# Monitor Panel Operation



## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Has anyone ever had the tank/battery monitor panel apart to see how it is wired?

I realize the tank sensors are not always accurate. I just returned home with empty tanks, I mean they are really empty, the monitor panel says that they are 1/3 black and 2/3 gray. The black tank may have crud on the sensors. My fresh tank is bone dry but says 2/3 full. What in the world........

I would like to take the panel off the wall and check to see how the connections are made, but I don't want to wreck it, has anyone had the panel off the wall, how do you do?

Just wondering if someone has ventured here before with any ideas.

Is there any aftermarket tank sensors that are better?

How about battery monitor panels?

Thanks for any input.

Kevin


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## aplvlykat (Jan 25, 2004)

Kevin I know what you mean, Mine was driving me nuts all weekend long. I know my grey tank was empty and as it filled up the black tank also started going up. Well when I emptied the grey tank the black tank went down. I have not pulled the unit but it seems to me that there is a feed back somewhere. Keep me posted as to what you find. Kirk


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## tovich6144 (Apr 10, 2004)

Let me know what you find out. Thought we were going crazy this weekend. Our monitor went from empty to 2/3 full on both gray and black in one night. Needless to say the bathroom nor the kitchen was getting that much action! When we dumped on Monday morning, the monitor panel still showed 2/3 on the black but the gray did go back to empty. Is this a general problem?


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## Phil (Mar 15, 2004)

You guys might considering looking into getting a Quickie Flush. A friend of mine (who does not own an Outback) has had onging problems with his monitor panel. About a week ago, he installed the Quickie Flush, and while we were out camping last weekend, told me that his Tank Monitors are now reporting accurately for the first time in well over a year. He said it is one of the easiest mods he has ever done and only took about 20 minutes. It costs about $20.

If you want to know more about it, here is the link to it at Camping World.

Phil


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Phil,

Thanks for the info. I have already made a wand to clean the black tank, I didn't use it this past weekend due to the huge line at the dump out station. I seem to have more problems with the gray and fresh than the black anyways.

This weekend I am going to study the panel and see if there is anything there, then I am going to see if I can loosen the bottom cover and look inside to see how the tank sensors are connected, maybe it is something simple. I did find a aftermarket system that appears very accurate, should be for $200 to monitor 3 tanks as well as the propane tanks.

I just want the readings to be in the ballpark, I don't need to know exactly how many gallons are there or anything.

Hopefully there is something simple.

We will see

Kevin


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## Mac (Mar 26, 2004)

What is the aftermarket system that you are looking at?


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

tovich6144,

How do you like pulling the 28BHS with that F250 PSD? That is what I will be upgrading to sometime down the road.

This is one of the systems I found.
Sensors

Another link

This one I don't much care for..

So So one

Kevin


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## tovich6144 (Apr 10, 2004)

Hello Hurricaneplumber....love that handle! 
I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with my 250. I started out trying to pull with a Silverado 1500 and the first serious grade of 6% I tackled made the engine sound like it was going to shudder and die. Decided rather than trying to beef it up with different exhaust system, coolant system, etc. I'd look at used Powerstroke Diesels. Found this one, for a steal I might add, and jumped on it. I highly recommend it based on the performance so far. Even the gas mileage is not too awful. I'm averaging about 15 mpg towing the trailer, which I consider pretty good.

Thanks for the links to the sensor information. My wife was drove me crazy after the first night (probably shouldn't say that) checking the panel constantly and stressing about whether we were going to fill up the tanks before we headed back home. We are new to this RV'ing and I haven't bought a "caddy" yet but it is first on the list now!


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## hurricaneplumber (Apr 12, 2004)

Is a "caddy" a blue tote-tank? If so I only bought the 10 gallon size. Reason being, it fits perfectly strapped to the rear bumper, was cheaper and works perfect. Since when you dump at the dump station, you want as much gray water as possible in the TT tank, using the tote-tank to just remove enough to keep going works perfect.

This is part of my sensor dilema, this past weekend my gray tank said full, so I put about 7 gallons into the tote-tank, then the monitor said my gray tank was at 1/3 full. One experiment I am going to try is to start with a empty gray tank and dump a measured quantity of water in to see at how many gallons the sensors on the panel read till it is full. Maybe when the panel says it is full, it actually has another 10 gallons to go before it is really full. Will see.

If the rain stops this weekend, I should be able to get out and do some experimenting. maybe we will get a dry day for once.

Kevin


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## Golden Mom (Apr 25, 2004)

That would be a great experiment to try. I would be interesting in knowing your results.

Have a great day! sunny


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

I don't rely on my sensors too much. Especially the black tank.


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## tovich6144 (Apr 10, 2004)

Yes, HurricanePlumber tote-along was what I was referring to getting. For my wife's peace of mind and mine too! Actually I discovered yesterday what was causing my black water to register 2/3's full. Seems a pretty nice chunk of lumber was in the tank. Flushed it out and now it's registering empty. How the wood got in the tank, I have no clue but I think it must have been the culprit.


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## jnk36jnk (Mar 9, 2004)

Hi there, just thought I would throw in my two cents worth, and believe me it is probably only worth that much seeing as how I am not mechanically inclined at all. But, the panal on our brand new 25RSS was not exactly accurate on either of the two trips we have been out on. We decided that they are giving you guesstimates only because they certainly were not accurate. It will be interesting to see what you guys come up with to fix the problem. Jodi


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