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scolesworthy ![]() Newbie ![]() Joined: 25 Jun 2017 Location: MN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
![]() Posted: 26 Apr 2020 at 11:36am |
The back water gage is stuck at 3/4. I have rinsed thoroughly with both outside flush connection and through the toilet with hose spray. No change. It did freeze for a couple weeks this winter when dealer dropped the ball on not wintering until after everything froze up. Ideas?
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Scott
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Tars Tarkas ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1452 |
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All of the light gauges are not to be paid attention to. They are just selling points. They don't work. You learn to get by without them. It's really not hard. You might get your black tank gauge to work again, or seem to, but you can not count on it being accurate for long, or, really, ever. TT
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2010 176
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offgrid ![]() Senior Member ![]() Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Yeah, one. Ignore it, those sensors are notorious for not working right, especially on the black tank. You can always just open the toilet slide valve and look down there to see how full it is.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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scolesworthy ![]() Newbie ![]() Joined: 25 Jun 2017 Location: MN Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
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I got the answer from a youtube video. Fill up the tank with fresh water using the back water hose connection. Then drain. It worked. Must have cleaned off something on the sensor. Thank you for the replys.
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Scott
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Tars Tarkas ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 14 Jan 2013 Location: Near Nashville Online Status: Offline Posts: 1452 |
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Scott, You got the answer here. Ignore it at your own risk. (There really isn't much risk.) What you did will work until the next time a piece of toilet paper or whatever gets stuck on one or more of the sensors. That may be the next time you flush or it may be in a couple of months. You will never know if the gauges are telling the truth. You have to learn to live without them. Period. TT
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2010 176
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StephenH ![]() podders Helping podders - pHp ![]() ![]() Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6417 |
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The SeeLevel system is much better since it reads the level though the tank wall and does not rely on sensors stuck into the tank. It is much more expensive though which is why we don't see them on the RPods with their price point. Another solution would be to replace the tank probes with these: Horst Miracle Probe. These would be used in the black tank. Another model is used for the gray tank that does not have the shield. I have found that the fresh water tank is okay as is. |
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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mjlrpod ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Location: Massachusetts Online Status: Offline Posts: 1221 |
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Yes the sensors are untrustworthy. I always figure that one person outputs 5 gallons of waste per week. So two people can go camping for 2 weeks, or 7 weekends without filling up the tank. The only real way to know how full the tank is would be to go to the bathroom in a bag. Then measure the weight, before dumping it into the toilet. And keep a running tab.
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2017.5 Rp-172
2020 R-pod 195 2015 Frontier sv 4.0L 6cyl I'll be rpodding |
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offgrid ![]() Senior Member ![]() Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290 |
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Sometimes a simple solution is best. FWIW here's what I do.
I can see the level in the fresh water tank by looking under the camper at it. I can see the level in the black tank by looking down the hole. That leaves an unknown level in the gray tank. I fill the fresh tank whenever I drain the gray. Since the fresh and gray tanks are the same size, when the fresh is empty the gray will inevitably be full less the small amount that went in the black tank from flushes or on the ground from using the outside shower. Time to empty. I could overfill the gray tank using this method if I used the city water connection, so I only pump from the fresh tank. I don't want more total water weight in the trailer anyway. I never look at the little level lights, run out of water without knowing it or overflow a tank. Once you've been camping a few times you pretty much know how much water you're using anyway. I know I can go about 2 weeks by myself between dump stops or about 5 days with my wife. She takes slightly longer showers than I do.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold |
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Kup-Pod ![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() Joined: 08 Jun 2017 Location: Guelph, Ontario Online Status: Offline Posts: 153 |
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I agree with everything that has been said so far, but I'll be honest I still find it irritating when the indicators show something that is incorrect (yes, admittedly I can be a bit particular!)
So, a few things that i have learned in this forum to address this issue... 1. it may be that toilet paper has hung up on the indicators - to clean this off you may want to leave some water in the tank (and/or add a bag of ice cubes) while driving around to slosh things around enough to get it "cleaned up" (as clean as a black water tank will get!) 2. using the flush line may help 3. I have heard about a "wand" you can stick down the toilet to act as a flush / sprayer to clean the walls of the tank In the end, you can always use a nice picture to hang over the indicator lights, eliminate the visual irritant and use the wise approach from offgrid & mjlrpod and monitor your water usage. Hope this helpful!
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2017 RP-178
2021 F150 5.0l "Lead me on a level path" |
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StephenH ![]() podders Helping podders - pHp ![]() ![]() Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6417 |
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See this YouTube video to show why ice in the tank is useless: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH6acEmqvcw Water in the tank with a good biological agent to break down the toilet paper and wastes is much more likely to succeed. There are ones like TankTechs Rx, Unique Products RV Digest-It, Happy Campers, etc. These can be purchased from the links or from Amazon. I agree that using the Black Tank Flush is helpful as the OP pointed out. If one does not have an excessive accumulation of solid matter from using too little water, that should be sufficient. A wand is useful when one buys a used RV where someone did not use good practices and the tank is clogged. Otherwise, good practices will mean that such a wand is not needed. Good practices are to use plenty of water with #2 coupled with not emptying the tank until it is at least 2/3 full. That is where accurate gauges are helpful, or a good understanding of your water usage along with a visual check if you think it is getting full. Sometimes, you can tell by the changing sound of a flush. A nearly full tank will sound different than an empty or nearly empty tank. |
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS |
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