Has anybody ever figured out how to add an alarm to the factory sensor lights. I would like an alarm to be wired off the full sensor light wires. I have a #2 grey tank that Leaked when over filled. I have already pulled the tank because it leaked from the vent when full. I did the repair and filled the tank to test for leaks, left the under belly cover off for a few days and noticed a new leak. I was surprised to see the tank leaking from a pre existing patch! That means in 2014 Heartland installed a patched tank in a brand new trailer. The trailer had only been used for 3 months when the elderly couple put the trailer up for sale due to health issues. I called Heartland for a replacement tank and got a whole 5% off due to their shoddy work. I installed the new tank and a few months later it started leaking when over filled and I really don't want to pull the tank again. If I can figure out how to set up an alarm to the red full tank sensor wires then I can install new insulation for the 3rd time and be done with it. I did install Horst Miracle probes on all 3 tanks so it would be nice to not have to but a tank sensor system with an alarm.
Holding Tank Sensor Alarm Question
- Thread starter Chris6074
- Start date
JohnDar
Prolifically Gabby Member
Assuming your tanks have the same unreliable spin-weld sensors that the rest of us have, wiring a full tank alarm on it would be a waste of time. Black tank sensors are notorious for always reading full no matter how diligently you dump and flush the tank. Gray's are a little better, but they've been known to misread, as well. Many of us simply rely on the "burp" of the toilet flush to tell when it's really time to dump. Normally, if the black tank needs dumping, the grays will, too.
I did install Horst Miracle Probes in all 3 tanks. I just installed a Valterra electric waste gate on the black tank because the manual waste gate was leaking due to the gate note closing all the way and it was very hard to open and close. Even the Horst Miracle Probe sensors were reading full after dumping the black tank due to the liquid leaking past the waste gate and leaving solid waste and toilette paper behind. I worry that the other tanks will start leaking if I let them back up into the trailer. Unfortunately my 2014 Savanah was built very poorly and low quality parts that since I bought it for full time living in October of 2016 I have had thousands of dollars in water damage and fixing things as this RV just falls apart.
I bought it through the owners son and they were the only owners.They had it towed 300 miles then I had it moved 11 miles away and it was obvious the trailer had very little use. In the first 5 days 6 out of 9 cabinet doors in the living room were hanging by one hinge. The washer and dryer had never been used and the first time we used it a hot water line came apart in the wall, it was a bad crimp.Then the window above the kitchen table leaked completely soaking the pull out carpet, that fried the outdoor TV. We had to replace the washing machine after 5 months of use, it wouldn't spin the water out. Amazon and Sears both had a ! star rating on the Whirlpool washing machine. The list goes on and on, needless to say I am not impressed with the poor quality of Heartlands work and the low quality of materials used to build this over priced lemon.
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kowAlski631
Well-known member
How long had it been sitting idle before you bought it?
About 1 year.
danemayer
Well-known member
Heartland, before they stopped doing factory installs, used Splendide washer/dryer stackables. I don't think they ever used Whirlpool. Whirlpool was probably either a dealer selection or a selection made by the first owner. And if installed locally, the water hoses were also procured and installed locally.
Lots of stuff can happen after a trailer leaves the factory floor. And when warranty problems are found, dealers don't always get things right the first time. You wouldn't be the first buyer of a used trailer to think they got a great deal on a hardly used trailer and instead got problems that weren't disclosed.
kowAlski631
Well-known member
Been our experience that the longer things made for frequent use (be it trailers, motorhomes, boats, cars, engines, appliances, etc), sit idle, the more parts don't work as intended when you begin using them again. Due to health issues, our trailer was only used for a couple of weeks last year. When we went on a long weekend this year, there were several things requiring repair or replacement. Frustrating, you betcha, but actually our fault for not keeping it functioning on a regular basis.
Martha
Martha
The only warranty work done according to the previous owners was replaced microwave and a minor repair that I don't even remember what it was. Heartlands records said the same warranty work had been done. The build sheet shows washer/dryer prep with stackable washer/dryer.
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It's a 2014 and it was bought in 2015 so it could have set idle for 2 years but used for 3 months before we got it. I even had to replace the cheap plastic shelving rails in the pantry because 3 out of 4 shelves were falling because the plastic gave away. We didn't had a lot of heavy canned or jars of food stored either. I wondered how was the shelving supposed to hold up while traveling, we were stationary.
mlpeloquin
Well-known member
Under warranty we had a lot of cabinet doors pop loose. Used a high strength epoxy that stays flexible to fix it. Did not bother with the warranty for many annoying things, but chose to fix them my self. It did not take much time and did them while out camping. The fixes did not take long and I knew I would fix it once correctly so it would not occur again. Should not happen, but does. Did all the cabinet door hinges so I would not have to do them one at a time. It did take the second one to figure this out. The screws that hold the window knobs started loosening up, fixed with Loctite. Once one loosened I made sure all were fixed. So I hope you are handy because we have friends that have SOB's and they are prone to the same problems. No shelve problems and I did the Splendid washer/dryer combo install. Did have a problem with it, but Splendid did send me the replacement control board. They would have paid for the labor, but the dealership that they wanted me to go to I do not trust. Splendid was great to deal with.
