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Old 11-29-2004, 03:51 AM   #1
Montana_1362
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M.O.C. #1362
blackwater gage

I'm having a bit of a problem with my blackwater gage it regiters full even after fushing it. any cures out there?
 
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Old 11-29-2004, 05:30 AM   #2
dbrill
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M.O.C. #359
The only thing I have found to work is to completely fill the tank with water till I can see water in the drain neck and then drain it.
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Old 11-29-2004, 06:19 AM   #3
sectres
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M.O.C. #1643
We were told by our dealer to put some pine-sol cleaner in ours. This helps dissolve what ever is on the probes.
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Old 11-29-2004, 06:51 AM   #4
sreigle
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survivor2, this is a very common problem in every RV I've ever heard of or owned. We've pretty much given up on those gauges but we've also lived in this thing enough to have a feel for how long we can go before dumping.

Some folks have added third-party sensors that go on the outside of the tank to replace the standard in-the-tank sensors that get paper and other debris hung up on them and then read incorrectly.

Sectres and dbrill offered solutions that sometimes work. Another is to add a few bags of cubed ice, fill the tank with water, then drive it around, then dump it.

Another, is to flush it several times. You might need to close the dump valve (this is something they say not to do) then fill the tank with the flush valve, then dump, fill it again, etc. I've done that just to clean out the tank. You have to be very careful not to overflow the tank. It might help to have someone repeatedly flushing the toilet. When the flush water starts "plopping" when you flush the toilet you're just about full. I assume that's the point the vent is covered is what causes the plop. Be very careful if you do this. You sure don't want this water inside the coach.

We just gave up on the gauges as mentioned above. With two of us we know the black tank will go from six to nine days depending on how much we're here. I am in the habit of dumping it weekly now. The bath gray tank will go about six showers. We don't conserve much on the shower water when hooked up to city water and six is about the max. When full it will start to backup into the shower. Time to dump it. Generally I leave the valve open on both gray tanks until a couple of days before I want to dump the black tank.

I'll be watching this thread for other solutions.
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Old 11-29-2004, 06:52 AM   #5
Treecounter
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When we were in Alaska a couple of years ago a parts house told us the probe is located beside the inlet on the tank. Ours has been full ever since the first time we used it. Just empty it every ten days whether it needs it or not.
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Old 11-29-2004, 07:43 AM   #6
Glenn and Lorraine
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You want my opinion??? NO? Well here it is anyway......
Forget the gauges. Get a system and get on with life.
Forget the ice and dragging the rig around, forget the PineSol, forget all the gimics about trying to clean the tank sensors. All these gimics may or may not work and even if they do work, one thing is sure, within a few days you will be right back to a full tank even though you just dumped it. Imagine That!
I have followed this subject on many many different forums and after all is said and done I have come to one conclusion.
Get into the habit of dumping AS NEEDED. Get yourself a system!
As Steve said...
Quote:
quote:We just gave up on the gauges as mentioned above. With two of us we know the black tank will go from six to nine days depending on how much we're here. I am in the habit of dumping it weekly now. The bath gray tank will go about six showers. We don't conserve much on the shower water when hooked up to city water and six is about the max. When full it will start to backup into the shower. Time to dump it. Generally I leave the valve open on both gray tanks until a couple of days before I want to dump the black tank.
This is pretty much the same proceedure I follow and it works. I have better things to do with my time than trying to keep some poorly designed sensors clean.
I repeat....Forget the gauges. Get a system and get on with life.

JMHO
Just My Humble Opinion
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Old 11-29-2004, 09:51 AM   #7
Sunseekers
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I totally agree - FORGET THE black,galley, and gray water GAUGES. I have tried lots of things the last was calgone, which only worked for a while and then the gauges again became inaccurate.

The gauges didn't work on our Alpenlite either. I don't think they work on any rig!

To read more on this go to "search archived posts" type in Black tank level indicator".
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Old 11-29-2004, 04:25 PM   #8
dersequim
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If you have a newer unit with the blacktank flush system, I wouldn't do the ice cube trick, because they could damage the spray head in tank. Iv'e used that method on all my other units that didn't have the flusher and it always worked. I used 2 bags.
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Old 11-30-2004, 06:37 AM   #9
Montana_1362
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Thanks for all the advise on the blackwater sensor, this is our first summer in the fiver and am not quite used to it yet. can't convince the better half to fulltime so its a slow process getting the feel of things.
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Old 11-30-2004, 10:59 AM   #10
Mike and Wendy
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I use the faulty gauges to my advantage. It keeps my mother-inlaw and kids from inviting everyone in the campground to use your bathroom (instead of using the campgrounds bathroom). I try to keep track of all of our water usage. I know Wendy and I can go a full week with no problems. It is when you have guests that don't understand that you have capacity limits.
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Old 11-30-2004, 02:27 PM   #11
Montana_1424
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Not for nothing, but I have never had this problem. My unit has the Black Tank flush system, and I flush it every time I dump, fill it right up and empty it again, and my guages all always fine.
But I agree with others, I have a system, and that is just part of mine, so get a system that works for you, and do it every time.
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Old 12-01-2004, 03:25 PM   #12
Bill Hill
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This has been an interesting thread. We're getting rid of a "01 Wanderer that came with very few options, but did have the tank gauges. They work well if they are clean. The rig did not have a flush system when we bought it, but I put one in(easy to do when there's no cover on the underside of the rig!). I used two nozzles because of the shape of the tank and the placement of the outlet. When I'm ready to drain, I just hook up the hose and let it run for 5 minutes or so while I do something else. Then I check the clear plastic "hydro-adapater" to see if the run-off is "clean". Works great. (By the way, the Wanderer goes to it's new home this Sunday and [God willing and the creek don't rise] we get our 2980 on Monday. Getting the SuperGlide installed on Friday.)
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Old 12-03-2004, 03:03 AM   #13
Montana_1985
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I agree with everyone!! lol ...
I use the red guage lights to amuse myself when i'm bored....

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Old 12-03-2004, 10:44 AM   #14
jh1802
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My Mountaineer Read 1/3 full, Black & galley tanks,when it was still sitting on the lot at the dealers!
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Old 12-19-2004, 05:30 AM   #15
Montana_2195
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I purchased a 2003 Montana 2955RL and have used it for eight months over the past two years, mostly wet camping. The tank sensors have never worked from about the first week. I've tried every "digester" and probe cleaner I could find. I've back-flushed the black tank through the outlet after first using the built-in back-flusher, completely filling the tank, as many as three consecutive times. I've filled the tank two-thirds full two weeks prior to a trip with "Pure Power" as well as "Odorlos", then driven 250 miles prior to emptying the tank, all of the foregoing to no avail.

Has anyone installed an after-market monitor such as Micropluse or Seelevel II as described in the January 2005 issue of "TrailerLife"? If so, which Monitor and was it a major undertaking (or labor cost)? Thanks in advance, Sierra Bob
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Old 12-19-2004, 05:48 AM   #16
Bill and Ann
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As Glenn says, get a system. Once you know how often you have to dump, you forget you have guages.
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