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I installed the Garnet SeeLevel II tank sensors on our rig because I cannot deal with the stock sensors and not really knowing what my tank levels are. The old adage of just ignoring the stock sensors due to inaccuracy doesn't work for my brain; except maybe it does because now that I have the SeeLevel system I really do ignore them!
I purchased the system from RV Upgrades and was very happy with the entire process. A word to anyone looking to purchase, don't do what I did and just order without considering the size of tank sensors you need. It says pretty clearly on their website that there are 3 options of sensors (I believe they are 6", 12" and 18") and that you should indicate which you need. You can cut the longer sensors down to fit but you lose resolution by doing so, so having the smallest possible to give full measurement is ideal. For the short, flat, and wide tanks in my rig the 6" Junior sensors were ideal (I think my black and both greys are 6" tall and the fresh is 7" tall). I originally ordered without specifying and then got sent larger sensors. I had to email their customer service to return the larger sensors and get junior replacements, which was great of them to help correct my mistake, but giving that word of caution for others to figure out which would work best for you before ordering.
The kit comes with a display screen, a small wire harness with leads for the display, and then sensors with wires attached. I borrowed ncitro's idea and ordered a second display so that I could mount one inside for regular camp use and a second screen in the wet bay so that I could watch levels when filling/dumping/flushing tanks. In addition to what comes with the kit, you need to provide enough wiring to make runs between the sensors, display, and 12v power. The sensors have 2 wires on them, and you can wire all of them in a daisy chain, one to the next. They are differentiated by the board based on some notches on the sensors themselves, where you literally cut them with scissors in certain spots to break a connection and indicate to the board which tank it is connected to; the manual does a great job explaining how to make these cuts for the specific kit you buy. The 2 conductor wire that runs from the sensors then connects to the display which has 3 wires; the 3rd wire along with one of the 2 which connected to the sensors then runs to a 12v power source, which I made a dedicated run to my DC Sub Panel so I could fuse this line on it's own. I made a very crude schematic in paint that probably visually explains the wiring better than my jumble of words there.
Now that we know conceptually how to the system is setup and installs, the physical installation is the next step. It seems way more intimidating than it is, and honestly the most difficult part of this project is taking down the coroplast underbelly and then putting it back up. For installing the sensors themselves you just drop the coroplast and find your tanks. You may need to do a little critical thinking to figure out which tank is actually which when it comes to your RV layout. Look at where the plumbing pipes feed into the tank to help make this determination. For my 303, the black tank was directly under the bathroom so that the toilet could feed straight down into it. The grey and galley were off the the sides slightly but you could clearly see one had a pipe feeding from under the bathroom where the other inlet pipe was coming from the kitchen area. Finally the fresh was the easiest to identify as it was a white/clear tank by the axles whereas the other 3 were all black plastic underneath the front basement/bathroom area. Once you identify which tank is which, and make the cuts on the board to indicate which sensor goes on which tank, then find the flattest possible spot on the side of the tank (tougher than it sounds) and simply stick the sensor on. I found that it was easiest to connect the sensor wire, then mount the sensor, and tuck excess wiring in the underbelly.
As for aligning the sensors to the tank, if you have more tank space than sensor (my fresh tank is 7" tall and the sensor is 6" tall) then I found it's best to align the bottom of the sensor to the bottom of the tank. This means you will have a gap at the top where there will be tank space not covered in sensor. Functionally this means the SeeLevel will read 100% for the first few gallons of fresh water used, until it gets low enough to start the sensor being able to read the level going down. This means your percentage is not a true percentage but it's still a gauge that you can monitor and when you get to zero, you will be truly empty. If you prefer to align the top of the sensor to the top of the tank in a situation where the tank is bigger than the sensor then you will likely have an accurate 100% indicator but your sensor will display 0% when you still have water available. This is entirely preference on which metric you would rather use. Alternatively you could ask for 1 longer sensor and cut it down to fit exactly, just know you'll lose some sensor resolution and that tradeoff was not worth it in my opinion.
For the displays, they have a back plate that is held on by 3 small screws and protects the board. I chose to unscrew the back plate and use that to trace a square to cut where I wanted the panel, then cut holes and mounted the board right in. This was the easiest part of the install.
