Today i spent time getting our caravan ready for a big trip down south to visit family in Newcastle NSW .I emptied the water tanks ,then made up a sanitiser mixture to add to the water ,refilled the both tanks and using a flow meter i put 75ltrs in both tanks ,on the tanks it is stamped 95 ltrs ,so were is the missing 20 ltrs each tank gone to .Also the water level gauges inside the van showed 1 tank full the other on reserve ,how can this be .they are hume brand gauges common to most caravans .Tonite i looked at Mr Google ,they are $55 to replace ,then further down the page it mentioned that it comes with 1AA battery .It was then that the penny dropped ,so tomorrow will check and replace both batteries .Has anyone else had a problem with there gauges ,If so did you know there was a battery that could be replaced
There is a couple of problems with tanks. The water outlet is not at the bottom of the tank. The only way you can empty them completely is to remove the plug, go for a drive and take the corners and bends that favour emptying the tank at a good rate. The other thing is that some of the builders poke the breather into the top of the tank and gunk it into place, the breather hangs too far down into the tank and the space above it is just dead space you can't get water into.
On top of that the pump stops pumping as soon as it commences to suck air, that happens when the water level drops to the top of the water outlet orifice. Even though you may be able to get 95 litres of water into the tank you can't pump 95 lit82 litre tankres out.
The table below is a survey on my 82 litre tank.
-- Edited by PeterD on Monday 19th of September 2016 10:43:11 PM
I will follow this with interest.
I have the same guage and I have two tanks.....I was told when I bought the van 2nd hand, that they were 85 litres each.
When I press the button it is only sometimes that the lights come on so maybe it is a battery problem.
Where is the battery?
Is it in the light box above?
Does the outer cover come off to expose the battery?
Do two strips of lights indicate one tank and the other two strips for the other tank?
So many queries.
I have only used my tanks once since we got the van and I set off with full tanks and have one light on now after 3 and a half days.
PeterD, thank you for that handy chart.
cruisaderhilton said
07:57 AM Sep 20, 2016
Thanks from me also ,Maybe that is whats rong wiv my setup ,the breather tube pushed 2far into the tanks .The other problem with the water level gauge i will call Crusader caravans up and ask the how to get to the batteries ,i will replace both at the same time ,and let you no how to go about it cheers JOHN. Have taken front cover off water gauge and taken out old battery ,probably been there since new 2010 Crusader caravan . Tak
-- Edited by cruisaderhilton on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 09:33:24 AM
I will follow this with interest. I have the same guage and I have two tanks.....I was told when I bought the van 2nd hand, that they were 85 litres each.
When I press the button it is only sometimes that the lights come on so maybe it is a battery problem. Where is the battery? Is it in the light box above? Does the outer cover come off to expose the battery? Do two strips of lights indicate one tank and the other two strips for the other tank?
So many queries.
I have only used my tanks once since we got the van and I set off with full tanks and have one light on now after 3 and a half days.
PeterD, thank you for that handy chart.
I think you may have either a flattish battery or the connections that hold the battery in needs tightening
the face pulls of and you can see the battery
if you only have one gauge then you most likely only have one sensor which means it is showing a combined total
I have found them to be a guide only at the best of times if you are parked at any sort of angle that reduced the ability to access what water
you have on board
if you have a problem with the guage you can buy just the head unit from e bay if you search for HUME caravan acces you can also buy direct from them
brian
Dickodownunder said
10:11 PM Sep 20, 2016
Thanks for your reply Brian, I will check out if the sender reads from one tank so as to average the reading and water levels.
When I get back home on the wekkend I will replace the battery to ensure that it is working properly..
I will do some googling...
PeterD said
10:45 PM Sep 21, 2016
Here is a site to identify your battery - Battery Sizes. You may have to scroll across to see the dimensions in the RH column.
Dickodownunder said
05:57 AM Sep 22, 2016
PeterD wrote:
Here is a site to identify your battery - Battery Sizes. You may have to scroll across to see the dimensions in the RH column.
That is one great link PeterD.
Thank you for the info...
Gezza E said
02:54 PM Sep 11, 2022
hi Ive owned two Vans with these indicators
Both lots ive had troble with esp replacing the Batteries they are a curse to keep in place and making contact while fitting the face of the unit back on place very frustrating
They are ok when working but I bet there are far better and more accurate systems Available which I tend to change asap
There is a couple of problems with tanks. The water outlet is not at the bottom of the tank. The only way you can empty them completely is to remove the plug, go for a drive and take the corners and bends that favour emptying the tank at a good rate. The other thing is that some of the builders poke the breather into the top of the tank and gunk it into place, the breather hangs too far down into the tank and the space above it is just dead space you can't get water into.
On top of that the pump stops pumping as soon as it commences to suck air, that happens when the water level drops to the top of the water outlet orifice. Even though you may be able to get 95 litres of water into the tank you can't pump 95 lit82 litre tankres out.
The table below is a survey on my 82 litre tank.
-- Edited by PeterD on Monday 19th of September 2016 10:43:11 PM
I have the same guage and I have two tanks.....I was told when I bought the van 2nd hand, that they were 85 litres each.
When I press the button it is only sometimes that the lights come on so maybe it is a battery problem.
Where is the battery?
Is it in the light box above?
Does the outer cover come off to expose the battery?
Do two strips of lights indicate one tank and the other two strips for the other tank?
So many queries.
I have only used my tanks once since we got the van and I set off with full tanks and have one light on now after 3 and a half days.
PeterD, thank you for that handy chart.
Thanks from me also ,Maybe that is whats rong wiv my setup ,the breather tube pushed 2far into the tanks .The other problem with the water level gauge i will call Crusader caravans up and ask the how to get to the batteries ,i will replace both at the same time ,and let you no how to go about it cheers JOHN.
Have taken front cover off water gauge and taken out old battery ,probably been there since new 2010 Crusader caravan .
Tak
-- Edited by cruisaderhilton on Tuesday 20th of September 2016 09:33:24 AM
I think you may have either a flattish battery or the connections that hold the battery in needs tightening
the face pulls of and you can see the battery
if you only have one gauge then you most likely only have one sensor which means it is showing a combined total
I have found them to be a guide only at the best of times if you are parked at any sort of angle that reduced the ability to access what water
you have on board
if you have a problem with the guage you can buy just the head unit from e bay if you search for HUME caravan acces you can also buy direct from them
brian
When I get back home on the wekkend I will replace the battery to ensure that it is working properly..
I will do some googling...
Here is a site to identify your battery - Battery Sizes. You may have to scroll across to see the dimensions in the RH column.
That is one great link PeterD.
Thank you for the info...
thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t67912476/water-tank-guagelevel/
Thank you PeterD, handy information.
Reminds me of a Piper Cub (PA18)'s fuel gauges. Simple and effective.
Batteries for water gauges are normally 12V...at least mine were.
They were A23 batteries.
-- Edited by Dick0 on Monday 12th of September 2022 04:59:46 PM
Peter wrote that 6 years ago Radar, still handy info I suppose.