Foretravel Owners' Forum

When I got his coach the tank level gauges were still working. They finally gave up the ghost so it's time for SeeLevel. The best price I've found is at RVUpgrades ($200). Anyone know of a better price elsewhere? Thanks.
jor

Jor, I just ordered the SeeLevel and found that RV Upgrades had the best prices I could find.  Now, just need to get it installed.  Ordered 2 sets for I wanted an additional display to mount out in wet bay, as well as one in the coach.  Hope this helps.

Well, RVUpgrades it is unless someone else chimes in. I'll also get two. That's what I did on the coach I had before this one. Very accurate (except for the LP which I never could get just right). My install should be easy peasy as I ran the wires when I first got this coach. That Audit box surprised me though and refused to die until just now.
jor

re- my experience installing the SeeLevel. I put this system in both my coaches. Both have the private toilet room with medicine cabinet above the toilet. The pull out pantry makes up  the wall behind the toilet. I removed the pantry pullouts from their guides, set them aside. I ran the SeeLevel wiring up the space behind the pullouts and mounted the SeeLevel display inside the medicine cabinet above the toilet, then I re-installed the pull-outs. Worked out well for me

would love to pics of your seelevel install was you are putting it in. Where did you run your wiring?

I got mine from RV upgrades also. I think sea level is RV upgrades from what I understand. I ran the wires through the basement up through the floor behind the sink and was able to get up behind the fridge raider to my information center that is above the microwave. It was fairly easy. Jor I understand that you are at extreme right now, if you would like to see my set up I am at MOT tonight and will be here till probably lunch I'm guessing  or at least I'm hoping to be out of here by lunch tomorrow.

Keith

Installing a seelevel can't the old wiring be used from the old system and install it in the dash.

Oldguy.  The SeeLevel uses two wires per sensor (black, gray, fresh, LP and volts). You could use the existing wires if they are big enough (18 ga or bigger) and try installing the display in the dash but it might be more reliable to use new wires. The F, G and B tanks are right next to each other and running the wires up through the floor in our coach into the bathroom closet and up to a display mounted in the bathroom wall next to an OEM carbon monoxide detector put it in a place that is convenient to check and easy to see. 

Buying two kits gets you enough sensor strips to measure the full height of the tanks.  You can run a set of wires across the top of the tanks and add a second display in the wet bay which for me is very handy when flushing tanks with a three valve setup.

18 ga wire is sufficient for connections. Lots of choices for this but nothing special is needed.  Wire like this comes in a jacketed pair. Convenient and tidy.

Amazon.com: Monoprice 104045 Access Series 18 Gauge AWG CL2 Rated 2 Conductor... (https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-104045-Access-Conductor-Speaker/dp/B003L14WXG/ref=pd_di_sccai_1?pd_rd_w=x7SoI&pf_rd_p=c9443270-b914-4430-a90b-72e3e7e784e0&pf_rd_r=P698063YWEYQ2A2MDZ4A&pd_rd_r=43aba760-eac6-4bea-8dbe-e99ddd9527ff&pd_rd_wg=k6jeZ&pd_rd_i=B003L14WXG&psc=1)

I bought from a place called Best Converter. It was a bit cheaper.

I'm about 90% done with the install. I am mounting the panel above the microwave in the small cabinet where the microwave plugs in. This puts it beside the power monitor and inverter controls. Like others I am also putting a second panel in the wet bay.

Which model of SeeLevel are you installing?

709-1003 ($175)
709 SeeLevel II Tank Monitor System (http://www.bestconverter.com/709-SeeLevel-II-Tank-Monitor-System_p_181.html)

With 2 sets there are enough sensors for the 3 tanks. I've installed the gray and black but still need to do the fresh. There is also a sensor wire for the propane tank that I have not routed yet.

I elected to do exactly what you mention.  I replaced the CRT monitor with a cover plate to mount the SeeLevel monitor.  I re-purposed some of the original wires from the Audit system to connect the dash monitor to the tank sensor strips.  Has been working just fine for 2 years.

What did you do to your coach today VIII (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=36854.msg358883#msg358883)

Behind the Water Heater Access Port (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=37421)

What's involved in installing the sensors on the tanks?  One or two sensors per tank?  I believe the current sensor for the fresh water tank is a device in the plumbing next to the water pump.

The See Level sensor strips are 12" long and the tanks are about 22" tall. You can cut the strips and join them together (follow the instructions).  For example 2 10" sections make a sensor that goes from near the bottom to near the top.  The exact length depends on where you can trim the sensors.  Garnett suggests that each section should be the same length.

