Water tank level indicator

Our water level indicator stopped working about 2 years ago. When I filled up with softened water from the house supply in early December it partly started working.
A month ago I did the following:
Empty hot and cold tanks.
Pump in 20 litres of hot citric acid to the cold water tank. (1 kg of food grade citric acid plus 20 litres of water from the hot tap. So 5%)
Fill the system with this and then fill the cold tank.  As I filled the tank the gauge started to work correctly.
Turn on the water heater on 1 click electricity for about half an hour then leave for about 4 hours.
Drain the system and fill the cold tank.
Empty the cold tank and refill. Flush through to get rid of the acid several times. Refill.
My object was to get any scale off the studs, make the pressure switch more reliable, and descale the Truma Combi heater. I am not certain about the last but the water level has now been correct for about a month and the switch has stopped switching the pump on from time to time.
The system has been OK for a month on hard water.
Food grade Citric acid is £6 to £7 from amazon.

Gromit wrote:

If it really, really bugs you, the only feasible alternative I know of is a float operated sender. It would be a fiddle to install, but they are not very expensive and would be far less likely to fail. More than that - they give a pretty accurate indication of exactly how much water is in the tank, rather than kicking in only at pre-determined levels.

Hi gromit. I have looked for float operated senders but I can only find those which are on/off switches which are generally used to switch off a fill pump or something similar - or they could be used as an 'empty' signal generator. Do you know of one which gives an analogue output like a car fuel tank gauge? Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place.

I have posted this many times before but if you have space fit a henderson hatch TCL4 to the water tank and you will forever be able to get in to vent the tank, clean those pesky points and replace the whale pump if you have one. It is not expensive to have done if you do not wish to do the job yourself. 

groundhog wrote:I have posted this many times before but if you have space fit a henderson hatch TCL4 to the water tank and you will forever be able to get in to vent the tank, clean those pesky points and replace the whale pump if you have one. It is not expensive to have done if you do not wish to do the job yourself. 

You would still have to disconnect and drop the tank though, and surely if a Whale submersible was fitted there must have been a hatch fitted in the first place?

PLOUGHLIN wrote:

gassygassy wrote:

Gromit wrote:

If it really, really bugs you, the only feasible alternative I know of is a float operated sender. It would be a fiddle to install, but they are not very expensive and would be far less likely to fail. More than that - they give a pretty accurate indication of exactly how much water is in the tank, rather than kicking in only at pre-determined levels.

Hi gromit. I have looked for float operated senders but I can only find those which are on/off switches which are generally used to switch off a fill pump or something similar - or they could be used as an 'empty' signal generator. Do you know of one which gives an analogue output like a car fuel tank gauge? Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place.

Thanks Ploughlin, that does look like the business. Worth investigating I think. Maybe a project if ever the rain stops. . . . although of course in this weather the problem doesn't exist. You just stick a funnel anywhere outside the van and a pipe running into the tank filler cap and you have a permanently full tank, no matter how many showers you have.

This one looks cheap. £13.16 incl postage from England so there won't be any VAT and DHL 'extras' to add. Beware of items from India as I recently discovered the displayed cost including free postage can double by the time it is in your grubby little paws. This is for a 300mm length, I haven't dropped the Nuevo tank yet so I don't know what the required length might be but I guess about 300mm.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-240-33ohms-IP67-Boat-Marine-Water-Fuel-Level-Sender-Car-Truck-Gauge-Sensor/372720741917?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225114%26meid%3D2dc31506af704143822f8926ae2fdf1c%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D10%26rkt%3D12%26mehot%3Dco%26sd%3D372965253306%26itm%3D372720741917%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D0%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DSimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithImageNsfwFilter%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

gassygassy wrote:

groundhog wrote:I have posted this many times before but if you have space fit a henderson hatch TCL4 to the water tank and you will forever be able to get in to vent the tank, clean those pesky points and replace the whale pump if you have one. It is not expensive to have done if you do not wish to do the job yourself. 

You would still have to disconnect and drop the tank though, and surely if a Whale submersible was fitted there must have been a hatch fitted in the first place?

No you do not have to drop or disconnect the tank you can cut a hole from the outside in the side or the bottom of you have access.

Ah yes groundhog, I hadn't thought of that because the last couple of campers I had, had these at the top of the tank which was inside the vehicle rather than underslung.

My empty grey tanks reads full when i fill The fresh tank

Molly: disconnect the wires from the grey tank and leave its tap open all the time, then you will know it is always empty so you don't need to press the button to read its level.

When I fill my fresh tank the empty grey tank reads full for a while , then drops to empty ??? . never had a van yet that has reliable . gauges

I had same sensor problem on my 66 Broadway. Bought some citric acid crystals off Amazon. Left the citric acid solution in tank for 24 hours then flushed system with clean water. Cured the problem. Interestingly, I checked the level indicator function a few minutes after filling with the citric acid solution and  the problem was already rectified. Fast working! The original symptoms were level indicator constantly showing empty. 
Since then, I have also had my Whale pump replaced with a Shurflo. The whale pressure switch/voltage issue was getting on my nerves. Cost for pump (£56 Amazon), fitting, and a hab service was around £180 using my regular mobile caravan service chappy. No more pump pulsing.

As a cynical ex Flight Engineer, there are actually only two times you know what is in a tank ( this includes quite expensive aircraft), one, when it is empty and two, when you can see the contents at the top of the filler neck.
Anything else is little more than guesswork!!

IanH wrote:As a cynical ex Flight Engineer, there are actually only two times you know what is in a tank ( this includes quite expensive aircraft), one, when it is empty and two, when you can see the contents at the top of the filler neck.
Anything else is little more than guesswork!!

I spent a bit of time on helicopters in my youth. Very difficult to see what was in the fuel tank when hot refuelling a Bell 47.  Your head gets very close to the spinning bit. 

IanH wrote:As a cynical ex Flight Engineer, there are actually only two times you know what is in a tank ( this includes quite expensive aircraft), one, when it is empty and two, when you can see the contents at the top of the filler neck.
Anything else is little more than guesswork!!

That thought crossed my mind 16 hours into a flight when we were crossing the Tasman Sea and still several hundred miles out of Auckland...!
Al.

bikeralw wrote:

IanH wrote:As a cynical ex Flight Engineer, there are actually only two times you know what is in a tank ( this includes quite expensive aircraft), one, when it is empty and two, when you can see the contents at the top of the filler neck.
Anything else is little more than guesswork!!

That thought crossed my mind 16 hours into a flight when we were crossing the Tasman Sea and still several hundred miles out of Auckland...!
Al.

If the aircraft has multiple tanks, (8 in C130, 12 in C130 tanker, 13 in Nimrod) the more that are emptied, the more accurate the fuel remaining becomes!!! If all tanks in use are brim full, especially the ones to be used last,  (didn't have rotating wings in my case!) before departure, then the above applies. Part full tanks should be used first where possible!
But, we digress, the post was about water tanks!
We always travel full fresh, empty grey and cassette, full toilet flush, full gas and full diesel. In that way we don't get caught out on arrival!!

I have a gauge on my oil tank at home but it is never more than a warning to check the level. Before ordering I dip to calculate how much to buy. It seems than no matter what industry you are in there is no such thing as a reliable level monitor other than "it's full" or "it's empty"

I have fitted a Cbe water level gauge indicator kit, £33 from Rainbow Conversions. A more professional item and fairly easy to fit if the tank is removed.
The existing contacts are removed and blanked with ss bolts. The existing wiring was adapted for both the fresh and grey water tank levels.
After 2 years use its still accurate. A useful modification.