McShank Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 The sensors for water and dump tanks have not worked since I bought my Sunrader. The sensors look like wires held against the tanks with heavy aluminum foil. Looking into parts catelogs the only sensors I find are ones that mount into the tanks through small holes drilled through the plastic side wall. My question is: would these newer designed screw-in sensors work with older panels? It looks quite easy to drill and install new ones and since I have the couch seat removed (to replace the water fill hose) I thought I would try some on my fresh water tank. Seamus McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Mine is worthless also I am going to install a See Level unit using the existing wires. The See Level units use a flexible board that you stick to the outside of the tank and uses only two wires. The one I am buying is a 709-p3w they are not cheap ($235) but it does black, gray, fresh and propane there is also a pump switch. I emailed the dealer about the propane and he said the fixed tanks all come with a float and most were never hooked up I guess I'll soon find out about that. The biggest issues with the in tank sensors is the fouling with gook inside of the tank and the excessive amount of wiring. I kind of doubt that a different sensor will work with your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84TOYRV Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Maineah, Is there a website for this new tank sensor unit? Mine is working ok so far, but it would be good to know. Thanx. Tudy 84 Dolphin " Cricket " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McShank Posted February 21, 2010 Author Share Posted February 21, 2010 Maineah, SeeLevel may be the way to go. After looking for sensor pads to replace the AcuGage ones that might be bad and finding they are $35 each I looked into your SeeLevel system. At a place called "rvupgradestore.com" I found model 712-LT @ $172 with readouts for fresh, grey, black, propane + temperature. Seems like they could be a lower priced source for you. Before I think seriously about SeeLevel I plan to buy two of the inside the tank probes @ $3.50 each and test them outside the tank with a glass of water in case they can give me readings other than empty. It will be an inexpensive experiment - I'm most concerned about the 20 gal. fresh tank as I use my roof-top evaporative cooler a lot in the spring and summer and can lose track of supply. Seamus McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Maineah, SeeLevel may be the way to go. After looking for sensor pads to replace the AcuGage ones that might be bad and finding they are $35 each I looked into your SeeLevel system. At a place called "rvupgradestore.com" I found model 712-LT @ $172 with readouts for fresh, grey, black, propane + temperature. Seems like they could be a lower priced source for you. Before I think seriously about SeeLevel I plan to buy two of the inside the tank probes @ $3.50 each and test them outside the tank with a glass of water in case they can give me readings other than empty. It will be an inexpensive experiment - I'm most concerned about the 20 gal. fresh tank as I use my roof-top evaporative cooler a lot in the spring and summer and can lose track of supply. Seamus McShank Wow that's a **** of a good price the Garret site has them in the $300 range I wonder why they are so cheap! I have no use for the heater switch but so what. I think I'll give them a call and make sure it's the whole kit. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 22, 2010 Share Posted February 22, 2010 Maineah, Is there a website for this new tank sensor unit? Mine is working ok so far, but it would be good to know. Thanx. Tudy 84 Dolphin " Cricket " Try mcshanks rvupgradestore.com site they have a super good price! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 Maineah, SeeLevel may be the way to go. After looking for sensor pads to replace the AcuGage ones that might be bad and finding they are $35 each I looked into your SeeLevel system. At a place called "rvupgradestore.com" I found model 712-LT @ $172 with readouts for fresh, grey, black, propane + temperature. Seems like they could be a lower priced source for you. Before I think seriously about SeeLevel I plan to buy two of the inside the tank probes @ $3.50 each and test them outside the tank with a glass of water in case they can give me readings other than empty. It will be an inexpensive experiment - I'm most concerned about the 20 gal. fresh tank as I use my roof-top evaporative cooler a lot in the spring and summer and can lose track of supply. Seamus McShank The 712-lt is on the way I asked about the price and the girl said the company let them sell them really cheap because of over stock it is an entire kit can't go wrong that is real close to 50% off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McShank Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 Maineah, My little experiment with the sensor plugs didn't make anything work better. My old panel is mounted above the exhaust fan shroud over the stove and is wide but not tall and none of the SeeLevels appear to be the same dimensions so I'll look for an appropriate mounting spot for one of the 712-LT's this weekend. Seamus McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 Maineah, My little experiment with the sensor plugs didn't make anything work better. My old panel is mounted above the exhaust fan shroud over the stove and is wide but not tall and none of the SeeLevels appear to be the same dimensions so I'll look for an appropriate mounting spot for one of the 712-LT's this weekend. Seamus McShank Yeah mine is big and ugly too I do wood working so I'm just going to make a nice panel with some molding around it kind of like a picture frame sure would be nice to know what's in my tanks. Too bad your sensor did not work but I think you will be real happy with the See Level unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 OK here is the new See Level gauge and the little frame I made to hide the big ugly hole where the old one was. I need to match up some stain and glue it in however it maybe awhile until I get to finish the project they recommend 60 degrees or above before you stick the sensors on the tanks probably won't see that till May some time! guess I'll ID the wiring put the panel in and just wait for warm weather for the sensors.