Gray Tank Sensors

[bennettommyd]

Does anyone have a good way to clean the gray tank sensors? or can they be replaced without replacing the gray tanks?

[dieselguy]

As replied before in posts similar to yours ... quite a few think trying to get the tank sensors to work reliably is more work than reward. You kinda just get to know what you can do and how long you can go before needing to dump your tanks. However ... with an empty tank, some dump in a few gallons of water and then a couple of bags of ice and drive down the road hoping the sloshing will clean off the sensors. Some swear by liquid Calgon as a tank additive. I think if you were going to the trouble of dropping your underbelly and attempting to replace your stock sensors ... you really should just upgrade to the aftermarket sensors that adhere to the outside of your tanks, read thru the side of the tank, and use existing wiring for the signal to the panel monitor. I can't remember any brand names, but just Google RV tank sensors. I know there are a couple of good videos on installation. A couple here on the MOC went this route.

[Phil P]

Hi

Did the sensors ever work correctly?

If not then the first thing you need to do is get a look at the tanks and see that the sensors are installed correctly.



In my case the sensors were installed upside down. I mean the tank was upside down when the sensors were installed so they were in the wrong place. Because the tank was upside down the sensors that were supposed to be 1/3 from the bottom were 1/3 from the top and the top sensors were installed in the bottom of the tank. This makes them read full all the time.

The dealers have figured this out and some of them will scam you on a new trailer and force dry the tanks with air to make the indicator look like it is working and then when you complain they will tell you you are using the wrong toilet paper or that they never work correctly.

Because of the principle that the system works on the indicators are not “direct reading” meaning that they don’t read immediately when the condition changes particular when decreasing the contents.

I now have mine working good on some tanks I still have some to do when I get the correct right angle drill attachment to get in between the tank and structure.

Keystone doesn’t have any quality control on the production line so the problem continues.

Phil P

[1retired06]

Not worth the trouble. We do fine without them.

[JandC]

quote:Originally posted by 1retired06

Not worth the trouble. We do fine without them.

I agree, we leave our grays open until the day before we are going to dump the black. I could care less is any of the sensors work. I wouldn't waste 5 minutes of my time, or $1.00 of my money fixing them.

[Phil P]

We dry camp for 1 week every year in February.

Wait until the day the potable water runs out in the middle of a shower because wife forgot to tell you she spent the day before washing all the dishes she thought need it. LOL

That was the first tank I fixed. It works very well.

Phil P

[DQDick]

As usual, I agree with Diesel Guy, might have to do with the state he's from. The external sensors are going to be my next mod.

[scattershot]

In my experience, the only thing you can count on with the stock sensors is that they don't work. The fresh water seems to indicate somewhat reliably, and we can gauge everything else, so it's not worth the tme or effort involved to try and fix it.

[jcurtis934]

Now that I have had to drop some of the bottom to get to my errant galley tank, I will go ahead and install my Tech-Edge monitor system that uses the external sensors (www.tankedge.com) since I now have lots of room to run my wiring. The existing tank sensor wiring isn't up to the quality that one would expect to be there. I used this same monitor system when I had my diesel pusher so I know they make a quality product. I thought about leaving my grey tank valves open most of the time...but the things that can crawl out of the sewer system, up your hoses, into your tanks, and through your p traps so they can walk around inside your rig didn't thrill me. Having seen cockroaches do this before, I voted no open valves. Saw the mother of all cockroaches yesterday morning on the patio here in Florida...about 2 1/2 inches long. Looked like it could have carried off one of my flip-flops that I leave by the steps. Named it Fred out of honor of living that long...no disrespect to any moc'er named Fred intended. John

[Phil P]

Hi

What color was Fred?

Phil P

[DQDick]

Found one of this in our bed in a Marriot next to Disney years ago. They told me they were indigenous to the area and did nothing since I'd already beat it to death. Never stayed in a Marriot again.

[mazboy]

sensors have never worked in any of my trailers....just live with it unless you want to spend money.

[jcurtis934]

Fred was sort of black or dark brown. Figured he was one of the extras from the Men in Black movies and let him do his thing. John

[CATCRAW]

For the first time I tried using a sensor cleaner that you pour into the tank, then fill with water and let sit for at least a day. (I left it in for about a week until we took our next trip.) I drained our tanks before we left and to my surprise, my sensors worked perfectly. They have not registered correctly since our Montana was new. We have gone all summer and they still work perfectly. I am going to make this part of my routine once a year!

[bennettommyd]

Catcraw - What kind of tank cleaner did you use? I might try it before I replace sensors with these - http://www.rvprobes.com/

[DonandBonnie]

Last time we checked our sensors was the day we bought the coach. We watched and learned by experience. As a rule of thumb we dump the shower tank every three days, the black and galley once a week. Everything gets dumped before we travel. We think you will find that the black tank packets will only keep odor down for about a week. You will want to reduce the odor long before you need to empty the contents.