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Andrusha's avatar
Andrusha
Explorer
Aug 10, 2020

water tank help

I have a 1982 fleetwood prowler travel trailer. i had a busted cold water line behind the tank and i finally took apart the seats and cushions to get to it behind my 30 gallon fresh water tank. i don't have a water level meter in the trailer, but I'd like one.

here's my newbie questions if you could help me:

1) on the tank i have the usual spin weld fittings, top the pump and the water inlet. however, on the side of the tank i have a vertical row of silver female fittings spun welded into the tank about five of them. they seem to accept a small screw into them. i believe these to be water sensor fittings. however, inside the tank they just protrude slightly with a rounded silver smooth end. dip i need to buy new sensors and install them or can i use these to attach a wire to them back to a seelevel panel? if so how duo i wire that up? single wire to each screw attachment, and a ground somewhere?

thank you!
  • Harvey51's avatar
    Harvey51
    Explorer
    Aug 16, 2020
    Got a fresh water tank drain tap?
    I attached a clear plastic hose to the tap and routed it up to the bumper. If I open the tap and the water level goes up to the top of the bumper, I know I have a full tank.
  • opnspaces's avatar
    opnspaces
    Navigator II
    Aug 11, 2020
    Andrusha wrote:
    GordonThree wrote:
    That's all the sensor is ... the device that attaches to the studs reads resistance / conductivity and turns the full, 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 lights on.

    You could also look at upgrading to the Seelevel II system, which attaches via a sensor strip to the outside of the tank and is more precise.


    thank you Gordon, so to clarify, do i need actual sensors which attach? or just a wire and bolt to the female thread? even o look at sensors on line i see a sensor and rubber grommet etc as if i was going to drill a new hole and add that.

    can you point me to a photo of what i might need?

    thank you


    The nails you spotted are the sensors. There the bottom one is probably ground and the others are the various levels.

    The SeeLevel system just attaches to the side of the tank like a big sticker and does not use the original sensors. There are no holes drilled in the tank with the SeeLevel sensor.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2020
    Andrusha wrote:


    thank you Gordon, so to clarify, do i need actual sensors which attach? or just a wire and bolt to the female thread? even o look at sensors on line i see a sensor and rubber grommet etc as if i was going to drill a new hole and add that.

    can you point me to a photo of what i might need?

    thank you


    No extra sensor needed ... or rather, the metal stud is the sensor. Donn't need to drill the tank or install any seals.

    If you're working with bare wires, I suggest crimping on a ring terminal, then just carefully fasten to the tank with lock washer and nut. No need to go crazy with the torque, just enough so the nut stays put.

    The Seelevel II sensor is a flexible circuit board that glues on to the side of your tank and uses capacitance instead of conductivity to detect contents. So if you have a Seelevel 2 read-out, you'll need the circuit board.

    This thing is an old school conductivity sensor, there's some decent pictures of it getting installed to the studs on the tank.
    Micro Monitor
  • Andrusha's avatar
    Andrusha
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2020
    GordonThree wrote:
    That's all the sensor is ... the device that attaches to the studs reads resistance / conductivity and turns the full, 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 lights on.

    You could also look at upgrading to the Seelevel II system, which attaches via a sensor strip to the outside of the tank and is more precise.


    thank you Gordon, so to clarify, do i need actual sensors which attach? or just a wire and bolt to the female thread? even o look at sensors on line i see a sensor and rubber grommet etc as if i was going to drill a new hole and add that.

    can you point me to a photo of what i might need?

    thank you
  • Andrusha's avatar
    Andrusha
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2020
    wa8yxm wrote:
    The Standard sensor is what I call a "Nail" and you did a very very very good job of describing it.

    For Fresh water it seems to work fairly well. For waste. not so good.


    thank you. is one of those ground? and the connection is just a wire and a little bolt? nothing more.

    I'll look into the see level 2
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Aug 10, 2020
    The Standard sensor is what I call a "Nail" and you did a very very very good job of describing it.

    For Fresh water it seems to work fairly well. For waste. not so good.
  • GordonThree's avatar
    GordonThree
    Explorer
    Aug 10, 2020
    That's all the sensor is ... the device that attaches to the studs reads resistance / conductivity and turns the full, 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 lights on.

    You could also look at upgrading to the Seelevel II system, which attaches via a sensor strip to the outside of the tank and is more precise.

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