Water level

I have a 2013 AS Dorset and was just filling up with water and the water gauge wouldn’t move off red for empty but then, after water coming out from underneath from the water tank overflow it showed full.  Ran the hot and cold water taps for a few seconds, pressed the button again a few minutes later and it showed empty which it can’t possibly be.  Has anyone else had this problem and is there a way to get the float/gauge working properly?

I suspect that I’m telling you what you already fear: the tank gauges are generally hopeless. More anxiety is spent on them than anything else. Forget them. You can estimate how much water you’ve used - and either top up every day or two, or when you’ve run dry. 
Reluctantly I made myself accept the fact that the gauge is guesswork. 

Cymro

Yes, not knowing accurately what your water reserve is can be stressful, but my Admiral gives me even more stress if we run out.

The Topargee water meter that I fitted works a treat so far. You set it to the tank contents and it will tell you to each and every litre how much water you have left. Available from Amazon. I bought the Bluetooth version which works through an app since the gauge displays can apparently be hard to read if not mounted high up at eye level, which can make wiring problematic.

I have ditched the grey tank gauge (along with almost everything else Sargent) since I just work on the principle that it needs emptying every time I fill with water.

Cymro wrote:I suspect that I’m telling you what you already fear: the tank gauges are generally hopeless. More anxiety is spent on them than anything else. Forget them. You can estimate how much water you’ve used - and either top up every day or two, or when you’ve run dry. 
Reluctantly I made myself accept the fact that the gauge is guesswork. 

Cymro

Yes, it is annoying though not knowing isn’t it. 

The Bargee wrote:Yes, not knowing accurately what your water reserve is can be stressful, but  my Admiral gives me even more stress if we run out.

The Topargee water meter that I fitted works a treat so far. You set it to the tank contents and it will tell you to each and every litre how much water you have left. Available from Amazon. I bought the Bluetooth version which works through an app since the gauge displays can apparently be hard to read if not mounted high up at eye level, which can make wiring problematic.

I have ditched the grey tank gauge (along with almost everything else Sargent) since I just work on the principle that it needs emptying every time I fill with water.

I do love a gadget and just had a look on Amazon. Hhwever, there is no way I could fit that sort of thing sadly 

The Bluetooth version is actually extremely simple to fit.

In my case I have a Shurflo pump but I see no reason why it can’t be fitted to the standard in-tank Whale pump since the gauge sender is nothing to do with the tank or the actual level of the tank contents. It simply measures the cumulative flow of water through the water pipe somewhere after the pump (but before the first tap) and tells you by deduction what is left in the tank. You don’t have to drop the tank or anything like that.

Find a clear length of straight pipe at least 8” long (because the sender needs to be reading a non-turbulent water flow). In my case I had to add a dog leg of plumbing just after the pump to create a suitable accessible straight length, but even that is very easy with push fit fittings.

You need to buy two JG push fit adaptors, 1/2” BSP female to 12mm hose. Cut the plastic pipe and insert the sender. All you need for that is a knife to cut the pipe.

Plug the Bluetooth gadget into the sender.

Fit the two supplied AA batteries in the gadget.

Download the app and tell it how much your tank holds when full. I told mine that the tank was 75 litres and it ran dry at 3 litres so I just changed the capacity figure to 72 litres! Simples!

In my case I also fitted the optional 12 volt power adaptor, which just requires connecting to the + & - terminals at the pump or into any other handy 12 volt supply wires.

I’m very pleased with mine so far. As always time will tell, but I am reassured that this seems to be made in Australia, not by China!

Clear instructions, thank you.

As said forget the gauge and figure out how long you can manage on a full tank with a bit of spare. I think most of us have learnt that it will run out when management is having a hair wash day. In my case at dog walking time.

Clearer instructions!!!!

Put hose in filler, turn on tap. Wait
 When shoes getting wet, it's full

After a trip, open the drain cock. When it stops dripping it's empty.

Anywhere in between is uneducated guesswork!!!

This also applies to aircraft fuel tanks and gauges too btw!!!