THE Tank Monitor I ALWAYS Use. Seriously.


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I haven’t made a big deal out of this before, but I replaced the tank monitors on our RV Lance some time ago.  It only took me a couple months of the “Yes, but is it closer to 1/3 full or 2/3 full?” guessing game before I ripped off the tank monitors that came from the factory and installed a new system.  THIS system.  Have a look at the video:

 

I’d never seen SeeLevel at an RV show before, so when I saw them, I knew we had to make a quick video to make sure everyone was introduced to their product.  These tank gauges are the bomb.  I always know, within +- 3%, what the levels in my tanks are… even the LP tank!  They work by sonar, so there are no probes to gunk up.  You can re-use the existing wiring.  The install is pretty easy.  The only difficult part of the install in Lance was figuring out how to wire in the pump switch, since Winnebago uses an integrated control panel.  But once I had that sorted out, it was pretty straight-forward.

I installed this tank monitor system in Das Bus, and I’ve installed it in Lance.  If the next RV we buy doesn’t have it, I intend to install it in that RV as well.  That’s 100% adoption from yours truly.  I like it that much.

As RVers, I think we deserve better than guessing how full our tanks are.  If you think the same, you can get these and install them on your holding tanks.  You can also start bugging your friendly RV manufacturer to include these gauges in their future coach builds.  And maybe that’s the long game here.  So yeah… start bugging your friendly neighborhood RV manufacturer!

Let’s end the guessing game!!



James is a former rocket scientist, a USA Cycling coach, and lifelong fitness buff. When he's not driving the RV, or modifying the RV (or - that one time - doing both at once), you can find him racing bicycles, or building furniture, or making music. In his spare time, he works for a large IT company.


    33 thoughts on “THE Tank Monitor I ALWAYS Use. Seriously.

    1. Jack

      Hi James, I just got the new seelevel 2 BTP3 for our Travato GL NPF and realized it comes with a 3 way instead of a momentary switch for the water pump. How did you get it to work? I have an email out to rvupgradestore but was wondering what you did. Thanks.

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        What I did to get ours to work was to actually remove the switch it came with, and install a new momentary switch in its place. It’s been a few years now, but as I recall, I had to drill out the panel to accommodate the switch I found. (Don’t remember which switch, but I think it was just something I got at a big box store.)

        If I had to do it again, I would probably get the SeeLevel without the switch, and install a separate, lighted switch elsewhere on that wall.

        Reply
        1. Rich Ambrose

          This is very timely! I’m about to get a SeeLevel and assumed I would get the one with a switch, but I wondered whether it would work – and now I see it won’t. I’ve already added lighted momentary switches to the galley and bathroom in our 2019 KL, and since then I don’t even use the switch on the panel, so I think I’ll just get the SeeLevel without the switch, as you suggest, and not even add another switch on the back wall.

        2. James - Post author

          That’s the way to do it.
          That switch on the panel is kind of silly anyways… They should put the switches where you use the water!

        3. Jack

          Thanks. I ended up finding a good momentary button instead of switch that fit perfectly. Allows me to keep the Bluetooth version (for fun of course). Also plan to add a couple pump switches.

          Main issue now is trying to get the fresh tank exposed. There is a black outer box around it containing some foam insulation and heat ducting. I partially took it down but was scared to let the tank hang while trying to work the black box off. Not sure how they even install it. There has to be a trick. I’m surprised it’s not at least loosely strapped to the underside first before the box is placed around it. Luckily I have 90 days to return the system.

    2. Thomas Theisen

      Hi James,

      Did not get a chance to chat with you about this at GNR, but did you post video/instructions on installing Seelevel tank monitors in Lance?

      Tom Theisen

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        No, I didn’t. Sorry!
        The hardest part about it is figuring out the pump switch.
        And if you still have a generator (I didn’t), you’ll need a way to control that as well.

        Reply
        1. Moises

          Looking at tackling this on my new Revel…so how do you wire the pump up?, I got the pin-out from the OEM unit, OnePlace, there is only one pump wire in there, 3 pole switch in the SeeLevel II, thanks!

