elishaman
Ky
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Joined: 07/06/2007
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Does anyone know why my guage light for two of my holding tanks show 3/4 full even after I have emptied them. Also, how to tell which light is for which tank. Thanks for any help.
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Billyj571
Marysville,WA
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Joined: 10/03/2009
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Mine have a G for gray water(SHOWER,SINK) and a B for black water(SEWER) and a F for fresh water. Hope that helps for the tanks how old is you rig?
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popscolly
North Carolina
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Holding tank lights are notoriously unreliable. Usually a piece of paper will get stuck on a contact. There's a bunch of information on this if you search you will find. To correct the problem, use the geo method. Search for it too. One title is, "Water, water everywhere".
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Jerry9n
SE Michigan
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Most of the culprits are the "Micro Monitor" 
MicroMonitor
They use more or less a bolt through the tank as a sensor and the liquid conducts the signal. If something hangs up or slimes over the side, you get a bad reading. Clean tanks are about the only answer.
There is a company that builds a new and improved sensor:
Horst Miracle Probes
The theory is the extended shielded probes are less susceptible to bridging of stuff and slime.
The ultimate is the See Level Gauge which uses an exterior mounted sensor:
See Level Gauge
As far as how these work, I don't have any first hand knowledge other than the stock Micro Monitor. I may put new probes in, but not sure it is worth the work. You just have to meticulously flush the tanks.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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The BEST way to handle that situation is to learn how to get by without the sensors working properly. Mine work MOST of the time but not enough to rely on them. My gray tank is full when the water backs up into the tub. The black tank is full when you can see the liquid level when flushing the toilet. My galley tank is full when the water backs up in the kitchen sink (but this had never happened). My fresh water tank is empty when it won't pump water to the faucet. It's a fail proof system 
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Lantley
Ellicott City, Maryland
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skipnchar wrote:The BEST way to handle that situation is to learn how to get by without the sensors working properly. Mine work MOST of the time but not enough to rely on them. My gray tank is full when the water backs up into the tub. The black tank is full when you can see the liquid level when flushing the toilet. My galley tank is full when the water backs up in the kitchen sink (but this had never happened). My fresh water tank is empty when it won't pump water to the faucet. It's a fail proof system
As strange as it may sound Skip is correct. The gauges are notorious for not working. I use Skip's technique as well.
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robsouth
Near Atlanta, GA
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Lantley wrote:As strange as it may sound Skip is correct. The gauges are notorious for not working. I use Skip's technique as well.
As do probably the vast majority of folk with campers.
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texasclarks
SE Georgia (Fort Stewart)
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skipnchar wrote:The BEST way to handle that situation is to learn how to get by without the sensors working properly. Mine work MOST of the time but not enough to rely on them. My gray tank is full when the water backs up into the tub. The black tank is full when you can see the liquid level when flushing the toilet. My galley tank is full when the water backs up in the kitchen sink (but this had never happened). My fresh water tank is empty when it won't pump water to the faucet. It's a fail proof system
That is my technique as well - works great and I have a much better visual than those little lights. I also have a black water flush/cleanout built into the trailer which I use everytime I empty the tanks - it helps some, but mainly just to keep everything from getting too gross (considering what is in the black tank - that is saying a lot).
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cbgale2
Grand Rapids, Michigan
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For your black tank you can fill it about halfway up, then dump a bag of ice down the toilet and take a drive around the block. That'll clean them sensors right up.
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Learjet
Louisiana
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I have had great luck using my cleaning wand, which has a spinning metal tip, to clean the black tank at every dump time. Luckily I can go straight into may black tank from the toilet. As far as the gray tank goes, a couple of times of year I use the yellow TST gray tank treatment and it seems to clean off the sensors. I just had to use it this weekend, since my gray gauge had been showing 1/3 when empty. I put a strong amount in with the dump valve close, fill the tank about 1/2 way (my tank was showing 1/3 full) using straight hot water and let it set for several hours. Several hours later, I dumped the gray tank and the gauge was working again. I guess it got the oils off the gray sensor. Note: we don't put food stuff down the drain, I am referring to body oils.
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