SITE GLASS FOR 320 ALDE RESERVOIR

gulfarea

Has anyone installed a sight glass so you could just look threw the wall where the reservoir is instead of removing screws to check? I have seen some sight-glass' for sale up to almost 2 inches round which would give room for my flashlight to also light up the area. Art

ScottG

Somebody proposed a similar idea in the last year, though I don't think it involved an actual site glass. I can't put my finger on it, but maybe they will chime in, or you could find it in a search.  

Verna

One of the 400 models, I think the first one with the larger 3-way fridges had the glycol reservoir at the driver’s side front porthole. NüCamp used an elongated routed hole in the plywood for a “site hole”, without the glass. 

I think the site hole would be especially great in the 2021 T@B 320’s. The glycol reservoir is behind a large piece of plastic under the sink behind the toilet. Pop off 4 caps to four screws, unscrew the screws, and the reservoir is on the right. Then reverse the process to reattach the plastic and screws. 

With a site hole, no screws, just check the level of the glycol without much effort. 

Homebodyatheart

But @Verna, how else would I get such a great calisthenic workout? Stretch, bend, contort, remove two screws without loosing them in the abyss, contort again to look, reverse process. 

dragonsdofly

This sounds like an exercise in advanced t@b  yoga. Not for beginners. Multi-tasking while posing. Extreme caloric burn, added coordinated manual dexterity along with simultaneous mental exertion. To be practiced at regular intervals....

I vote for earning my T@b University badge in some other less rigorus activity. Yay to whoever designs a great (and easy) reservoir sight for '21 t@b 320's! Good luck!

dragonsdofly

@ScottG, you up to blazing a trail by designing a workable sight (hole) for those poor, unfortunate '21 t@b owners? I know you practice t@b yoga, and you do mods, so you're most qualified in the particulars of teardrop bathroom yoga. Although your t@b is a different design, how about assisting fellow forum members develop a solution. Oh, my, do I hear power tools revving? Enjoy (teehee)!

ScottG

@dragonsdofly, I think this project wouldn't be too difficult, contingent on a few things:

• The reservoir needs to be located in a place where the glycol level would be visible through a small hole in the wall.
• The plastic cover Verna mentioned needs to be robust enough to accommodate a hole and securing a sight glass or perhaps a small hatch. 
• The sight glass or hatch would need to be installed to resist letting shower water get behind the panel. 

I'd pioneer this, but I have no intention of swapping my 2015 for a 2021+ any time soon!  ;-)

BrianZ

@gulfarea, good idea, Art.
Here's what I am looking at doing..

Here's a mirror that should work, which has a hole at the top from which to hang it..
Coghlan's Featherweight Mirror https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RZQI68
I plan to use a small LED light in the corner behind the tank & wire it to a small rocker switch that might fit on the plastic panel below the 12V sockets & wired to the same power lines.
A peep hole (one inch maybe?) could be drilled at the position shown, and covered in any number of ways to allow an easy view by simply holding a cell phone camera up to the hole.
The mirror (not the one in the link above) was digitally inserted into this photo from another photo taken from the same angle near the vertical edge of the wood, because I wanted to show this wider view.  It should work, as long as you locate the hole high enough & far enough to the left to see over the edge of the tank & avoid wires & tubes on the inside, which should be approximately the position shown.  You will also have some latitude for positioning the mirror left/right & up/down for optimal viewing.

gulfarea

@BrianZ Thats the best idea yet! Might seem like a lot of work to do but so is removing and replacing the screws and removing wood pieces just to look at the antifreeze level. So glad for your mod! Art

BrianZ

Glad you found it useful, @gulfarea. 
I hope to get started on this soon, in case you need a guinea pig to see how it works out.  I'm just waiting on a couple of parts to be delivered today, then I'll add some followup.

dragonsdofly

@BrianZ, sounds like a plan. And we're following. (No pressure, no pressure!)

gulfarea

YEP NO PREASSURE! LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR FINISHED POST. ART

BrianZ

Well, I found that there is no extra space in the 12V power socket panel to add a switch there, so I'm drilling a 3/4" hole for the switch, in addition to a 1" viewing hole.  Working on wiring first for the lighting, which is a little bit of a pain in that tight corner.  Will be testing a small strip of LED lights, which should fit in the corner behind the tank.

