Fresh water tank sensors

The fresh water tank sensor on my 2007 is still reading low even when full,  I'm just back from 16 days in Skye and the outer hebrides and it was a bit of a pain not knowing how much water I had especially while off sites. My service repair guy said he cleaned them up but they are still not working, I've seen some on auto sleepers parts but not sure if they are the ones I want, they are 9in and could I do this myself or should I leave it to the experts (single female who's not scared of giving it a go ).

Do a  forum search on" tank sensors"  and you will find many comments, mine included.  The bottom line is that the sensors are notoriously bad at showing correct readings and you would be better off mentally calculating  water input and output - unless of course you are happy to be sent gradually insane with the unreliability and inaccuracy of the sensors.

Thank you, its just the mes display annoys me as I have to keep switching the alarm for low water off

Completely agree Taurian, my sensors/gauge are still reading pretty true but I can’t remember the last time I actually used it.
Get a feel for your usual usage and things will be fine. How on earth did we cope before all this technology 

Lesley wills wrote:Thank you, its just the mes display  annoys me as I have to keep switching the alarm for low water off 

You posted after I saw Lesley, is there not a way to disable the alarm?

I just keep switching it to silent.

Lesley wills wrote:I just keep switching it to silent.

Not ideal, that would drive me mad 
I’m sure someone with more knowledge of your panel will be able to help.

I believe if you are a ASOC member, technical can tell you all about sensors, which they are not, last months ASOC news will tell you all about it

Have you tried citric acid in the tank. Available on amazon, about 300 to500 grammes, dissolve it in a container then put it in the tank. Fill the tank and leave overnight. Flush through with fresh water after draining

Lesley

I sympathise.  We have the exact same problem and have not found an answer.

I tried cleaning the tank as others have suggested, but it made no difference.  I actually removed the knurled bung on the bottom of the fresh water tank which enabled me to push a camera inside.  The photo showed the tank and sensor rods to be sqeaky clean.

The original tank sensor (for mine) is no longer available.

I now have a length of clear plastic pipe which I can attach to the drain-down outlet.  Holding the open end of the pipe up I can judge how full the tank is by seeing how far up the pipe the water rises.

However, none of this gets rid of the annoying beeping.

I am not entirely convinced that the problem is the sensor unit itself.  On our van the external temperature reading fluctuates wildly.  It happens that the cables for this and for the water level sensor both run bunched together under the van. I just wonder whether there is a common problem.

MES will take the panels in for test and repair - cost about £100.  Of course there is no real way of knowing whether it is a MES panel fault or not.

If anyone comes up with a good solution, I expect they will become very popular.

What I would really like go know is how I can send a "100% full" signal to the MES panel - permanently.  It still wouldn't tell me how much fresh water I have, but it wouldn't beep either.

Nick

It's so annoying both the beeping and not being able to know how much water you have on board, so do you think changing the sensors is not going to work?

This has been said before.

There are only two times you, actually, know how much water is in a tank.

It's full when it overflows all over your feet.

It's empty when you open the drain valve and nothing comes out.

Anywhere in between is no more than a guess!

Being a little more serious, if you start off with a full tank (wet feet!) then use it till empty, and count the days that takes, you should start to get an idea of how much you're using.
As an aside, we always travel with full water and when leaving a site, fill the tank, that way when you arrive you'll have an idea how much you have.

It worrys me if the water is low and I put the water heater on either gas or when on hook up.

On our Nuevo, you need to lower the drain hose in order to fully drain the fresh water tank.  Therefore, with the drain hose clipped up in its normal position, if you turn the drain tap and get water out then its not empty.

There is an additional procedure for draining the hot water section, so I don't think you need to be unduly worried.

If you turn a sink tap to hot, and get water out, its not empty!

Nick.

Cheers

You can access the control panel logic following these instructions:

To access the advanced settings, on the home screen (Dealer Logo\EC300\EC480 Displayed), press and hold the up and down arrows together. Continue holding these buttons until the screen changes.


To scroll through the various settings use the up and down buttons. To change a setting press the select button (left arrow).


Once finished scroll to “Exit Advanced” and Select.

I can't remember if the fresh water alarm can be accessed here, but I did permanently silence my waste water alarm this weekend. Worth a look....

More information [url=http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/resources/sargent EC500 ec480 ec300 Dealer Technical wiring.pdf]here[/url]

Apparently both the fresh and waste water alarms are silenced

Clickable link. http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/resources/sargent%20EC500%20ec480%20ec300%20Dealer%20Technical%20wiring.pdf

Water Level Alarms option seems to switch both off/on.

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Clickable link. http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/resources/sargent%20EC500%20ec480%20ec300%20Dealer%20Technical%20wiring.pdf

Water Level Alarms option seems to switch both off/on.

Thought I'd done that!!!

gpilky wrote:

PLOUGHLIN wrote:Clickable link. http://www.aandncaravanservices.co.uk/resources/sargent%20EC500%20ec480%20ec300%20Dealer%20Technical%20wiring.pdf

Water Level Alarms option seems to switch both off/on.

Thought I'd done that!!!

You had the link but not clickable, I think the = too close to the http.

I used the 'insert a link' button - it normally works....

gpilky wrote:I used the 'insert a link' button - it normally works....

Except when it doesn't!! 

I've had a few failures recently, and have had to use Editor mode to fix them!

Lesley wills wrote:The fresh water tank sensor on my 2007 is still reading low even when full,  I'm just back from 16 days in Skye and the outer hebrides and it was a bit of a pain not knowing how much water I had especially while off sites. My service repair guy said he cleaned them up but they are still not working, I've seen some on auto sleepers parts but not sure if they are the ones I want, they are 9in and could I do this myself or should I leave it to the experts (single female who's not scared of giving it a go ).

Have you been driving in the rain?
If so the problem is simple but the solution is a little more complex. If your handy at joining electric wires it’s easy.
1st, the problem. Both of your tanks have 4 or 5 wires connected to little fittings in the side of the tank. These are all colour coded and they go from the tank back up through the floor to the Sargent controller. The issue is the fact that there is a connector between the tank and the underside of the floor. The connectors are not fit for purpose as they are only simple 6 way plastic plugs & sockets designed for internal use not external. AS fit these and just wrap a bit of tape around them. As you drive in the wet, water gets in them and short circuits the cables giving false readings.
The solution is to cut them out and rejoin the wires. Be careful not to mismatch the wires as that would give false readings too. I did mine by soldering the wires together and covering them with heat shrink. This makes a good waterproof joint (I hope). Only time will tell but so far so good.

Thank you but I really wouldn't know where to start, I don't mind trying some things but usually end up bodging things, but I will mention this to the guy who services my motor home., again thank you

Thanks 'Old Womble.' My fresh water tank reading is usually "empty" but now and again, it will become active and read a level before almost instantaneously cutting out. I presumed that this was an electrical fault rather than a calcified sensor plate, but didn't know where to start looking. I presume I can get to the taped up connectors from under the van.