Cleaning grey water sensors

I haven't looked at mine in years. Leave them open when at a full hookup site except for the black tank. I close the bathroom gray tank the day before I think I have to dump the black so I can get a good flush on the hose. The toilet burps when flushing when the black is full.

B.O.

I gave up on trying to get waste (grey & black) tank sensors working many many years ago, it was a futile exercise. :E We rely on our years of rving experience for when to dump the tanks.

The fresh water tank sensor has been the only one that has worked fairly well.

I had a sensor problem when we had a travel trailer. I filled the grey tank with fresh water and chucked in a bottle of Thetford gauge cleaner and let the big dog eat. Did it in July so the water was warm. Dumped it on the next trip. Sensors were clean and never had another problem.

sell the rv and buy one that the sensers work in it :)

very warm (almost hot) water and liquid laundry soap(1/4 cup per every gallon) fill to 1/3 to 1/2 full,,,, both tanks (black and grey) drive for about 2 hours or more on secondary hwys,,, something with stops, curves , bumps, dips, turn a bunch of corners at safe yet faster speeds, keep the tanks churning as much as possible then dump, boy oh boy its amazing what comes out of thought to be empty tanks

laundry soap in warm to hot water will dissolve most dirts even oily type (cooking oils) and soap residues, bleach in this case wont really help so much especially in the grey tank, as it is soap and/or oil build up that is effecting it

I do this once a year minimum, and it works great every time, very dirty grungy water comes out at the end of the drive, back flush it once, water comes out soapy and a little greyish or cloudy, and the second time the water comes back out a little soapy but clear

I've been doing the geo method for over five years and while it seems to work to keep smells down and tanks clean(er), I can't remember the last time I looked at the sensor lights for serious input on their status. If the water backs up in the shower, it's time to dump. You will know when you're close by experience after a while. With full hookups, which we seldom do, it's a matter of going outside and pulling the valve. Otherwise, on longer weekend trips without shower houses, I plan accordingly with the blue tote so I don't have to dump in the middle of the night, just like filling the FW tank. Experience is the ultimate teacher.

Rmack1 wrote:
I've read elsewhere on this board that putting a bag or two of ice in your partially full black tank before traveling can clean off the sensors. I'm not sure about grey tanks, though. I would have problems getting ice into mine.

I just dump crushed ice in the sink and use plenty of water to wash it down the drain.:B

I did the GEO method (minus the bleach) on a 20 year old MH that the sensors had stopped working about 19 years ago. They still are working 7 years later. I only use the treatment about once every 10 tank fulls or so.

Lots of people claim it won't work, but it has for me. And mine aren't special sensors. The previous owner told me they would never work and I shouldn't bother trying to get them to work. Nothing he tried ever worked. The GEO method (minus the bleach) has ALWAYS worked very well for me.

Thanks all, We have a sealed bottom so getting to the sensors for replacement would not be easy, so I think I will try the BORAX as soon as i can find it. Our next outing will be on Sept 20, and I have to take the RV up to get the tires changes on the Tuesday before that. I will do the BORAX thing before I get the tires changed, then let it sit and fill it with more fresh water before we head out for camping on Friday. The black tank is fine, we have a flush system and flush it thoroughly every time. It is the grey tanks, specifically the one for the kitchen sink.

If you know the sensors are the problem and want to get the job done without messing around pick up some powdered borax and dump some down about 1 pound and get water in tank to a level about 1/2 full. And take on a drive for about a day. This is not for maintenance that you should do to keep them clean. This is to really get years of build up off them, think of scrubbing something with a high ph level. You might want to try other stuff first but if you've given up and about ready to replace sensors try some borax. Not "boraxo" the soap or laundry product that contains borax but borax. I can usually find it at a bait store for curing salmon egg roe or skeins (what ever you want to call them). Be careful in pure form pretty potent stuff. here found article about how it cleans http://chemistry.about.com/od/howthingsworkfaqs/a/howboraxworks.htm
(Be prepared for many to say your nuts) again not for maintenance but when you need to get them in shape to be able to get on maintenance. schedule for your tanks. Info comes from a full timer in our park that passed away maybe 20 years ago and full timed probably 30 years before that in a old beat up "fireball" trailer pulled by his really old, old International pick up. One could only guess how many it had on it.

ktmrfs wrote:
try laundry detergent and some calgon next time you go out. And replace the cheap factory sensors with Horst Miracle Probes. Huge Huge improvement over the factory cheap probes.

By 'Calgon' you must mean the water softener. That's interesting.

I can probably Google 'Horst Miracle Probes' for myself, but I'm wondering what kind of installation nightmare would ensue if I wanted to upgrade to those.