Black TankLevel sensor showing 1/3 full when empty

[Dean A Van Peursem]

Is this normal?

[RVWheels]

Dean,
Please do a "search" on this item. You will find a number of threads discussing this issue.

RVWheels

[dbrill]

Things get stuck on the sensors on both the black and galley tanks, some units have a sprayer on the black tank to clean the inside of the tank when you dump. Mine didn't but I added it and it does help. My next project is to add a sprayer to the galley tank. Everyone will tell you the sensor are not perfect and that you will learn over time when to dump based on your use and not even look at the sensors.

[CountryGuy]

Don, have you ever tried the Calgon trick?? Might save you some trouble and expense adding another sprayer. We don't care about the level things working, never have in over 20 years of owning tt or 5er. But, it does help keep cleaner, smelling better and with enough use, several have reported that the little sensors now work. Just a thought. Good luck which ever way you decide to go.

[padredw]

Yes! Entirely normal.

[Old GI]

Before we left our campsite we drained and flushed the black water tank until the water came clear, then closed the valve added more water and flushed again, when we unhooked the tank read 1/3, when we got home it read 1/3, yesterday when I was looking the rig over it read 2/3 and it has not been used. I've given up on trying to figure it out.

[ols1932]

We just live with it. Been fulltiming almost six years and never pay any attention to those sensor lights except for the fresh water ones. It's entirely normal.

Orv

[TheCoachPotatoes]

Check out this article about how to clean you black water and gray water tanks! As Carol mentioned above it really does work.

http://www.newrver.com/publish/holdingtank.shtml

[jrgwdenner]

Let's see, when was that day when we got an empty reading on our black tank.....we wrote down that date somewhere so we could celebrate its anniversary......

[8.1al]

Judy,
It was probably your purchace date.

[Dean A Van Peursem]

OK, Thanks for the quick replies. After I flushed the tank thorughly yesterday, it did read empty until I put a few gallons back in, then back to 1/3rd immediately. I guess things are normalbut not quite right.

[jrgwdenner]

That described it pretty well, Dean. We actually got our empty reading after a REALLY good flushing, not on our purchase day as stated by certain wise guys. So we've had TWO dates when it read empty....

[Glenn and Lorraine]

You want my opinion??? NO? Well here it is anyway......

First of all---Forget the gauges. Get yourself a system and get on with life.
Forget the ice and dragging the rig around, forget the Pine Sol, forget all the additives and gimmicks about trying to clean the tank sensors. All these gimmicks 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!
We just gave up on the gauges and developed a system.
Get into the habit of dumping AS NEEDED and get on with life!

I have added a 4th gate to the end of the sewer pipe where you would normally connect the sewer hose. I than attach a clear elbow and than the sewer hose to the elbow.
Gray and Galley tanks,
For maximum capacity in the Gray and Galley tanks, I keep both the Gray gate and Galley gate open and the new 4th gate closed thus sharing the two tanks. Of course the Black water gate is also closed. By sharing the two tanks I am increasing my Gray water storage capacity by 30+ gallons. As we do very little inside cooking the Galley tank gets very little water from the kitchen sink. This sharing of the two tanks extends my the frequency of draining the Gray water from 4 to 5 days to 10 days or more.
So here’s my system.
First we always Dump the Black tank first.
First step is to connect the garden hose to the Flush fitting and turn on the water.
I close the Gray and Galley valves and open the Black water valve and than the 4th valve and drain the Black tank until the flow through the clear elbow has slowed to just the amount of water being put in through the flush valve.
I close the Black tank valve and refill the Black tank using the flush valve. Yes, I am aware that the manufacturer does not recommend closing the gate while using the flush. Just be careful and do not allow yourself to be distracted while refilling the Black tank. You have to be very careful not to overflow the tank. You sure don't want this water inside the coach.
When the tank is full I dump it again and refill again.
I repeat the process until the water coming thru the clear elbow is nearly as clear as the water going in through the flush valve. Once I have reached the water clarity I desire I than close the Black tank gate and shut off the water to the flush valve.
With the Black and Gray gates now closed I open the Galley gate and let that tank drain fully.
I than open the Gray water gate and drain the Gray water tank and at the same time the Gray water is flushing the sewer line.
Leaving the Gray water gate open I reopen the Galley gate and close the 4th gate and I am done for another 10 days.

[rickety]

My black water sensor only knows 1/3 full and full! I don't even pay attention to it any more, just drain and flush balck and gray tanks every 3-4 days. Works for me, no sense in going nuts ove rsomething that is a very poor way of sensing levels. They should have put manhole covers on them and given us all dipsticks to use! Like many others said, it's very normal.

[CountryGuy]

Rick,

I wanna a man hole cover and a dip stick too! Oh, dear, that is FUNNY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Carol

[patodonn]

We don't bother even looking at it.......might (most likely will) give wrong info, and that it is worse than useless. Once every six or seven days does it for us with the black tank, use the galley tank either open to the sewer or until it fills. We keep the grey water tank closed until needed to clean out the sewer line following the black tank emptying process. Usually that is before it fills, but no big deal to dump part of it if necessary before the black tank draining process.

[jackel1959]

I have never been able to get my tank to read empty after dumping it unless I leave the valve open and let the tank "air dry", if you will. Now I just figure if I have emptied the tank it is empty. The sensors are an approximation at best (at least to me). If you really want to know if it is empty, full, or somewhere in between, flush it and look in the hole with a flashlight. Not the prettiest thing, but it works.

[mobilrvn]

If you believe in the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, then you can believe in sensor lights, too. :-)

[Ozz]

Try one of these, a Vena tank monitor system, WWW.Vena.com
I bought one and will install it on my tanks. It has tank sensors, propane sensor and the battery voltage readout.
After I install it, I will give you a report. (That install is 6 or 7 projects down the road.)
It drives me crazy to not know where the tank level is.
Jim.

[Montana_6017]

quote:Originally posted by Dean A Van Peursem

OK, Thanks for the quick replies. After I flushed the tank thorughly yesterday, it did read empty until I put a few gallons back in, then back to 1/3rd immediately. I guess things are normalbut not quite right.