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McShank Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 Maineah, The framework you did looks clean and I have found the spot to mount a SeeLevel panel right where my water heater switch is located. Now I have another little project to find time for, but to have the tanks readily readable would be a great help as we intend to do more dry camping this summer. I put in two Trojan golf cart batteries and can run my evaporative cooler for a good part of the summer until the humidity rises in early July. While you are waiting for the temps to rise I got a little sunburn yesterday with sun, mid 70's and a hike in the desert with the spring flowers just starting. But within two months the temps make it hard to motivate and do too much work on the Sunrader. Its raining today so I am working under cover on an old '78 Coleman VersaTrailer, making repairs to the top cover. It might provide a little extra storage on some future trips. McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 OK I got all the wires ID and prepped,. Took a little while to figure the wiring out the tanks used the same colors except for one wire. The panel is wired and as soon as it warms up some more I'll stick the sensors on I may get too impatient and use a hair dryer to warm the tanks up. It does not show up too well in the photo but the panel did say 50 degrees that's shorts and tee shirt weather in Maine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Maineah, The framework you did looks clean and I have found the spot to mount a SeeLevel panel right where my water heater switch is located. Now I have another little project to find time for, but to have the tanks readily readable would be a great help as we intend to do more dry camping this summer. I put in two Trojan golf cart batteries and can run my evaporative cooler for a good part of the summer until the humidity rises in early July. While you are waiting for the temps to rise I got a little sunburn yesterday with sun, mid 70's and a hike in the desert with the spring flowers just starting. But within two months the temps make it hard to motivate and do too much work on the Sunrader. Its raining today so I am working under cover on an old '78 Coleman VersaTrailer, making repairs to the top cover. It might provide a little extra storage on some future trips. McShank Where did you find the room for the batteries? That is some serious electricity we have 4 of them on a solar system at a camp up north that provides all of our power pumps and all. The Trojans can not be beat I have a 120 amp one in the MH that does all I need to do and it's 6 years old and has been run dry twice by an old charging system. All though I have no use for a swamp cooler I still am curious as to how much water it uses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McShank Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 Maineah, I put the batteries in a outside-access storage compartment just behind the side entrance door. Its under the dinette, I sealed it off from the inside and put a vent into the door. On the back of the dinette seat wall I installed a +/- 30 amp ammeter and a battery charge level gauge. While on the subject, there are comments about the solenoid type battery isolators maybe cooking the coach batteries; once I installed the ammeter I saw that when turning the key to crank the engine large amperage is briefly drained from the coach batteries helping the starting battery. It sends the ammeter off the range. Deep cycles are not supposed to give up large amperage quickly, so I also installed a switch at the dash that can disconnect that solenoid until the engine is running. Also put in a panel light as a reminder, and now I only charge when necessary. The evaporative cooler works best in the lowest humidity plus heat; in the extreme it can be 110 degrees with 4 % humidity outside (using about 1 1/2 gallons an hour) - the evap would then produce approximately 75 degrees w/ 50 %. 110 + 10% (uses about 1/2 gallon an hour) = 90 w/ 50% etc. At a certain point it just makes things muggy but I can generally run evap even in my home until sometime in July. Its nice to get back after a springtime hike and find the inside cool and comfortable instead of stiffling hot. McShank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 See Level unit is in! They are a really nice unit. Few things I found out, when you do the diagnostics the tank penetration numbers seem to be in percent and P00 is not zero percent it is 100%. I found this out by doing the length diagnostics they came out spot on so I knew there was nothing up with the penetration numbers. Despite what I have heard not all fixed propane tanks have floats mine does not and there is little chance that I'll replace the tank just to have a float. However I am going to investigate the resistance of the fuel tank float to see if it will match I'm thinking it would be nice to see how much fuel I have in the gas tank so I know how long I can run the generator with out climbing over the seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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