black tank sensor 06 vectra

evan whitaker · 03-18-2006, 01:19 PM

My vectra has the "truelevel" sensors. My understanding is that these are on the outside of the tank. About a wiik ago started showing 1/3 full when emptied, now showed 2/3 full when empty. Any suggestions?

evan whitaker · 03-18-2006, 01:19 PM

My vectra has the "truelevel" sensors. My understanding is that these are on the outside of the tank. About a wiik ago started showing 1/3 full when emptied, now showed 2/3 full when empty. Any suggestions?

BigTrace · 03-18-2006, 02:23 PM

Sounds like a bad sensor to me. I smell warranty issue. Also possible that contact to circuit board is not good, but that usually causes a fail/no-fail condition. Off to the dealer!!

AFChap · 03-18-2006, 04:53 PM

On the old style sensors, there is an adjustment you can do on the circuit board. On an '06 rig, I would definitely pursue the warranty route first just in case there a hardware problem. Either way, an email to Winnebago Owner Relations at [email protected] explaining the problem may result in some useful info too.

AdrianLee · 03-18-2006, 07:34 PM

I keep hearing that these sensors are questionable at best.

My black tank read 1/3 at empty after the first time I emptied the tank. The gray tank read 0. I took the panel off and looked to see if there was an adjustment on the back but could not find one. When I put the panel back on the gray now reads 1/3 full and the black reads 0 when empty. Go figure.

I am trying to decide which one I want to see as 1/3 full when it is empty

John_Canfield · 03-19-2006, 03:51 AM

Once my gray tank read 1/3 full right after I emptied it, then it straightened itself out and has worked fine since.

In living with the 1/3 resolution tank monitors for several months I have concluded that they are better than nothing, but to be really useful the resolution needs to be at least in 10% increments and not 33% increments.

Once you get below or above a third the ambiguity and wondering begins: do I have 20 gallons of water available, 10 gallons, or 2 gallons? Is my gray tank 15 gallons from bubbling up in the shower or 3 gallons away from a mess?

When you go from full hookup to full hookup, this isn't an issue. In the last two weeks, we have had a full hookup exactly for two nights so monitoring tank levels has been an obsession.

I have long pondered the feasability of going to a better system (the one I have my eye on uses a pressure sensor inserted into the drain - forgot the brand name.)

Sorry - didn't mean to hijack the thread

Clay L · 03-19-2006, 06:36 AM

As the other posters said, it could be a sensor or a board failure. Also the tank wall could be really crudded up.
I installed the True Level system on my unit at the Winnebago factory last summer.
The black and grey water tanks read full. Winnebago tried to fix it by replacing the new circuit board and sensors, but were not successful.
I have had several conversations with the people that make the system and there doesn't appear to be a fix. It turns out that if the tank walls are crudded up enough the sensors will be fooled. They were surprised to learn that.
I have pressure washed inside the black water tank and that caused it to work for a couple of tank fulls.
I have tried all sorts of things to clean the walls of the tanks with no success so far.

MrTransistor · 03-19-2006, 08:07 AM

Hi All,
Install water meters (see photos in photo section). Resolution ˜1' gallon. Problem solved.

Clay L,
It occurs to me that the True Level system like the SeeLevel may suffer from the problem of having the sensor too close to metal frame parts. Could this be a problem with yours?

Ed Gardiser · 03-19-2006, 08:30 AM

Mr.Transistor,
I looked under Photo's, but can not find your's
Can someone help me
Ed Gadiser
Escondido,Ca.
04 Vectra
87 Nissan PickUp
FMCA

MrTransistor · 03-19-2006, 08:44 AM

Hi Ed,
Goto:
˜PHOTOS'
˜Member Galleries' section.
˜m' group.
˜MrTransistor'

Photo #4 shows the meters installed in the water compartment. They have a resolution of 1/100 gallon as I recall. Photo #15 shows the remotes installed at the bottom of the One Place Panel along with the Onan
Energy Command 30. Let me know if you need any additional assistance.