BrianZ

I'm happy to report that I've completed this project & I'm happy with the result. I was able to add a new light for the Alde tank, a switch to control it, a mirror, and a peep hole to view the tank level.
I will list links at the bottom for the parts I used from Amazon.  For the light switch, I used a toggle switch left over from my past mods to add power-saving kill switches to the Alde & Jensen units.
The first thing I did was to disconnect the spade connectors from the 12-volt outlets above the glycol tank & carefully pull the wiring out as far as possible to make it easier to add a new wire pair for the new tank light & switch. I had previously replaced the USB sockets with a second cigarette lighter socket, by tapping into the existing source wires, so the thinner gauge wire pair from the old socket was still available to extend.  So I used that pair to solder on a new wire pair to feed the light/switch.  It is also possible to tap into the main source wires feeding the existing socket.
Below is how I connected the LED light strip & switch to the extended wire pair..

More of the wiring below, and the holes I drilled for the 1" peep hole & 3/4" for the light switch.  The envelope taped to the wall is to catch the sawdust - less to clean up this way.

Below the 1-inch hole saw drill bit used for the peep hole and the 3/4" spade bit for the switch..

The wiring is in place, and I added a zip tie to help keep it tidy..  In the corner behind the tank is a loop of 14 gauge household wiring that I attached to the top screw hole in the light strip which I stuffed down in the corner.  It was a snug fit, so I wanted to be able to pull it out.  The black strap is double-sided velcro, which I normally use to secure a small bottle of glycol stored in the corner..

Below, I have added the mirror, which also shows the glycol level from this angle..

And a view through the peephole..
(The only "issue" here is figuring out what "XAM" and "NIM" mean.  )

Everything back in place..
(I put a piece of thick foam under the spare bottle of glycol to prevent it from bouncing around, and I suppose it could absorb any drips too.  It has survived a trip from VA to ME, so it works.)

And finally, the crowning jewel - a cap for the peep hole made of silicone rubber, which is a perfect fit for the 1-inch hole.  It is soft and bendable, so easy to fit in or pull out, but otherwise very snug.  I tried to keep it located to the left & away from the corner to make it easy to get a direct view.  Or, I can use my cell phone camera to view or document the glycol level.


This project took me a bit longer because of the below incorrect information provided in the Amazon product information..



As a result, I had to disassemble and rewire a couple of connections, recrimp new connectors, replace the heat shrink tubing, and also replace a blown 15-amp fuse.
The black wire on these lights was the negative - I should have checked it myself, which I did after the fact by using a spare wired 12V socket plug with wire connectors on the end.  But here's an easy way to check..


Here are the parts links..

Mirror:

Coghlan's Featherweight Mirror https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RZQI68

Light:

Partsam 5 Pcs 3.8" 6 LED White Side Marker Lights, 12 Volts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K7K9N6S

Switch:

AutoEC 3pc 12V 20A Car Truck Round Rocker Toggle LED Switch Blue Light SPST On-off Control https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012IJ35VQ

Hole Cap:

ONLYKXY 5 Pcs 25MM Diameter Silicone Round Snap in Type Locking Furniture Hole Plugs Button Protective Cover Cap Head Color: White (25MM/0.98inch) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098Q7ZKRB

CanadianTabber

Now i understand how we got to the moon with people like you Brian!
Great job!..now can you do the same for a 2021 Tab 320?🙂🙂

gulfarea

@BrianZ Great job!!!! Art

Tabaz

Very clever!  Definitely on my todo list for this fall.

dragonsdofly

@BrianZ, thanks. Almost ingenious. I have the "xam" and "nim" thing handled, though. Severely dyslexic husband will get a correct reading each every time.

BrianZ

Thanks for the kind & humorous comments, though I do not claim credit for either the mirror or peep-hole ideas.
@CanadianTabber, I don't have access to a 2021, but from what I've seen in the photo here, it looks like it's entirely possible..
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/10140/alde-glycol-expansion-tank-locations-for-the-tab-320-clamshell-and-400-models
and here..
https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/comment/167483#Comment_167483
A different post showed that the xaM/niM markers are on the back side (forward, facing front wall) of the tank.  So, it seems to me, you should be able to mount a mirror on that wall & make a view hole in the removable panel.  It would just be a matter of lining up the relative positions of the mirror & hole to get the optimal view.  This would require a bit of trial & error while holding a mirror on the wall & moving it (& your eye) around.  Alternatively, a selfie stick might be useful.  The same silicone rubber cap should protect the hole I would think, or install a transparent window.  It would be possible to add a light in there too, with a switch wired to the kitchen wall.

fstop32

Nice job @BrianZ, I would have been disappointed with anything less...are you sure that bottle contains Alde fluid???  