You need to clean the tank surface where the strips are attached as instructed. I used a fine sandpaper first.  The installation instructions suggest positioning the strips with masking tape before removing the backing paper to expose the adhesive back and placing them permanently.  Follow the wiring instructions. Mount and connect the display.

The top of the strips on the fresh water tank shouldn't end above the overflow level.  At that point the display will read 100%. You want it to read 100% before your tank overflows.  The bottom should end above the bottom of the fresh tank.  When the level gets there it will read 0%.  You still have a few gallons left in reserve.

The top of the strips on the waste tanks are probably best left well below the top of the tank (maybe 3").  When it reads 100% it is time to empty the tanks, before an overflow occurs.  I rarely let mine exceed 80%.

Your coach's tanks may be in a different location and different sizes from other models and years. Look, plan, ask questions, and then do it.  It is not very hard to do and the improvement in tank status awareness is useful.

Roger

I know this string is aging but, Roger, I'm trying to figure out how to get the seelevel sensor strip on my gray(?) tank. Guessing tank arrangement is same in my 2001 u295  3610 as your u320. I think, fresh and black easy flat access in the manifold/water pump compartment. I can't see any indications of the original sensors or 12v. Assuming I won't find those, any suggestion for where's best to pick up 12v? I'm guessing the gray is the sloped tank "way back" behind the water and shore power reels in the wet bay? How did you get to that to place the sensor strip? I get that the slope isn't a big deal if I have enough strip. How to route wires from there to the other two on the curb side to bundle with 12v and on to panel in coach. There's a lot of stuff running across the two tanks on the curb side and trying to fish a wire over there looks problematic. I do see a straightforward path from the manifold bay to under the CM detector as you installed. Do I have to take the wet bay at least partially apart? To sum, I suppose my befuddlement is mostly about placing the sensor on the tank visible from the wet bay and picking up 12v from "someplace"?

Steve

Hi Steve,

All three of my sensor strips are on the ends of the tanks on the passengers side. If you remocve the cover panel over the manifold you will see the black colored gray and black (narrower of the two) tanks.  Strips go on the ends of the tanks.  In the 320s the panel above the water pump can be removed and the flat shelf above the water pump comes out. And then the end of the white fresh tank.  My strips when on there on the end of the tank.  In the 295 I think the water heater is there making getting at the end of the tank more problematic.  So you are correct, on the other end the tank is sloped to accommodate the hose and power cord reel.  The hose reel is easiest to remove if you need to to put the strips on that side.  Start from the bottom of the sloped section and go to the top, no need to try to go around the corners.  When it says 0% you will have some  reserve and when it says 100%  it won't quite be overflowing, both beneficial.

12v can come from tapping into the +12v wire leading to a light fixture in the bay.  If the power to the light fixture is controlled by a push button switch actuated when the bay door is opened then tap into the +12v wire going into the push button switch.  In my coach there are lights in either end of the wet bay not controlled by bay door switches.  On either drivers side or passengers side of the bay just forward of the wet bay there are door actuated switches.  None of this is high powered wiring so a good quality 18 or 16 ga wire will do. 

The easy way to go from on side of the wet bay to the other is over the top. I have a 25' fiberglass rod in 5' screw together sections with a variety of ends for pulling wires.  I pushed it across the top and then pulled a 1/8" cord and with that pulled the wires across.  This is like the one I have but not the same one, about 5' per section, the end one is a bit longer and glows in the dark.  You need a hooh and a loop end at least.  Lots of other much less expensive ones but I hve used mine a lot for wiring projects and more.  Mine came from ZORO tools.

https://amazon.com/Glow-30-Foot-Klein-Tools-56430/dp/B01N23C683/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=Fiberglass+wire+puller&qid=1615416022&rnid=2941120011&s=power-hand-tools&sr=1-18

Roger.

Send an email address if you want pictures, glad to help.

Whoa! Lotta good info there Roger (as always). Thanks much! I may be a real bean head in not noting a seam between the black and grey hidden behind the manifold. I'll have fingers crossed when I walk down to have a look in the morning. That would really make it a walk in the park given I have aquahot and the 12v is available where you indicated. Routing to the panel under carbon monoxide detector only moderate, but quite acceptable, pain if the side by side black and grey works out.

Steve

If you have an AH then there should be nothing above the water pump space.  If not then it is a much easier install on the fresh tank.

Roger, is the curb side end of your fresh tank "L" shaped?  I have not taken that bay apart yet, but I believe that end of the tank, behind the water pump, has a step inward about 6" from the bottom or so.  Did you install your SeeLevel strip on the side or the end of this tank?

