Monitor Panel Tank Levels?

DrewE wrote:


If you look at the tank, you can sometimes see where the probes are installed. The lowest one (vertically) is a common. and the other three are at the 1/3, 2/3, and full positions for the tank. If you're lucky, they might be somewhat close to dividing it into even quarters.

I was wishing I could do that but it's an enclosed undercarriage.

On my panel, and I suspect most others, "Empty" just lights whenever the check button is pressed. It doesn't indicate anything about the level of stuff in the tank. There's no associated empty probe.

If you look at the tank, you can sometimes see where the probes are installed. The lowest one (vertically) is a common. and the other three are at the 1/3, 2/3, and full positions for the tank. If you're lucky, they might be somewhat close to dividing it into even quarters.

brianosaur wrote:

mbopp wrote:
"2/3" can happen pretty quick. My "calibration" of the sensors says I have 6 gallons left until the gray tanks back up after the "Full" light comes on.

What happens when they back up?

The shower drain starts having water come up?

Yes. The shower drain is generally the low point of the grey water system, so that is where it will show up. As you use your water supply, you'll have some water going to the grey tank, and some to the black, and most RVs do not carry enough fresh water to fill both. So unless you add fresh water while on site, you should never have an issue. If you do that, you may want to consider a tote tank or a bladder to hold the extra waste water.

This is why full hookups are nice for extended stays.

Yep... when the shower is not draining the grey tank is full.

The black tank is, a .... shoot. Ya never know till you look down the hole and see stuff.

All my water comes from the fresh water tank. So as it goes down I know where most of it has gone. The grey tank.

mbopp wrote:
"2/3" can happen pretty quick. My "calibration" of the sensors says I have 6 gallons left until the gray tanks back up after the "Full" light comes on.

What happens when they back up?

The shower drain starts having water come up?

"2/3" can happen pretty quick. My "calibration" of the sensors says I have 6 gallons left until the gray tanks back up after the "Full" light comes on.

Great. Thanks for the replies.

We went camping with the new TT for the first time this weekend. We had city water and electric but no onsite sewer.

We noticed the gray tank indicator went from the E light to the 1/3 light almost immediately. That Empty is just that, pretty much completely empty.

That led me to believe/guess that perhaps:

Empty = 0% (?)
1/3 = 0% to 33%
2/3 = 34% to 66%
Full = 66% to 100%

I realize it isn't exact.
At first, we thought Full meant it was topped off like when filling a gas tank and it was ready to overflow.

Each sensor/tank setup varies in accuracy. You really don't know empty until empty and Full can mean almost full or OMG! The reality is that are all an approximations.

After a few times, you will figure out what your gauges mean. Our black tank signals getting full also by sound as we flush. Last RV I could see the level in the black tank when flushing as it got high............... ugh. Depends upon the plumbing.
Some tanks are visible - I can see our fresh water tank level through opaque tank sides in a bay.

Bottom line - the sensors are guesstimates. Sensors inside the waste tanks will get a little debris on them and cease operating correctly. Most of us quit worrying about and figure out when we are approaching empty or full. Happy Camping!

You will find that the fresh water tank sensors are consistent, so once you figure out what they really mean, you'll be able to track how much is left with pretty good accuracy.

The gray and (especially) the black sensors are a different matter entirely. They get dirty, they get stuff stuck to them, and are mostly useless. Luckily, once you gain some experience, the amount of fresh water left will tell you how much is in the waste holding tanks.

You are correct. Factory installed sensors are just that, incremental. And don't count on them being equal in 1/4th increments though. The best you can do is use them for a relative range. Think of the "empty" reading as the red line on your gas gauge in your car. After the red line, you may still have 2 or 3 usable gallons left. In a camper, you may have 5 - 10 - 15, depending on the size of the tank.

After a while, your sensors will probably quit working, and that happens much sooner than later in the life of most RVers. Same is true with the sensors in your black and grey tank.

Filling a fresh water tank is no problem. Fill it till it over flows the fill port. You know it's full. But monitoring the usage just takes some time to as you get to know your camper, and that just take time spent with the camper. After a while, you'll not use those read-outs at all.

You'll learn the limits of your black and grey tanks too after a while.