Black & Gray tank guage readings - Montana Owners Club

bcforce · 03-20-2012, 05:34 PM

I'm getting inaccurate readings from the guages for the black and gray water tanks. Have others had the same problem? What can I do to get accurate readings? I'll be dry camping all summer, so I really need to know how full they are...

steelpony5555 · 03-20-2012, 05:59 PM

No, your gauges will probably never read accurate. You can try to get your tank as clean as possible but some gauges just don't work the way they should. Not sure but there must be different ways that gauges are installed or different brands. On my Alpenlite they were extremely accurate and I even had an adjustment on the panel to make it dead on the money. I never had any false lights. But on the Montana my black reads totally full. and Grays are all over the board. Just depends on the RV if they work the way they should or not.

Ishler · 03-21-2012, 01:46 AM

In our last Montana I replaced the tank probes with these and it read correctly until we traded it. Replacing the probes in the new Montana is on my to-do list but a low priority since we don't dry camp too often.
http://www.rvprobes.com/home.html

camper4 · 03-21-2012, 01:55 AM

The stock gauges do not work worth crap. IMHO if they look like they are working, they are far from accurate. For dry camping, you picked the camper with large holding tanks so you can go a long time with conservation. After a while you begin to get a pretty good feel for how full your tanks are getting. Typically your black tank will " plup" back at you when you flush when it is ready to dump. That happens when the vent gets covered with water.
Good luck.

1retired06 · 03-21-2012, 05:25 AM

Agree, We have never had good readings, the sensors get fouled up quickly. We normally just leave the gray tanks open. If no sewer hookups and gray tanks closed you will know it is time to dump when you have standing water in the sink or shower. And as indicated, with the black tank, the toilet will burp when black tank is full.

**DQDick** · 03-21-2012, 06:32 AM

My grays work just fine, but the black has never worked, except when Keystone Customer Service fixed it and then it went right back to not working again. They claimed they flushed it, I'd bet they replaced the sensor. I can't flush it and clean it. Anyway, at some point when it's in for something else I'm having outside the tank sensors installed.

ols1932 · 03-22-2012, 04:12 PM

Personally I don't even use the gauges. If I relied on them I'd be dumping right after I dump. Just now worth the concern.

Orv

CamillaMichael · 03-23-2012, 03:21 AM

You would think different questions are being asked given the answers! We have had mixed results with our tank sensors... the answer for us has been to use tank chemicals designed to deal with waste water and to rinse often. When we start getting what we believe to be false readings, we add more chemicals and rinse the tanks longer. On the other hand, I believe our tank sensors are in good working order and have been installed correctly...a bad sensor or incorrect installation will foil any attempt to get a good reading...I think.

old turbo · 03-24-2012, 03:46 AM

I use the Honey sensor method. Honey the shower water is not going down. Honey I think the toilet is full. Honey the galley sink wont drain. This method has worked for years and I always know my drain plumbing is tight.

CamillaMichael · 03-24-2012, 04:49 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by old turbo

I use the Honey sensor method. Honey the shower water is not going down. Honey I think the toilet is full. Honey the galley sink wont drain. This method has worked for years and I always know my drain plumbing is tight.

We all look for a solution that works for us....the only reason I like to know how much waste water is in our tanks is that I like to pick the time of day to empty the tanks. Finding out that the tanks need to be emptied...NOW...and that time is in the middle of the night and it's raining out can be more fun than I can stand!

GregN · 03-24-2012, 06:35 AM

I don't even check the sensors. I mostly travel by myself now, so I have determined times for dumping the tanks. I have two gray and one black tank. The gray tank for the shower and bathroom sink I dump after I have used the shower twice. The galley gray if doing alot of dishes ever other day to be safe. Some people get their galley tank too full and have leak problems, as the tank sags and pull away form the drain, manufactuer defect. If I am going to be parked for awhile I just leave the value open for the galley. The black tank every third day, to be safe. I always empty the tanks in the morning, so no worrying about a night time problem. You will know if you have a problem, you will see water dripping from under the rv in place that it should not be.

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