I have purchased new sensors for all my tanks. They are the button sensors like what is on there. I was wondering if anyone has any experience in replacing theirs? If so did you drill a new hole or remove the old sensor and put the new one in the old hole. As to why I bought the button sensors over some of the other type. Cost plain and simple. Thanks, John,

I have had them replaced several times in more that one unit. All become unreliable in short order no matter what I did so I just gave up on them and use common sense.

Same sensors as OEM.......then why bother replacing?OEM don't work...new ones same style won't be reliable either.IF OEM are removable (not glued in place) you can just swap out the old for new.If OEM glued in place (hot twist insert...zipped in place under high speed where tank wall melts around them securing/sealing them) then you will need to drill new holes and secure/seal them in place.IF replacing probes........at least upgrade a little to Horst Probes.Not very expensive, easy to change over from OEM and work better than OEM--------LINKAnother source of them--------LINK

our 2001 alpenlite is still working on the original sensors but they are outside not inside of the tanks.chevman

larry barnhart wrote:our 2001 alpenlite is still working on the original sensors but they are outside not inside of the tanks.chevmanLOL...Our 2001 camper's sensors are still working pretty good too.Indeed there's been some times they mis-read- no doubt due to stuff in the water.As to the OP, There's generally ways to familiarize yourself with tank status. When my gray tank get's full, there's actually a good bit of gurgling that goes on before the tub backs up, and I can estimate pretty well on the "number of showers".And for the dark side, it seems most folks here can rattle of how many "days" they have (usually SEVERAL days), and they have the "bubble" and often the "straight down" view to gauge things.

Anyone replace their tank sensors? | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

Lynnmor
Explorer
Nov 01, 2014
Mine works, sorry about yours. Some of us find "fun" in improving things, others just sit back and accept the status quo.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Nov 01, 2014
Lynnmor wrote:
shadows4 wrote:
Lynnmor wrote:
Why do people think that the "sensors" are something special? It is just a simple bolt thru the tank wall that gets dirty. The dirty tank walls are a problem as well. I built a device to compensate for the current conducted by the dirt and it worked well this past season.

Care to share?

When I posted about my device before, I got nothing but nonsense from the usual nay-Sayers.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27618811/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm

CLICKY

Way too much time involved in worrying about tank sensors.

Are you going to constantly 'adjust' resistance based on how clean/dirty probes are?
And how are you going to measure the amount of clean/dirty?

Toilet 'burps' time to dump black tank
Sink/shower starts to drain slower than usual..time to dump grey tank
On-board pump goes burrrrrrrr and no water from faucet....should have added more water to fresh water tank when dumping holding tanks

RVng is about FUN!
:B:B
Lynnmor
Explorer
Oct 31, 2014
shadows4 wrote:
Lynnmor wrote:
Why do people think that the "sensors" are something special? It is just a simple bolt thru the tank wall that gets dirty. The dirty tank walls are a problem as well. I built a device to compensate for the current conducted by the dirt and it worked well this past season.

Care to share?

When I posted about my device before, I got nothing but nonsense from the usual nay-Sayers.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27618811/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
Clay_L
Explorer
Oct 31, 2014
The problem is due to tank wall getting crudded up with water bearing stuff that fools the sensors- not with the sensors.

There are some shielded sensors that extend out into the tank past the gunk on the wall. A number of people have posted that they work well. See HORST PROBES

I have a non- contact system with sensors on the outside of the tank and it still lies when the tank walls get crudded up too much.
shadows4
Nomad
Oct 31, 2014
Lynnmor wrote:
Why do people think that the "sensors" are something special? It is just a simple bolt thru the tank wall that gets dirty. The dirty tank walls are a problem as well. I built a device to compensate for the current conducted by the dirt and it worked well this past season.

Care to share?
Lynnmor
Explorer
Oct 31, 2014
Why do people think that the "sensors" are something special? It is just a simple bolt thru the tank wall that gets dirty. The dirty tank walls are a problem as well. I built a device to compensate for the current conducted by the dirt and it worked well this past season.
shadows4
Nomad
Oct 31, 2014
OP'er here. Thanks for all the replies. This is our third trailer, first fifth wheel. The sensors in the other two worked great. The sensors in this 5er have never worked. I thought I would give it a shot at replacing them. It was only about $30 bucks for the sensors. I have decided to just drill new holes. Should be fairly quick and easy. (Famous last words!)

Sorry to hear that so many of you have sensors that don't work. I hope I have better luck.
down_home
Explorer II
Oct 31, 2014
Ours are in an 05 Mh. Always worked. May have to change tommorrow, who knows. It is impractical to try to judge, if the shower is going to overflow by shaking the coach or maybe a long dipstick. We use water Calgon softener, once in a while in black tank and gray tank. Probably not much need. When we empty we follow mfg instructions. The flush system cleans the tank thoroughly including sensors. I has a little container for chlorine tablets but never been able to find them outside the two that came with ll the manuals.
GaryWT
Explorer
Oct 31, 2014
First I guess I don't understand why you would replace them in the first place. Other than not using them, I would be afraid of having leaks with the tanks. For 10 years we had a camper that did not come with them. We know that we get a 3 day weekend out of the black tank and one day out of the gray so we just leave the gray open until the last day.
Oaklevel
Explorer
Oct 31, 2014
Your new sensors will only work for a couple of trips .....don't bother.

I have been camping longer than there were sensors & never paid much mind to them. After camping awhile you tend to know how long it takes the tanks to fill..........