KGordon Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 (edited) Argh, I seem to have a dead sensor panel. The water pump switch works (phew), but I can't get status readout on the black, grey and fresh water tanks or the coach battery. I know the wastewater sensors can be problematic, and I have no problem peering down the potty or under the rig to check the tanks visually. But it would be nice to know how much is in the fresh water tank, and even nicer to know how the battery is doing. Can these be repaired or replaced? Will a multimeter or something similar tell me how the battery is doing? Suggestions welcome. Edited July 21, 2017 by KGordon Added photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 I'm not familiar with that panel it may have a fuse inside for the panel itself. The pump will work even if the panel does not because of the way it is wired. There are any number of aftermarket volt meters out there. I'm sure if someone is clever enough the panel can be repaired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 If they all stopped working at the same time, I'd suspect what they've all probably got in common. The ground! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGordon Posted July 21, 2017 Author Share Posted July 21, 2017 I just got myself a 12v/120v multimeter and a circuit tester. Looks like I'll get to play with my new toys this weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted July 21, 2017 Share Posted July 21, 2017 On mine the sensor panel power came from the battery and there was a circuit breaker for it. Possible bad breaker? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdfrost64 Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 one of my many jobs at the rv plant was to build and install the black and grey tanks. 99.9 % of the time when panel doesn't work are the senors in the tanks. the senors are a pretty much a well nut that the panel wires are hooked to .they read by the fluid in the tanks grounding out the prob.this day in age they still use the same set up. most rv centers still have the same prob used in the black and grey tanks and fresh water tank. Common wire set up is orange, green, yellow, white and sometimes blue, white Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 6 hours ago, jdfrost64 said: one of my many jobs at the rv plant was to build and install the black and grey tanks. 99.9 % of the time when panel doesn't work are the senors in the tanks. the senors are a pretty much a well nut that the panel wires are hooked to .they read by the fluid in the tanks grounding out the prob.this day in age they still use the same set up. most rv centers still have the same prob used in the black and grey tanks and fresh water tank. Common wire set up is orange, green, yellow, white and sometimes blue, white So I have to ask, do you keep your display panel in working order and use it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdfrost64 Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 I keep everything in my mini in working order .I restore my mini from the floor up replacing just about every square inch of it . only thing that i use is the microwave and furnance. but everything has been tested. only time it has ever had water in it was to pressure test for leaks and to check tanks sensors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 9 hours ago, jdfrost64 said: Common wire set up is orange, green, yellow, white and sometimes blue, white One thing I've learned about RV wiring:- Don't expect colours to be consistent between RV or equipment manufacturers or even from year to year. And that doesn't even consider 'improvements' made by DPOs. Here's the 1993 Dolphin version of monitor wiring:- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 22, 2017 Share Posted July 22, 2017 If you want tank sensors that work there is only one that I know of SeeLevel. They are not in the tank and in most cases you can use the existing wiring. They work and are accurate SeeLevel is also a great co. to work with I had an issue with one and the co. owner was the one that called me sent a replacement part that came the next day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KGordon Posted July 22, 2017 Author Share Posted July 22, 2017 Thanks for all the great info! That may be my next challenge . I just spent the morning on the roof replacing the Ventline fan. Went smoothly, and I'm glad to have a chance to get familiar with butyl, caulk etc before tackling windows and other big stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256bit Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 (edited) If it ends up being the panel itself, it's very, very unlikely that the board itself is damaged. If it's anything like mine, it has hand drawn traces. Like this: They're very easy to follow if you know just a little bit about how circuits work. More likely than anything - if it is the board - is that one of the thruhole mounted components (like a capacitor) got fried. If that's the case, you can replace it for pennies, plus a soldering iron and some solder+flux. Here are some pics to help: Edited July 27, 2017 by 256bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 27, 2017 Share Posted July 27, 2017 5 hours ago, 256bit said: If it ends up being the panel itself, it's very, very unlikely that the board itself is damaged. If it's anything like mine, it has hand drawn traces. Like this: They're very easy to follow if you know just a little bit about how circuits work. More likely than anything - if it is the board - is that one of the thruhole mounted components (like a capacitor) got fried. If that's the case, you can replace it for pennies, plus a soldering iron and some solder+flux. Here are some pics to help: Looks like a motherboard from around 2004. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
256bit Posted July 28, 2017 Share Posted July 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Maineah said: Looks like a motherboard from around 2004. Yes, example pictures. I don't have blown capacitors on my sensor panel to show him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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