me decide when the tanks need attention. After so much time goes by, the tanks need to be dumped. Try it for a bit and you may find that this isn't that critical.
In the meanwhile, feel free to exercise some of that warranty service with your dealer. Just don't let them keep you away from your camping for too long...
Roy
The Pitchfords
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jdcone
Riverside, Ca. USA
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Joined: 04/11/2004
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You can easily figure out how much water you're using to take a shower. Your pump only pumps so much per minute. Multiply this # by the # of minutes in the shower. If you install a Quickie Flush you'll get your sensors cleaner faster.
Owners of Bob the Wonder Dog, and a bunch of other useless stuff.
1999 22' Tioga class C
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chesapeakecowboy
eastern us
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Joined: 08/02/2002
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Quote:Is it worth installing a better system? Does it really matter? That's up to you. I found that after living in my RV for a short while, I didn't need this stuff to help me decide when the tanks need attention. After so much time goes by, the tanks need to be dumped. Try it for a bit and you may find that this isn't that critical.
In the meanwhile, feel free to exercise some of that warranty service with your dealer. Just don't let them keep you away from your camping for too long...
Roy
I'll agree with that, though its nice if everything would work properly, I find that I really don't use them that much. While it was still under warranty I would have the dealer fix it. I find that my family can go for about a week without having to dump blackwater and if we conserve water, we can go about 3-4 days without dumping greywater. When the greywater starts not draining out of the bathtub its time to dump the tank. I normally don't fill fresh water to capacity, so this is not a problem. The show rv today was showing some different type of leveling systems for your tanks, so seemed easy to install if you really want to replace them.
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retired logger
WA USA
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Joined: 12/10/2003
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That's what RVing is all about.. I would venture to say that probably 8 out of 10 RV rigs have bad tank monitors. I also would guess-ta-mate about 5 gal per person would be right for a shower IF your conservative.
Short time young and a long time old !
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Oasisbob
Portland Oregon 97266
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Joined: 11/18/2001
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How do you flush your tank after use? Is it possible the sensor is gummed up? I am installing a "Quickie Flush" and hope to keep my tank and sensor clean.My TT has the in the side type guage and seems to be accurate. I would guess I use about 5 gallons a shower or less in the trailer. I use to full time and had a six gallon water heater. Never ran cold on me. Good luck. Let us know what happens if you take it to the dealer.
Oasis Bob
Wonderful wife & 4 Really Fun kids
2008 KIA Sedona 3.8L 24 valve V-6
2001 Bantam Trail Lite B-19
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pjsky
Renner SD/Yuma AZ
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Joined: 11/17/2004
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Quote:This is par for the course with the standard "screws through the side of the tank" level sensors. This system is extremely cheap to implement but just doesn't seem to work well. Some report good results by putting ice in the tank and letting vehicle motion scrub things down, others report that water softeners or other treatments keep things working, but this is all hit or miss. It doesn't take much of any kind of deposits to conduct enough electricity between the contacts to throw these things off.
Is it worth installing a better system? Does it really matter? That's up to you. I found that after living in my RV for a short while, I didn't need this stuff to help me decide when the tanks need attention. After so much time goes by, the tanks need to be dumped. Try it for a bit and you may find that this isn't that critical.
This post is right on. I agree 100 percent. Our 5r is only seven months old and the tank indicators are very inaccurate.
Paul
In the meanwhile, feel free to exercise some of that warranty service with your dealer. Just don't let them keep you away from your camping for too long...
Roy
2005 Coachmen Sportscoach Elite 401TS
2006 Pontiac Torrent on a dolly
No person is completely worthless ..... one can always serve as a bad example.
PAUL AND JAN
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PackerBacker
Montreal, Quebec,Canada
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Joined: 08/22/2002
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Gauges are usually wrong and I haven't found either a cleaning fix or a better system. Since I hate doing math, particularly early in the morning, I just dump the gray tanks after our morning showers and dump the black each week or at the end of the weekend (saving some gray to rinse).
I just don't bother with the gauges anymore.
Eric
2009 Holiday Rambler Admiral 33SFS (34' 3")
2008 Jeep Liberty - North Edition
FQCC/Camping Quebec - KOA - Good Sam's
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