Tabaz

Just realized my 2016 doesn't have the side panel with the outlet.  May just cut the shelf for a hinged section, add a light and mirror.  Brian, have you thought about installing a float valve inside the overflow tank connected to your spare bottle of Alde fluid?  You would never have to manually add fluid again! 

fstop32

I just got up from a nap and had an idea... This gets a little more involved but, if you had a clear tube that came off the bottom of the reservoir tank and then looped up where you could see it wouldn't the level of the fluid in the clear tube mimic the level in the reservoir?  With marks on the tube or where the tube mounts you could set your NIM & XAM level indicators and know the level at a glance.  In fact, I think you could loop that tubing back into the top of the reservoir and not worry about "squirtige".
Ok, I feel another nap coming on...

Tabaz

How about simply cutting a vertical slit in the wood facia in front of the tank?  Would require unscrewing the tank from the wall, cut the slit (say 1/4" wide and long enough to expose the min/max indicators), then reinstall the tank to the back of the wood facia.

BrianZ

@Tabaz , nope, never thought of that, but then I think I've only added a little glycol maybe once in 4 years, not counting the recent full replacement after flushing the system.  I used a small flashlight in the past. I think your tank may be easier to get to, without the side cabinet in the way.

BrianZ

Clever idea, @fstop32!
Yes, that could work, at least in theory, and provided there was a place where the tube could be easily viewed at the same tank level and somewhat protected from damage or leakage.

ChanW

@Tabaz, yes that's an excellent idea.

In fact, you could run the tubing all the way to the dashboard, for continual monitoring, just in case!

Of course it would need a bleeder valve, in case an air-lock gets in there, and regular flushing, of course, to keep the tube from developing any corrosion.

Tabaz

ChanW - give credit where credit is due. Fstop32 came up with the tubing idea!  I'm not that smart.

BrianZ

PS:
@fstop32, You reminded me of the time years ago when I helped my dad build his backyard pond, by providing some younger muscle for digging it out & hefting the many rocks.  One issue was the slight slope of the backyard where we were digging, so we had to build it up a bit at the lower edge, like a dam.  The question became "How high should we make it?", because he wanted the rocks around the edges to be even with the surface.  He said, holding up a long piece of clear vinyl tubing, "That's why I got this!".  By filling it with water until both ends were level with the higher edge of the pond, we could then move one end next to the lower edge & use that level to guide us.

CharlieRN

There are a lot of great suggestions on this thread, and some very elegant design solutions.

A less involved solution may be to simply make access to the area a bit easier. This doesn't allow the instantaneous checking of the glycol tank level that the more sophisticated solutions here do, but it's very easy to implement.

My solution was to replace the square drive wood screws used by the factory with permanently mounted hangar bolts that have machine-screw threads on the exposed end. Instead of removing and replacing wood screws to remove the panel, slightly enlarging the hole in the soft plywood each time, you now just unscrew a nut. I used cap nuts and a washer (photo below), but if you wanted tool-less solution, you could use wing nuts instead.

Since you need to get to the water valve for the toilet at least twice a year, this mod may be worth doing even if you employ one of the other methods to view the glycol tank.

ChanW

Ahhh @Tabaz, I need to learn to curb my smart remarks until after I've finished my coffee!

@fstop32, it is indeed a good idea! Could even be artistically mounted in black walnut, methinks!

And no lack of respect intended, for your nap-ideas! A majority of my most creative 'thinking' happens when I'm half asleep! (Hmmm, I probly shouldn't admit that)

BrianZ

@CharlieRN, Hanger bolts are a great idea & should be standard IMO.  Cap nuts can be finger tightened too.  I've used hanger bolts with cap nuts to mount our cell signal booster above our door, so it can be easily removed for use in the car.
Question: Don't you still need a mirror on the wall behind the glycol tank to read the level markings?