SargeW
Senior Member
Site Team
RV LIFE Pro
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2002
- Posts
- 10,670
After just a few months of ownership I knew I had to replace the factory installed tank sensor system that uses sensors drilled through the tank wall and measures in 1/3 increments. Besides being easily fouled and giving false readings, as soon as the tank reached the 2/3 level (real or not) I would get continuous alarms on my phone of “tank near full” from the “JayCommand” app on the tablet inside. Most of those readings were always false. If camped while on full hookups that isn’t much of an issue. But when dry camping, or even just no sewer it made me nuts not knowing how much room was really available in the holding tanks. It was time for another Garnet See Level tank monitoring system install.
This is Garnets most recent update, and incorporates a Bluetooth monitor panel that mounts in the rig, as well as a phone app that delivers info directly to a cell phone. I have previously installed this system in 5 other RV’s, so I knew the system is easy to install. The first and probably most time consuming step is locating each of the holding tanks. I have a fresh, 2 gray, and 1 black tank. Fortunately I was able to get a schematic of the chassis of my rig from Jayco customer service. Dimensions were not precise but it gave me an idea of where to look for each tank. With the diagram and the help of my “inspection camera” from Harbor Freight, a small slit in the coroplast liner allowed me to peek inside of the under belly without having to drop any of the bottom coroplast sheeting.
Starting with a 4” square hole cut out enabled me to peer inside with a flashlight to identify the location of the tank walls and hookups for the plumbing. The sensors are about 2 ½” X 8” and are applied by super sticky backing and send readings in 3 or 4% increments to the inside panel, or the cell phone app. Once I located one tank I could use that opening to locate the other tanks for access holes. Using the access holes I used an electrical snake to pull a single 2 conductor wire from the back fresh tank access hole to the front black tank hole. All sensors “daisy chain” together on the same wire.
I wiped the side of the tank with alcohol where the sensor strip would mount. I wired each sensor and did a trial mount of each sensor using blue painters tape to test the system. Satisfied that all sensors were picking up through the tank walls, I peeled the backing off and adhered the sensors to the tank walls. I located a mounting location for the inside display, and snaked the wire up the wall.
To close up the bottom access holes in the coroplast I sourced some 6” round screw access covers commonly used in marine applications from Amazon. Cutting the holes to the proper size I attached an access cover under the location of each sender location.
The system works great, is easy to read and access, and provides some real peace of mind while camping without sewer hook ups. On to the next project!
This is Garnets most recent update, and incorporates a Bluetooth monitor panel that mounts in the rig, as well as a phone app that delivers info directly to a cell phone. I have previously installed this system in 5 other RV’s, so I knew the system is easy to install. The first and probably most time consuming step is locating each of the holding tanks. I have a fresh, 2 gray, and 1 black tank. Fortunately I was able to get a schematic of the chassis of my rig from Jayco customer service. Dimensions were not precise but it gave me an idea of where to look for each tank. With the diagram and the help of my “inspection camera” from Harbor Freight, a small slit in the coroplast liner allowed me to peek inside of the under belly without having to drop any of the bottom coroplast sheeting.
Starting with a 4” square hole cut out enabled me to peer inside with a flashlight to identify the location of the tank walls and hookups for the plumbing. The sensors are about 2 ½” X 8” and are applied by super sticky backing and send readings in 3 or 4% increments to the inside panel, or the cell phone app. Once I located one tank I could use that opening to locate the other tanks for access holes. Using the access holes I used an electrical snake to pull a single 2 conductor wire from the back fresh tank access hole to the front black tank hole. All sensors “daisy chain” together on the same wire.
I wiped the side of the tank with alcohol where the sensor strip would mount. I wired each sensor and did a trial mount of each sensor using blue painters tape to test the system. Satisfied that all sensors were picking up through the tank walls, I peeled the backing off and adhered the sensors to the tank walls. I located a mounting location for the inside display, and snaked the wire up the wall.
To close up the bottom access holes in the coroplast I sourced some 6” round screw access covers commonly used in marine applications from Amazon. Cutting the holes to the proper size I attached an access cover under the location of each sender location.
The system works great, is easy to read and access, and provides some real peace of mind while camping without sewer hook ups. On to the next project!
