Tank measurements

One of the items that many (most?) RVers eventually have a problem with is knowing how full their tanks are - specifically their water/waste tanks.

We have 3 tanks on Miss Doozie - fresh water, grey water, and waste (or black) water.

The technology that is generally installed by manufacturers uses sensors inside the tank that detect whether there is water at the level of the sensor. Unfortunately, particularly on the black tank, those sensors can get dirty and read incorrectly.

In addition, there are usually just 3 or 4 sensors, so at best you know that the tank is 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, or full. Even at "full" the sensor isn't all the way at the top of the tank, so you might have a little more space, but we don't like to count on that. So, once we're at 3/4, we're thinking that we need to dump.

There is a newer technology that we've read about from other RVers that seems to work very well. It mounts on the outside of the tank and detects the density of the fluid inside. It measures from 0 to 100% full, so it also gives more precise information about the fullness of the tanks.

To prepare for ordering one of these "See Level" systems, one of the things we needed to do is find out how deep or tall our tanks are.

I guess that Blue Bird thought that its owners would not want to see their tanks, so they are not readily visible/accessible...

They are behind that panel. Thankfully, it is not too hard to remove - just a number of screws.

They also used black plastic for the waste tanks... this happens to be the black tank that Dwayne is measuring. You can see the current sensors at 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and "full". The inlet that is just above the sensors is the black tank rinse. It is supposed to give you the ability to rinse out the tank with fresh water after you dump to help to keep the sensors clean. There is a hookup on the other side of the bus where Dwayne attaches a hose from a "city water" supply and where we can rinse for a "while" after dumping the black tank. He generally closes the black tank while he is rinsing and then dumps it again with "cleaner" water.

Next to it is the fresh water tank...

It is the tallest at just over 22".

The grey water tank is furthest to the left.

So, we've got the measurements....

We are thinking that we will order a SeeLevel monitoring system. We've done reading about other Blue Bird Owners who have installed them and think they do a great job:
http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13886
http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14386

Ongoing maintenance projects!