        2. James - Post author

          It’s involved, but not impossible.
          I’ll start by saying I’ve never taken apart a Revel, so work at your own risk. Information I have is from a Travato.
          The pump switch needs to be a momentary switch. That one pump wire – I forget which, but you need to either ground it, or apply +12v to it, and it will switch the pump on. Ground it or apply +12v again, and it will switch the pump back off. That will let you know what to do with the switch. (I think it’s grounding it that works, because there’s a little voltage on it if you test it.)
          If your model from SeeLevel came with a momentary switch, you should be able to make that work. Mine did not. I had to go buy a separate momentary switch, and mount it in the panel. If you don’t want to bother, just wire up the switch and flip it on/off to turn the pump on, and then on/off to turn the pump off.

      1. James - Post author

        Right??!!
        Knowledge is power.
        But knowledge of exactly how much sewage space you have left?… priceless!

        Reply
    3. MaryBeth

      But that would eliminate my all-time favorite game of “jump up and down and see if the reading changes to something less dire”!

      Reply
    4. Graham Smith

      This looks like a good project for my Travato KL. I’ve already hacked the water pump so I can go with the model without the switch. That just leaves the wiring. Does this use the existing sensor wiring so that the only thing that needs doing is swap out the sensors or is there a requirement to run new wiring?

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        Yeah. A wire is a wire. When I replaced this in my Travato, I re-used the same wires.
        It took some time figuring out which wire was which on the back of the multi-pin connector on the OnePlace. But that (and the pump) are the hardest parts of the process.

        Reply
        1. Graham Smith

          Well, it turns out that there is a big problem using this with a GL or KL… The water tank is inside an outer protective box and it may not be possible to get in to the outer box to attach the sensor. Bummer…

        2. James - Post author

          Ah yes, the double-walled tank.
          There’s probably a way to do it, and it probably involves dropping the tank and disassembling it, and it’s probably something you wouldn’t bother doing because it sounds like a pain.
          For best results, Winnebago would have to install this on the inner tank prior to assembly.

      2. Terrance Vacha

        Graham – I just read this old post. I have a KL. You mentioned that the SeeLevel is not an easy install on the KL due to the double walled tanks. — did you ever devise an improved tank level monitoring system for your KL?

        Reply
    5. Brian Prince

      James, a video on installing the SeeLevel would be really cool.

      Did you use their LP level unit? If so, what is the accuracy?

      Thanks for all your expert advice!

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        The See Level LP measurement is taken off the sender that is built into the tank already.
        I found it to be as accurate as that sender. There is a calibration procedure. If you follow that, all is well.

        Reply
    6. Stan

      We installed the Seelevel gauge on Annie, our DIY Transit conversion, with a 41G fresh and 21G gray tank (both inside for winter camping), and an under-mount 7.9G propane tank. I can confirm they are easy to install, accurate, and reliable.
      One minor correction…the propane monitor is not sonar, but uses the tank’s sender.

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        Ahhh – yes. Didn’t mention that bit.
        The propane monitor uses the sending unit that’s probably already installed on the tank.

        Reply
    7. Celeste Paquette

      James, why does the pump wiring have to be used for tank monitoring with the SeeLevel install?
      And hope you are feeling better.
      Celeste

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        On a Winnebago Travato, the pump and the tank levels are controlled with one integrated control panel.
        If you replace that panel with the SeeLevel panel, as I did, you will need to figure out the pump wiring, and provide for a way to turn on the pump.
        Otherwise, you won’t be able to turn on the pump.
        Other coaches with different wiring will have different install procedures.

        Reply
    8. TJH

      Just viewed your tank gauges video. Perked up when I heard the SeeLevel supported multiplex wiring. Just spend about 10 minutes trying to find such a version. If you have a link, much appreciated.

      Reply
      1. James - Post author

        I don’t have a specific link for you, but you could always give the SeeLevel folks a call. They’re very receptive to questions from users.

        Reply
    9. David

      Had you mentioned to Russ the Guru of the Travato about these gauges? Like that guy who said to install a light on the drivers side to illuminate the tank dump area. Now a standard feature.

      Reply
    10. Laura

      Fabulous — the guessing game is my #1 FT RV-life non-neighbor-related pet peeve, lol!

      Um, you state on YouTube that this Gizmo tells you levels w/3% accuracy. I’m guessing you don’t mean that it is wrong 97% of the time, so (unless I read it wrong) you might want to rewrite that.

      Thanks for sharing this info — love your channel!

      Reply

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