Tank monitor question

NorthwestBound wrote:
We have been in our 99 Jayco 243 for two weeks now. Ive had to learn a lot of lessons so far. One is double checking the slide locks are out before extending the slider, the other is making sure the tail gate is down before pulling away from the 5ver.

So a few days ago, i thought to myself, it sure would be nice to know if the holding tanks are full or not. Maybe have some kind of monitor or sight glass.

Well low and behold, this whole time, theres a monitor on the wall under the kitchen cabinet!!!

So, ive been messin with this thing, since the owners manual is no help, and it shows, i believe, that i have more tanks than i thought i did.

I knew i had a fresh, a grey and a black tank, but the panel also shows "galley."

Im assuming that is the pipe with a blade valve coming from the area near the fresh water tank which is under the kitchen area.

So, ive emptied all the valves, starting with black, then grey, then the unlabeled blade valve. And afterwards, i get readings of fresh=empty, black=full, grey=half, and galley=full.

Im sure the fresh tank is close to empty, havent used it yet, been on city water the whole time. But the others should read empty. So im not sure what to do about the grey and galley, im pretty sure i need to dump ice and chemicals in the black tank for the hour ride to the next campground.

Sensors are notoriously inaccurate. They =help=, but don't depend on them. You will learn your tanks' capacities as you use them. Do a search here (and Google) for the GEO Method of keeping tanks clean. Basically, you dump some original Dawn (seems to work best) and some Calgon, or other water softener, into the tank after each dump. Some also use a digester for the black tank, though I'd think it would work best for a low-use situation, where it can sit for more than just a few days. Best advice, though, is to not stint on the water. You should always start with a few gallons of water in the black tank, and flush well-filled bowls. Grey tanks can get nasty, especially galley tanks, which is why most people don't put =any= food they don't have to down them. A lot will even use a basin to wash dishes, then dump that in the toilet for extra water, instead of the grey tank.

Lyle