Ed Gardiser · 03-19-2006, 09:04 AM

Thank you for your help.I see you have two meters and displays,is one for the water you bring onboard and the other for water consumed ?
Ed Gardiser
Escondido,Ca.
04 Vectra
87 Nissan PickUp
FMCA

MrTransistor · 03-19-2006, 10:51 AM

Hi Ed,
One is in the output of the pump and tells us how much water has been consumed from the fresh water tank. The tank holds exactly 72 gallons. The meters are reset to zero every time we dump the holding tanks and refill the fresh tank. When it reads 71 gallons, don't try to take a shower.

The second meter is installed in the line to the toilet (easiest to do). ˜Fresh minus Black equals Grey˜. Since the Grey tank holds 68 gallons, we never seem to have a problem with it overfilling. The Black holds 59 gallons and also has never been a problem.

When I dump the tanks, I start both the Black and the Grey with 4 to 5 gallons of water mixed with tank deodorant. That leaves 64 gallons useable in the Gray and 55 gallons in the Black.

Knowing what I know now for our coach, if I had to do it over, I would only have installed one meter. For other coaches that have different size tanks, two could be a necessity. With 100 gallons of fresh, and only 50 gallons of Black and 50 gallons of Grey, knowing how much water goes to each holding tank is most important. I guess the factory wouldn't want to install these meters since they would have to reprint all the brochures that list the tank sizes.

The meters were purchased from Daniel L. Jerman Co., Inc. and the water meter part number is DLJSJ50C with the LCD remotes.

In the words of John Canfield, I'm not trying to hijack this thread. Just presenting an alternative to trying to tell what's in a tank. This is our third Winnebago coach and I fought with the 1/3 - 2/3 thing long enough. It's still connected but I don't pay any attention to it any more. I only use the ˜Fresh, Full' indicator when I'm filling the tank. When it lights, I know I have 1 minute and 30 seconds till it overflows.

AFChap · 03-19-2006, 02:46 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Winnebago tried to fix it by replacing the new circuit board and sensors, but were not successful.
I have had several conversations with the people that make the system and there doesn't appear to be a fix. It turns out that if the tank walls are crudded up enough the sensors will be fooled. They were surprised to learn that. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I got info on these sensors considering spending the $$ to buy the system and retrofit our coach ...sounds like they are really not any more reliable than my old style sensors ...guess I'll save my money! Thanks for the info!!

Ed Gardiser · 03-19-2006, 05:22 PM

Thanks for the information.
Ed Gardiser
Escondido,Ca.
04 Vectra
87 Nissan PickUp
FMCA

Clay L · 03-20-2006, 07:23 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">MrTransistor </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That was something I and Winnebago both checked and it doesn't appear to be the problem. The fresh water tank works fine and it's as close to metal as the others.

Clay L · 03-20-2006, 07:34 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I got info on these sensors considering spending the $$ to buy the system and retrofit our coach ...sounds like they are really not any more reliable than my old style sensors ...guess I'll save my money! Thanks for the info!! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I have talked to others that have no problems with the TrueLevel system, but none of the ones I talked to fulltime.
I suspect that fulltiming cruds up the tanks a lot faster than casual use.
In addition, I don't use any chemicals in either of the waste tanks.

I intend to pressure wash the black tank real good when we get to our in-laws place this fall.
After that I will use an enzyme
product and see if the tank will stay clean enough for the system to work.

My friend Bud is evaluating a system that uses the foil strips (don't remember the brand) and so far he has not been able to get it work properly either.

There is one system that uses a pressure transducer to measure the weight of the liquid and that may be a good approach. If I get rich I may try that one.

Tom N · 03-20-2006, 10:04 AM

Not fulltime but, we've spent 261 nights in our motorhome since we picked it up January 25, 2005.

The new True Level external sensors have worked great.

If water is available when I dump I always use the black tank flush system. I let the flush run as Winnebago instructs. Sometimes I fill the black tank half full and then drain after dumping.

I use no chemicals for odor control and we use Scotts single ply paper.

I try to dump every 3 or 4 days when hooked up. I don;t wait until the tank is completely full.

I leave the gray tank open all the time when hookded up.

After dumping the black I'll run a couple gallons of water in the tank through the flush system with the valve closed and leave that in the tank. AND, we use lots of water when we flush when we are hooked to a sewer system.....lots.

Tom
currently in Crystal River, FL