I fixed the cabinet doors the same way and I installed an Electrolux washing machine in place of the Whirlpool. In January I took out the Norcold 1210 refrigerator and removed the drawer below it. Lowes installed a Samsung, the ice maker didn't work from day one, by day four the freezer quit working. The Samsung had horrible reviews but choices were few so I tried it. I then ordered a Whirpool hoping it was better quality than the Whirlpool washing machine. I had to widen the cabinet opening for the Whirpool and lower the floor again but Lowes delivery guys got it in with no room to spare. I didn't have an existing ice maker line so I ran out the rear vent and tapped into the outside water supply. So far the new refrigerator is working great. I had no way to strap the bigger Whirpool in so I went to Walmart and bought 2 play ground rubber balls and deflated them. Then put them on top of the Whirlpool and aired them up. We just moved the trailer 170 miles and the Whirpool didn't move at all.
I had my second back surgery in 2014 and that put me disability. My income is down by 70% so constantly putting money in this lemon is a huge strain on us not to mention it's not good lifting washing machines and the refrigerator or laying under the rig removing tanks and replacing insulation.
kowAlski631
Well-known member
When we ordered our 2013 BH in August 2012, we requested the stackable Splendides. Heartland prepped the trailer for them and the dealer installed them. Our cabinets have held up well.
porthole
Retired
This is not a defense of Heartland workmanship. But some things to consider.
If the trailer is a 2014 model year, it very well could have been assembled in the early part of 2013, maybe even as early as March 2013.
So, if it is an early 2013, they bought it in the latter part of 2015 and you didn't buy it until a year after the original owners, you could very well have bought a trailer that sat for 3 or almost 4 years with almost no use.
As far as as your tanks go, you could add the sensor kit that uses SONAR using a tape strip on the outside of the tank.
If you search the marine catalogs you can buy a kit that could be installed in the top of the tank to alert when the tank is near full, about 3" below the top. I used the kit on our boat's black tank.
If you are filling the tanks to the vent line, you are stressing the system. Granted they should not leak, but you would not be the first person to have a leaking vent line.
My hints to tank level ? Although I do use the tank level monitor gauge, it is more for amusement purposes.
Black tank - when the toilet starts to burp, it is time to consider dumping the tank.
Grey #1, bath and shower - when the sink starts to fill and drain real slow, it is time to dump the tank. Or, the shower starts draining slow.
Grey #2, seldom an issue as I dump that tank when dumping the grey #1. But, same slow drain indicator.
When we use the washer-dryer combo I leave grey #1 open. Since the Splendide uses load size to determine water usage, you never know if the cycle is going to use 2 gallons or 7 gallons of water. And leaving it open for wash eliminates guessing how many loads were done.
As to the quality of parts used - all RV's use the same components for the most part. Doesn't matter if it is your Landmark or Bighorn or a $250,000 custom built New Horizons.
I am sure New Horizons has far better build quality and where they can they use residential appliances. I have opened this trailer up and have seen very low quality workmanship, like screws only half way in or they broke screws and left them that way. I just got done securing water lines that were hanging across the width or the trailer, only one zip tie supporting them and that had almost completely crushed the black tank washout hose. The frame for my stairs creaks bad, after looking at it from the service bay it was obvious why. The wood frame wasn't even close to being square and one 2x4 had several staple nails machine gunned Into the end of it absolutely destroying it. Plastic part bags, wood shavings and lots of wires just laying all over not secured to any thing so you have to be very careful when working around them. For those of you that travel it's only a matter of time before your holding tanks start leaking. Mine are only secured by the plumbing that attaches to them and to make it worse they are sitting on bolt heads and the bolt heads will eventually wear through the tanks. The self tapping bolts are holding the safety tank straps and the straps offer no support of the tanks due to several inches of slack in them, their only purpose is to catch the tank if it falls out of the angle iron supports. It very clear the Heartland factory quality control is very low on the agenda so they pay their manufacturing crew by piece work virtually guaranteeing low quality craftsmanship. The original owners paid $xx,000 and we paid $xx,000 for this lemon that if I knew the thousands of dollars and my hours of labor that would go into it I wouldn't have bought it for half the price.
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Not on mine, I checked after filling the new grey tank and also the black tank that I just installed an electric waste gate.
carl.swoyer
Well-known member
I used to use the sensors, however in time I realized that I didn't have to even look at them.
The longer you do this the easier it gets.
Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
I used 4 in each of my 3 tanks. My factory sensors (30 years old) quit working. I ordered a monitor and it would not work with the sensors I had. I ordered a RecPro holding tank sensor and the installation was straightforward.
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