Waste tank level sensor: spontaneous remission?

If it's OEM (cheap) it's an immersion sensor and they all get wonky after a while. If you are having the tank pulled, install a real sensor... Seelevel is the only non contact sensor available. It goes on the outside of the tank, not inside and works by induction so it's failure proof. Candidly, I look down my toilet too.

Or try to clean up the tank more thoroughly as debris such as unresolved toilet paper may be jamming up the sensors.

The OEM sensors (with probes that go into the tank and typically a four light panel somewhere) are temperamental because of the probes becoming fouled up with, erm, debris. Flushing out the tank with a flusher or a wand you put down through the toilet will help, at least for a time. Not being skimpy on flush water quantities can also help a tiny bit, and is generally a good idea anyhow. Experience will often suffice for knowing about how long you can go before having to empty the tank.

Pulling the tank to fix this is in my opinion pointless. Capacitive sensors (such as SeeLevel) are somewhat more reliable, and installing them generally should not involve actually removing the tank--nor, for that matter, would working on the probe kind in most cases. All you need is some access to the side of the tank where the sensors are, often also the side where the drain pipe and gate valve are connected.

In tank sensors are notoriously, pardon the pun, crappy. Dropping the tank to clean/replace them is a huge waste of time and money. Follow the advice of the posts above, that is clean the tank with a wand periodically and use plenty of water and they will usually work.

SidecarFlip wrote:
... It goes on the outside of the tank, not inside and works by induction so it's failure proof. ...

Works by a variable "capacitive reactance" as opposed to induction. Two conductive strips (serving as capacitive plates) are mounted parallel to each other on the outside of the tank where the water inside the tank provides the varying dielectric for an applied frequency etc.

SeeLevel system works well, not hard to install. Gives battery to the nearest one tenth volt, tanks in percent, nearest whole number.

Dusty

https://www.rvupgradestore.com/Garnett-Technologies-Model-709-SeeLeveL-II-p/709-1003.htm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5qi4-sWa3gIViYjICh0-zAwREAQYByABEgKyn_D_BwE&gdffi=d722fab84a06472899ce2a16e4d2ed3f&gdfms=97C9120539734558B48D2BAF1296FD34

Black tanks fill up slow. If you can look down and see how full, why spend money to fix it, esp since the odds are it will quit working anyways.

I have ignored my gauges for years.

BTW, you can buy a endoscope camera for a smart phone for $30 and a sprayer and probably get results.

Also, sensors conduct when wet, so will give false readings after driving. In a day or so, they may start working again.

Thanks, all. Lots of good information here.

We have a 2001 C and I can see the black tank from the toilet drain, sensors stoped working for the black and grey about 4 months after we bought the unit, after that I simply watched the level of the black tank and eventually can tell how full it is by the sound when flushing, grey tank tells me it needs dumping when the water rises in the shower tub.

Of the four sensors only the one accurate is the propane, even the fresh water sensor indicates wrong, do not waste money and time trying to fix the sensors, learn to gauge when they need dumping, instead of worring about useles things that won't work no matter how much money you trow at them enjoy the unit, it is more rewarding.

navegator

I concur. There are plenty of other things to go wrong.

I forgot about the propane gauge. Mine is consistent too.

When it reads 1/2 it’s 3/4 full and when it reads E it’s 1/2 full.

I fill it once a year whether it needs it or not.