Below are a bunch of pics from the job. I know there are a few others with this system that are happy to answer questions, but I've been extremely happy with this so far and definitely recommend it for those that like to know the status of their tanks beyond a mysterious "somewhere between empty and full, maybe?"
I purchased the system from RV Upgrades and was very happy with the entire process. A word to anyone looking to purchase, don't do what I did and just order without considering the size of tank sensors you need. It says pretty clearly on their website that there are 3 options of sensors (I believe they are 6", 12" and 18") and that you should indicate which you need. You can cut the longer sensors down to fit but you lose resolution by doing so, so having the smallest possible to give full measurement is ideal. For the short, flat, and wide tanks in my rig the 6" Junior sensors were ideal (I think my black and both greys are 6" tall and the fresh is 7" tall). I originally ordered without specifying and then got sent larger sensors. I had to email their customer service to return the larger sensors and get junior replacements, which was great of them to help correct my mistake, but giving that word of caution for others to figure out which would work best for you before ordering.
The kit comes with a display screen, a small wire harness with leads for the display, and then sensors with wires attached. I borrowed ncitro's idea and ordered a second display so that I could mount one inside for regular camp use and a second screen in the wet bay so that I could watch levels when filling/dumping/flushing tanks. In addition to what comes with the kit, you need to provide enough wiring to make runs between the sensors, display, and 12v power. The sensors have 2 wires on them, and you can wire all of them in a daisy chain, one to the next. They are differentiated by the board based on some notches on the sensors themselves, where you literally cut them with scissors in certain spots to break a connection and indicate to the board which tank it is connected to; the manual does a great job explaining how to make these cuts for the specific kit you buy. The 2 conductor wire that runs from the sensors then connects to the display which has 3 wires; the 3rd wire along with one of the 2 which connected to the sensors then runs to a 12v power source, which I made a dedicated run to my DC Sub Panel so I could fuse this line on it's own. I made a very crude schematic in paint that probably visually explains the wiring better than my jumble of words there.
Now that we know conceptually how to the system is setup and installs, the physical installation is the next step. It seems way more intimidating than it is, and honestly the most difficult part of this project is taking down the coroplast underbelly and then putting it back up. For installing the sensors themselves you just drop the coroplast and find your tanks. You may need to do a little critical thinking to figure out which tank is actually which when it comes to your RV layout. Look at where the plumbing pipes feed into the tank to help make this determination. For my 303, the black tank was directly under the bathroom so that the toilet could feed straight down into it. The grey and galley were off the the sides slightly but you could clearly see one had a pipe feeding from under the bathroom where the other inlet pipe was coming from the kitchen area. Finally the fresh was the easiest to identify as it was a white/clear tank by the axles whereas the other 3 were all black plastic underneath the front basement/bathroom area. Once you identify which tank is which, and make the cuts on the board to indicate which sensor goes on which tank, then find the flattest possible spot on the side of the tank (tougher than it sounds) and simply stick the sensor on. I found that it was easiest to connect the sensor wire, then mount the sensor, and tuck excess wiring in the underbelly.
As for aligning the sensors to the tank, if you have more tank space than sensor (my fresh tank is 7" tall and the sensor is 6" tall) then I found it's best to align the bottom of the sensor to the bottom of the tank. This means you will have a gap at the top where there will be tank space not covered in sensor. Functionally this means the SeeLevel will read 100% for the first few gallons of fresh water used, until it gets low enough to start the sensor being able to read the level going down. This means your percentage is not a true percentage but it's still a gauge that you can monitor and when you get to zero, you will be truly empty. If you prefer to align the top of the sensor to the top of the tank in a situation where the tank is bigger than the sensor then you will likely have an accurate 100% indicator but your sensor will display 0% when you still have water available. This is entirely preference on which metric you would rather use. Alternatively you could ask for 1 longer sensor and cut it down to fit exactly, just know you'll lose some sensor resolution and that tradeoff was not worth it in my opinion.
For the displays, they have a back plate that is held on by 3 small screws and protects the board. I chose to unscrew the back plate and use that to trace a square to cut where I wanted the panel, then cut holes and mounted the board right in. This was the easiest part of the install.
Below are a bunch of pics from the job. I know there are a few others with this system that are happy to answer questions, but I've been extremely happy with this so far and definitely recommend it for those that like to know the status of their tanks beyond a mysterious "somewhere between empty and full, maybe?"
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