How much water is left in my tank?

[JaycoNewbies]

The DH and I just got back from camping in Joliet, Illinois for the Nascar race.  Great time.  The "campground" (which was really just a hay field) we stayed at did have a well we could fill up at and used our blue jugs to periodically fill the water tank.  My question is....how do we know how much water is left in the tank?  I don't want to run it out of water in the middle of a shower.  :yikes:

Also, the plastic "thing" on the dinette slideout that holds the shepard hook is starting to crack.  Where can I get a new one and what is it called?

Thanks all...

[Dray]

I keep track of how much fresh water i have by monitoring my "gray water tank".  My fresh water tank is about 20 gallons, plus 6 gallons in the hot water tank.  I have a gray water tank that can hold 22 gallons.  When the gray water tank is full I dump it and at the same time add more fresh water.

[JaycoNewbies]

Thanks Dray.

Since we were basically camping in a hay field, we were told it was okay to drain our sink water and shower water onto the ground.  Our friends who have a 36 foot motor home couldn't believe we didn't have some sort of gauge to tell us how much water we had left.  We look pretty funny parked next to them.  They do give us great wind break during storms though.

[wavery]

It's easy to make a very accurate, home made, gage for your water tank (if the tank is inside the camper).

You will need to install a couple of fittings in the side of the tank. One fitting near the bottom and another fitting in (or near) the top. Run a clear plastic hose from the bottom fitting, through a hole drilled in the side of a cabinet, up the outside of the cabinet to the height of the top of the tank, through a second hole in the cabinet and attach the hose to the top fitting on the tank.

When the tank is filled with water, the water level will be exactly the same in the clear hose as it is in the tank.

If you really want to get fancy, you could use 90* elbows where the hose goes through the cabinets and put a small red floating ball on the inside of the hose. The entire project would be under $20 and take about 1-2 hours to accomplish. It would be far more accurate than the electric monitors that you can buy for hundreds of dollars. Of course, if your tank is mounted under the camper, this will not work.

I have the electric monitor on my camper and it is a joke.

[JaycoNewbies]

Wavery
Our tank is under the camper so I guess we will just have to be careful with how much water we use in those situations.  

Do you know what the plastic part is called that my shepard hook goes into?  I thought someone called it a retainer bracket but couldn't find anything on that.  My local dealer isn't much help at all.  Once they found out we bought used from an individual they didn't want to do much of anything for us.  I thought that was not very smart on their part because when we go to buy a new model we definitely won't be using them.

[wavery]

Wavery
Our tank is under the camper so I guess we will just have to be careful with how much water we use in those situations.  

Actually, you could do the same thing with a bottom mounted tank but it would require drilling holes on the outside of the camper and the plastic may be stained by the Sun over-time. I don't recommend it for those reasons.

You could always just look under the camper. Most water tanks are made of see through plastic. If you can't see through the plastic, you may want to consider bleaching the tank. It may have mold build-up.

[waygard33]

You could always just look under the camper. Most water tanks are made of see through plastic. If you can't see through the plastic, you may want to consider bleaching the tank. It may have mold build-up.

My tank is under the camper and is a light plastic. I just look under the camper and the water level is clearly visible. This is my first pup so I'm not sure if most are like this or not. Have you looked?

Wayne in Oregon

[hoppy]

Our friends who have a 36 foot motor home couldn't believe we didn't have some sort of gauge to tell us how much water we had left.  We look pretty funny parked next to them.  They do give us great wind break during storms though.

 Tell your friends that you don't have or need a $100,000 RV that can tell you how much water you have in the tank!   LOL

  You are smart enough to look under the PU and see how much is still in there!

 But if you are interested, there is a gage kit sold at RV dealers and on-line that you can install just for this purpose. It does involve drilling a hole in the side of the tank to install a float unit and sensor, (simular to the gas gage in your car) tapping in to a 12-VDC power source, and installing the digital monitor inside the PU.

 The last time I looked, it was less than fifty bucks.

  Hope this helps!

[markwi]

 Tell your friends that you don't have or need a $100,000 RV that can tell you how much water you have in the tank!   LOL

  You are smart enough to look under the PU and see how much is still in there!

 But if you are interested, there is a gage kit sold at RV dealers and on-line that you can install just for this purpose. It does involve drilling a hole in the side of the tank to install a float unit and sensor, (simular to the gas gage in your car) tapping in to a 12-VDC power source, and installing the digital monitor inside the PU.

 The last time I looked, it was less than fifty bucks.

  Hope this helps!

I have a Jayco 1008 with out a shower. I do drain the sink into a 5 gal bucket. When full I empty and add 5 more gallons of fresh water.  I do have a fresh water bucket just for that.  We do have the outside shower, I watch how we use that and can be very close as when to fill.  Our kids are gone  on their own so its just me and Donna. Mark

[minthillbill]

I just bought the Tank level indicator from RV Electronics.  I'll be installing it in a few weeks and using it at Bristol from the 19-22nd of August.  Prior, we would add 5 gal a day to the tank and never ran out but now we have a shower so we'll be needing more water.  We have a 50 gal plastic drum we leave in the back of the truck and use a 12 v pump to refil the camper.
RV electronics is in Australia but their response is great and the price is pretty good too.
http://www.rvelectronics.com.au
Dr. Bill

[JaycoNewbies]

Thanks everyone for all the help and advice.  Dr. Bill..have fun at Bristol.  This is the first year we haven't attended that race.