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05-15-2011, 05:43 PM
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#1
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Saint Charles
Posts: 86
M.O.C. #10832
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How do you guys clean the black waters sensors?
I have a 2150 and the toilet's drain goes right into an elbow. Is there a flexible sprayer anyone has had luck with? I drove with ice cubes in it the last time but sensors still indicate tank is full even when empty.
Thanks... Gary
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05-15-2011, 06:32 PM
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#2
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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Those inside sensors are one of the biggest jokes in all of RVdom. The only sensors that work over time is an after market sensor that senses from the outside of the tank. After a while you learn when to expect your tanks to be full and listen for the different sound that the toilet makes when nearing full. Full timing for 4 or 5 years has made me fairly accurate in my estimates. Otherwise, get the retrofit outer sensors.
I am reasonably sure you have an internal tank wash. Close your valve and run the tank wash for three minutes then open the valve and let it drain. Do this 4 or 5 times. I have a site glass on the discharge pipe so that I can see when the water starts running clear. That's when I stop washing. Others will give additional advice.
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05-15-2011, 06:45 PM
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#3
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Saint Charles
Posts: 86
M.O.C. #10832
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Where do you find the internal tank wash? Going to check on external sensors.. Do they hook up to the existing galley swich or do you add its own?
Thanks... Gary
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05-15-2011, 07:48 PM
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#4
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Site Team
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Omaha
Posts: 6,749
M.O.C. #7560
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Gary-- First of all, what year Monte do you have? This will give us some indication as to how we can answer your question! There was one post here about a week or so ago and they asked the same question. I believe someone said they used Rid-X and put it down into a full tank, let it set several hours then flushed the tank and the lines. If I remember correctly, this cleaned out the tank and the sensors worked fine then. I'm hoping I didn't just dream this and I really should run a Search on it. As Stiles has said, this is one of the biggest problems with the sensor system especially on the black tank. They get crud on them and do not send out the correct signals to the monitor! PM me if you have any questions or can't find the thread on this!
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05-16-2011, 01:04 AM
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#5
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Harvey
Posts: 329
M.O.C. #8863
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As mentioned, use the in tank rinser if you have one and I use the Flush King to back flush the tank. About every third dump of the black tank, I will back flush 6-7 times until you see nothing but clear water coming thru the elbow. That really helps clean up those sensors. The Flush King also works great for back flushing the kitchen galley if there is food, grease in that.
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05-16-2011, 01:19 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Leona
Posts: 6,382
M.O.C. #2059
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I don't know what modifications since 2008 they have made to the convenience center, but on my model the internal sprayer connection is located below the fresh water fill. It should be labeled. I use a "Y" or a manifold (from Lowes or Home depot) and a separate hose on the sprayer.
Do not switch your fresh water hose back and forth from one to the other. On the side of the "Y" that goes to the sprayer, I also use an anti-siphon valve to keep anything from back washing through that sprayer hose. Anything related to waste tanks is kept separate from the fresh water delivery. This is health safety.
Anti-siphon valves are also available at Lowes, etc. They are a brass fitting, about an inch to inch and a half long, you just screw on the water source before attaching the hose.
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05-16-2011, 01:28 AM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Albuquerque
Posts: 703
M.O.C. #235
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Stiles is right. I would recommend that you forget you have a sensor and go old school. If you are at the same spot for a while (1 week )in my case you will hear a gurrgle sound thats when you dump. I dump often cause I don't like carring extra weight around.In time you'll get into a groove about dumping. I back wash every time I dump. Forget about the sensor it will drive you crazy and hours of work that will not fix the problem. Jack
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05-16-2011, 01:43 AM
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#8
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Ontario
Posts: 722
M.O.C. #1328
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A replacement for the internal sensors that I have found that actually work are here http://www.horstmiracleprobe.com/ I have used them in two rigs and plan to install them in our current unit.
__________________
Mike & Donna Ishler Ontario, NY KE2LU FN13
2017 3720RL TST S637's
2017 Dodge 3500 Laramie CTD 4x4 Auto
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05-16-2011, 03:25 AM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Concord
Posts: 575
M.O.C. #3543
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I have not tried this myself but I have heard that using Calgon or some other water softner in your tank helps to keep the sensors cleaner and thus more reliable. Gunk and paper have more trouble sticking to the sensors. Otherwise i use the Stiles method of just listening to the flush to get a sense of how full we are. Frome experience we have a pretty good idea of how long we can use the toilet before dumping.
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05-16-2011, 03:30 AM
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#10
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Crawfordville
Posts: 146
M.O.C. #4328
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I have been using Rv-Digestit in the tank and it has helped with the sensors. Well the tank shows empty or near empty when I drain it which didn't happen many time before using Rv-Digestit.
http://uniquemm.com/rv-digestit.html
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05-16-2011, 04:07 AM
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#11
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: nancy
Posts: 245
M.O.C. #7510
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As Pete mentioned Calgon water softner will help. As we travel I will first dump my black tank, put 10 gallons or so of water and 2-3 caps of Calgon in. Drive all day and then flush tank. Gauge will work for awhile. Best solution is to know how many days it takes to fill a tank. For us while setup, it's about 7 days for black and 3 for gray.
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05-16-2011, 05:01 AM
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#12
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Paola
Posts: 5,739
M.O.C. #4961
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I have tried it all and it has been a waste of time. Now I just do what Stiles does and it is the best solution to the problem.
__________________
Dennis & Linda Ward
Paola, Kansas
Montana 3735MK Legacy Edition
1200 watts of Solar
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05-16-2011, 12:50 PM
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#13
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Wilsons
Posts: 404
M.O.C. #9833
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I was told on my first camping outing down in Florida year before last to use lots, I mean, LOTS of water when using the toilet. Flush that bad boy at least twice as long as you think you need to when using the toilet, then dump the tank every couple of days. You don't have to wait for the tank to fill up to dump it! Works for me, no build-up, the old tennis-shoe wedged in the flush pedal works to fill the tank with water for a fresh-water flush every week or so as well. You just thought you had the tank clean until you do that. Just set the timer on a just-dumped tank for 12 minutes or so, when it goes off remove the tennis shoe, dump the tank -voila! Occasionally I use the outside-sprayer flush hookup as well but the other method seems to work better.
I worked on every kind of transmitter and sending unit available to industry during 30 years of elec instrumentation work. Those sensors are cheap and will only work well in a clean environment. Notice how well they work on the fresh water tank?
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