water tank indicator lights - Montana Owners Club

ctrocks · 10-06-2007, 02:05 PM

This is my 2nd fifth wheel and first Montana. 2006 3475 delivery this spring

How well do the lights work for black,grey,fresh and galley tanks work. My empty black water tank shows 2/3 full and I wonder whether this another problem Ishould insist on fixing.

If the performance of the lights is generally poor I don't want to waste my time. (On the other hand)

Thanks in advance

bncinwv · 10-06-2007, 02:08 PM

Poor poorer and poorest.
Bingo

DHenry · 10-06-2007, 02:24 PM

The lights are useless.

Crossthread · 10-06-2007, 02:29 PM

They work very well, just don't believe them.

mamashappy · 10-06-2007, 02:31 PM

ditto to the above comments. you will learn from experience much better than from the lights

. they do look nice when all of the other lights are off, however

melnjoy · 10-06-2007, 02:34 PM

Boy I sure hate to disagree with my good friend Doug, but we live in ours full time and the lights work just fine. I do not know if I am doing somthing differant then other people or I am just lucky. I do flush my gray and galley tank and back flush the black tank 2 - 3 times when I empty it.
Mel

TheRanch · 10-06-2007, 02:37 PM

When they say full!!! There full! Any other time your memory will serve you best!

ols1932 · 10-06-2007, 02:41 PM

Mel,
I think you must be the exception. I've had several RVs over the past 31 years and not one had indicator lights that worked properly. Sure, they all lit, but the black and grey water lights never indicated properly. Even had a new black water tank installed in January. At that time the black water indicator light indicated empty. But after using, it has always indicated full. Now, you can't say I'm not flushing properly or flushing enough because I do exactly as I'm supposed to. I empty the black water tank then back flush the black water tank with the grey water. Then dump the whole works. After that I back flush my black water tank using a Flush King (I don't have a built-in back flush setup) until I see nothing but clear water coming out. Usually takes three times.

This discussion comes up quite frequently because of the newcomers and I believe that it is important to share our experiences with them.

Orv

boylanag · 10-06-2007, 02:52 PM

ctrocks - The lights have never worked properly for any of the RVs that we have had. Even after backflushing the black water tank several times after emptying, they usually will show at least 1/3 to 2/3 full and then full soon thereafter. Knowing this, just go on and enjoy your new rig. - Jim

mtheo · 10-06-2007, 03:00 PM

Well I've been RVing for 20 and seldom has the Black worked corretly for very long.

Eagle Man · 10-06-2007, 03:08 PM

All my lights on the guage, light...that's about it.

dsprik · 10-06-2007, 04:41 PM

My method is my wife taking a shower and suddenly yelling at me, "Dave! The gray tank is full!" as the water starts backing up slightly into the tub... Also, "Dave, the galley tank is full" is another reliable signal. As far as the black tank goes, I can tell from the sound of water running down the toilet when it's time to dump and flush. Are we supposed to be using those panel lights???

BTW, my fresh water lights work like a champ - the only time I touch that panel.

Garin1 · 10-06-2007, 08:37 PM

My tank lights have always worked....BUT THEY ALWAYS LIE

richfaa · 10-07-2007, 02:32 AM

This is our 5th rv and this is the ONLY one were the indicators lights do not work properly. They are something that is there..they are supposed to work.. we pay for them..but they rarely work and most of us do not seem to care.. It irritates the h*** out of me that something that should work does not and no one can seem to fix it.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 10-07-2007, 03:48 AM

Manufacturers could sure save a lot of $$, don't bother with the silly things, cept, maybe that fresh water one, that seems to work.

Our old rig had fresh water tank in place where we could see it from an outside compartment! Goodness we miss that! Then we would not even need the fresh water one.

Entire thing is stupid really, manufacturers put them on, EVEN they admit during plant tours they won't work after the first use, they spend $$ and time installing. Majority of us out here never use them, know they work maybe 1 % of the time.

Why are we doing this???

Even coaches that cost a bunch more than our Montana/Keystone lines, use these silly stupid nonworking frustrating pieces of sh#.

Next coach, I want to be able to see my fresh water tank from the an outside compartment, and/or, want those sensors that attach from outside of tank, NOT inside them.

Gosh, this is not rocket science is it?? Give us something that truly works, or forget it. HELLO OUT THERE!!!!

melnjoy · 10-07-2007, 04:07 AM

This is the first RV that we have had that the tank indicators seem to work on a steady bases. We do have problems with the black tank if I don't back flush till it is clean.
Mel

Fire5er · 10-07-2007, 05:46 AM

So far so good, all the sensor lights are working properly.

rogue · 10-07-2007, 07:57 AM

Now here is an Idea (mod for OZZ). When you push the button for the Gray/Black/Galley/Fresh water tank, it turns on a lazer/diode light behind the tank. You look into a peephole (like in stick houses) and through the use of fiber optoics, see exactly how full the tank is. Sounds simple and effective. Now if I only knew how to patent it.

richfaa · 10-07-2007, 08:01 AM

I really do not think that there is anything wrong with the sensor system itself..I think the problem is with the installation procedure and the folks that install them.

Mrs. CountryGuy · 10-07-2007, 08:58 AM

Rich,

Anytime you have sensors IN the tank that are gonna get gunked up, seems to me there is a weakness in the entire situation.

Sensors that are on the OUTSIDE of the tanks, like the aftermarket ones, cannot get debris all over then, seems to my ole leaky logic brain (do I even have one anymore??) that if they cannot get gunked up, they will work longer

????????????????????????????

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