Keith, on the 2001 U30 36' (as I have) the curb side of the fresh, gray and black tank ends are flat and vertical, no slope, no steps. Pretty easy to install there. On the fresh tank there is no reason to go any higher with the strips than the overflow outlet, about 2" below the top of the tank.  Your fresh tank may have a level sensor to close the fill valve when the water reaches that level.  That should be the top of your strip.

The tanks may be different in another year or model.

My 2004 has the L / step fresh water tank. I installed the SeeLevel at the bottom of the main part of the tank so when it reads zero, I still have about 10 gals left.  I put a small label indicating that on the SeeLevel gauge to remind me.

The inside SeeLevel display is mounted next to the AH control above the microwave.  Wiring was fairly easy to pull from the pass side wet bay to the bay just forward and then up to the mounting area via the fridge outside access panel. Took more time to figure out the route and make a new matching veneer panel to hold the SeeLand and AH panels (instead of just the AH) than it took to pull the wires.

I got 12 volts from a line under the kitchen cabinets and installed a fuse.  Also put on a note saying the fuse location.

Does anyone know if you can co-mingle the 710ES and 710SS strips?  My gray and black tanks need 19", so two ES strips will work fine.  My fresh tank is "L" shaped on the curb side end, so I need 5" for the short bit and 17" for the tall bit.  I could do this with one ES on the short bit and one SS on the long bit.  I haven't found any FAQ's or info that states if this will work.

No both strips would need to be the same length. On my 03 with tanks like yours I got the long strips and put them on the top part of the tank, the top of the sensor strip is at the full water level, you can see it on the white tank. So when my fresh tank shows 0 on the readout I still have that 5" in the jutt out part, I know this and don't panic when I hit 0. Also the bottom of my gray and black don't read until they get up to the reading strips. I mounted them so the top of the strip is at the top of the tank, I don't care when it's empty I only really care when it's full. I found a picture of my black tag showing the strip going to the top and not all the way to the bottom, not a great picture but it will give you an idea.
Also showing in the picture is part of my new hot water recirculation with, the new white hose and Solenoid valve are part of it. With the push of a button in the coach I can circulate water back to the fresh tank until it gets hot to help conserve water and not putting it to the gray tank when we're staying where there is no water hook up......Thanks to Roger for this idea

Keith

After talking to Garnet, I've ordered two of the SS sensors.  They said having one full length and the other at 6" for the bottom portion of the tank should not be an issue...we'll see.

Another question - LPG sender...it's 2 wires and they want me to connect to one of them.  Green and white, I assume green is the sender.  Is the white supposed to be grounded at the other end?  I assume it is still connected to the Javelina box under the dash.

You can have unequal lengths, strips can be cut at marked intervals. One can be one incumbent longer than the other one. That was the way it was when I installed ours.

Cut the wires going to the LP has tank. They connect to the wires from the SeeLevel. If there is a ground side it is the green wire.  I hooked mine up but never calibrated it, in 6 or 7 years we only filled it once.

Wow that's not what they told me when I called them last year. I'll be curious to see if it works.


Keith

Me too...seeing as those two sensors cost me another $100 based on their confirmation.

Cheaper to buy two kits and have an extra display and six strips.

I have two kits, two displays and 6 of the ES strips.  Have now ordered two more SS strips.

Just curious why did you order 2 extra SS instead of JS for the shout section?



Keith

According to Garnet, you cannot intermix senders on the same tank.  The ES strips the kit comes with are 12" long.  The fresh tank is 17" in the main section and 6" or so in the short section.  With 2 of the ES strips, I could only cover the 17" section by shortening the two strips to about 8" each and I would not have been able to measure the bottom 25% of the tank.

The JS strips are way shorter.  Since 2 of those would not cover the 6" and 17" tanks, they were a no go.

The SS strips are 16" each, so I can use one at full length for the top portion and one cut down to ~6" for the bottom portion, to cover the largest area of the tank.

If you already have a SEELEVEL system, can you buy a 2nd display and add it to an existing system? say for location in one of the lower bays.

Yes you can.  Just splice a set of extension wires into the the wires going to the first display and run them over to where you want the second one and hook them up.  I have a second one in the wet bay. It is quite handy there especially when dumping the waste tanks using a third valve.

You can use one at a time  If you use both at the same time you get an "opn" error message.

Thank you Roger!!

Ordered a Seelevel system yesterday and I'm going to place the strips like
Bob did, just using one strip for each tank. I only need to know when the fresh                                                             
is fresh is empty and the other to are full. I also removed the old Javelina Monitor
which will give me a lot more space behind the dash to get at things.

I removed our Javelina CRT and replaced it with a flat plate on which I mounted one of my SeeLevel displays.  Other display is in the wet bay.

I'm going to do the same thing. Seelevel makes a plastic plate which will work
so I will use that. Don't need one in the wet bay as I changed the overflow hose
and I just fill the tank.

It works!  I'll post pictures when I get back in town, but the 6" SS strip on the bottom and the 17"SS strip on the top, even offset with the bottom strip on the right side of the tank and the top on the left side, works without issue.

I also bought mine from Rvupgades.  These are photos of my two displays, one in the wetbay and one next to the toilet in the bathroom. 

My advise is that the mfg makes so many different displays and kits, I recommend  calling the mfg to get the correct part number with the items you want to display.  For example, I wanted to  display, Battery, Fresh, Grey, and Black and LPG and with the correct off/on water pump switch.  Garnet has a bunch of different models - some have a continuous display of tank levels, some with different types of water pump and water heater switches, some will monitor two gray tanks, some have a 16" tall sensor strip, etc.

Garnet SeeLevel documentation on their web site is helpful and/or give them a phone call or send an email. I found them to be easy to contact and had all my questions answered by phone and email.

Rvupgrades did not stock the right displays, so I had to order the kits from Rvupgrades and then I ordered the correct switch from the mfg, and changed them out myself.  The system works flawlessly.  I also sanded and cleaned properly the mounting location for the sending strips for the tanks, as per the mfg, as the tank was quite irregular.  I also in addition to their pre-stickum, I covered the attached wires with black Gorilla tape, as the mfg recommended.

1-800-617-7384

Manuals & Support Documents | Garnet Instruments (https://www.garnetinstruments.com/support-documents/)

Shared album - John Lewis - Google Photos (https://photos.app.goo.gl/ViDnV12ExJ7kmqQw7)

S














f

Started installing the Seeland and there is a lot of wires going into this
42-25498 Foretravel
Audit 8TS CPU        from the old system but there is other wires also going into
it. Does anyone know what else it is used for. Also a picture of it.

I think its a Audit 8T8 (rather than 8TS).  See diagram linked below - found in our Forum library:

Thanks Chuck I think I can get rid of it. I will disconnect everything and see if
the camera still works as the wiring to the camera comes in on different wires
before I get rid off it.

Looking for the best route to run wire for my SeeLevel display that I want to install above the microwave, down to the basement.  I have found where a bundle of wires goes through the floor into the basement and can get my wire through there, but where should I snake the wires up from behind the kitchen cabinets to the overhead cabinets?

There is a coiled up phone cable in there that probably went to the old Xantrex display, that is unused.  I'm guessing I could use this as a fish if I knew where the other end comes out.  Any ideas?

My fridge is next to the cabinets above the microwave.  There are wires running behind the fridge that are visible on the extreme right (toward front) in the outside access area.  I was able to fish a wire down from there to under the  bottom cabinets and up from there into the area behind the microwave. 

Toughest part was removing all the controls (Aquahot etc) from the area above the microwave and refitting everything with a new panel to house the SeeLevel.

I also used a hot wire with fuse from under the cabinets as power for the SeeLevel.  Easy to get to by removing the drawer.

I accessed the area above the microwave from outside behind the fridge. In that opening toward the front/outside wall there is a wire bundle that goes up behind the fridge and is accessible above the microwave. I used some fiberglass wire pulling rods that i got at HF and some wire pulling lube. I pulled 2 wires with 4 wires in each for future use. I pulled the wires up to the microwave. From there I drilled forward into the area behind the cabinets then down to the basement where I could run it over 2 basements the the wet bay..


Keith

Not having much luck with a metal fish tape, trying to go right where you are describing Keith.  Might need to pull the fridge for better access.  Guess it will have to wait...I just don't have the time or will to do it myself before our next trip.

I used a fiberglass wire running kit, stiffer than a fish tape. Cheap at harbor freight if you have one near.  Pushed it up thru the bottom, attached the wires at the top and had someone pull them thru as I pushed them down. Got some wire pulling lube, from Home Depot I think, and squirted it in the hole to help make everything slick. Good luck


Keith

Yes Chuck it is Audit 8T8 and I removed it today and I am cleaning up the
wiring. Who ever put in the new backup camera they used a green wire for
the hot wire, I changed it to red. The Seelevel instal in the dash was straight
forward and I have a lot more room behind the dash.

All finished the instal and everything works.

Finished mine as well.  Started a different thread for the install:  SeeLevel Install (http://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=43359.0)