SeeLevel system is driving us crazy

Mariner459

Brand new 2017 Max S Sofitel.  Going back to dealer for 3rd time for issues with the SeeLevel monitor.  Throwing OPN and Err error codes.  They said they've replaced it twice.  Stay tuned.

Playc

This must be new to 2017.  I have 2015 Sofitel but not heard of See Level monitor

Nomad

Playc - Ya, new - Might be in some late 2016s also.

Torzanne

Our SeeLevel has given us problems too. The fresh water and gray water often shows Err but will then start working again a day later, even though nothing has changed. Unfortunately our dealer is 2 hours away with lousy service so we'very learned to live with it. We never camp more than 3 days without dumping anyway so it hasn't been a real issue yet. 

Mariner459

Thank you for sharing.  Started to list what has been been done but wanted to have enough details to solicit more ideas.  Basically they've told us they replaced the whole unit on all tanks...twice.  They advise they have done all factory advises.  Since there is a code for short and a test for that, they arent sure what to say.  We are getting OPN and Err on two after we drive 2 hours home, run the pump a sec, or just touch the monitor to read levels.  We have inspected wires we can see, no looseness. And are going to drop belly pan ourselves next session.  We found a piece of wire laying in a compartment...trash we assume....unsettling but the monitor works, just throwing these codes.  Dealer started telling us there's always problems with any tank monitor which is really irritating.  We don't like taking a shower and suddenly standing in dirty water...don't want to think about same overfill of toilet.  

Verna

I have absolutely no problems with my SeeLevel that was installed at the factory. Call Ed at nuCamp (phone numbers are truly at the side of this page--click on the heading of the discussion). Ed will direct you. 

Mariner459

Hi....we called the Nucamprv.com line...got voice mail, left msg. Just wanted to mention, in smartphone window of this forum, we don't see contact info just so yall know. We can just see posts.  :-)

Verna

@Mariner459, I've never used the smartphone view even though I use the iPhone most of the time, so that explains it.  If find the desktop view is less "jumbled up" to me.  Here ya go:

nüCamp RV - Pleasant Valley Teardrop Trailers

661 Belden Pkwy  (PO BOX 395)
Sugarcreek, OH 44681

Toll-Free Number: 844.823.9112
Phone:  (330) 852-4811

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REPAIR REQUEST:  Looking for repair work? Photos can be uploaded along with request/vin/etc...

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parts@nucamprv.com

 

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warranty@nucamprv.com

 

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General Contact

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HOURS OF OPERATION:

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Mariner459

Wow....that's very helpful.  You're awesome.  Thank you!!!!

phulishcat

Funny our SeeLevel was acting up right from the dealer. After one treatment of happy campers in both the black and grey tanks those sensors are working flawlessly. The fresh tank is still not reading correctly. We plan on treating the fresh tank at the end of the next trip.

Mariner459

"happy campers?"  R u teasing me?  Aerobic bacteria for an electrical problem?    Not so sure you should put it in your freshwater tank either.

We are investigating whether the electric outlet located right beside the SeeLevel monitor itself may be causing some bleed over voltage to the wires involved (currently the Fresh (OPn) and Grey (Err) tank readings).  Dealer said factory said may be a staple into a wire behind a wall.  Yikes.  It came from the factory with two of the tank readings switched and was throwing a code of OPn on one of those as we recall.  We took possession in August with request to get us into service to repair it (2 hour drive each way).  We are now going to have to go back a third time. They've said trip 2 they again replaced the unit on the Fresh this last time but not the Grey, yet both are coding.  Black shows 0 which is correct.  And Battery is accurate.  We don't know if they replaced just the digital card or also the spider wires that go out to the tank level demarcations.  Trying to get them to only change one variable at a time.  They said they've never had any other warranty issue with this new SeeLevel II system....not sure how many they've sold in the 2017s but appears to be quite a few.  We thought about static electricity build up.

We'd ask others with issues with this to report them for warranty to dealer/company so we can get some visibility on the issue across the market if applicable.  

Have left 2 messages at nucamp, no word.

Michigan_Mike

Mariner459 said:

We are investigating whether the electric outlet located right beside the SeeLevel monitor itself may be causing some bleed over voltage to the wires involved (currently the Fresh (OPn) and Grey (Err) tank readings).  Dealer said factory said may be a staple into a wire behind a wall.  Yikes.  It came from the factory with two of the tank readings switched and was throwing a code of OPn on one of those as we recall.  We took possession in August with request to get us into service to repair it (2 hour drive each way).  We are now going to have to go back a third time. They've said trip 2 they again replaced the unit on the Fresh this last time but not the Grey, yet both are coding.  Black shows 0 which is correct.  And Battery is accurate.  We don't know if they replaced just the digital card or also the spider wires that go out to the tank level demarcations.  Trying to get them to only change one variable at a time.  They said they've never had any other warranty issue with this new SeeLevel II system....not sure how many they've sold in the 2017s but appears to be quite a few.  We thought about static electricity build up but it's been plenty rainy here (NW).

We'd ask others with issues with this to report them for warranty to dealer/company so we can get some visibility on the issue across the market if applicable.  

Have left 2 messages at nucamp, no word.

I am just now reading this posting and hope that you were able to resolve your issues with this monitor as I believe the monitor itself is a great unit if installed properly and will eliminate you standing in gray water, worrying about the black tank and give you accurate reads for fresh water and battery voltage too.  We use our SL ll system every time out and it is one of the best mods that I have on my trailer.  

I installed the SeeLevel ll system on my 2015 T@B Max S  late last summer and although I encountered a few erroneous readings after my install, I found that I'd connected one of the wires incorrectly and that this was the culprit behind the OPn and Err messages that you have displayed above.  THAT would be my guess as to what is behind the cause of your bad readings above (I doubt it has anything to do with the electric receptacle close by)  and it is probably as simple as a bad connection or tying in the white (ground) wires that run from each sensor back up to the SL ll digital display unit.  And since you are out in Washington State you are at a disadvantage being so far away from the factory.  If your problem persists you need to take your trailer to a verified SL ll tech and have them look at it.  

One of our members, PopTab, https://tab-rv.vanillacommunity.com/discussion/2349/seelevel-ii-upgrade-install-instructions and I was able to speak with him, get pointers on installing this system and decided to take it on myself.   We have tweaked the install information and I've listed a few things below that are key to properly installing the SL ll system.  I also created a wiring diagram and if it is followed to the T there should be no issues with this system unless someone has mistakenly connected the white wire coming off the tank monitor to the white wires (ground wires) from the green sending units on each tank.  The white wire on the back of the tank monitoring unit connects to the ground wire from the pump.  You DO need to establish which wire from the pump is the 12 volt (hot) wire and the schematic below should help.  

SL ll Monitor Wiring Harness - The wiring harness on the back side of the monitor plugs into the back terminal of the monitor.  There are four colored wires - Red-Black-Blue-White.

Red -   12V DC power wire

Black - Ground wire

Blue -   Sensor feed wire that communicates to the monitor and provides info.

White - Used for water pump and ties the water pump into the SeeLevel ll system via the monitor.  

White Sensor Wire on Sending Unit - The white wire on each sensor unit is a ground wire and these wires are all tied together and attached to the monitor via the black ground wire that is on the SL ll wiring harness.  DO NOT connect the white wires to the white wire on the harness as that is incorrect and will provide an error (open message) message on the monitor.  

Mariner459

Thank you very, very much.  We will review this with dealer who has said they and manuf are stumped.  :-/ Problem still unresolved, but after 3 dealer service visits (4th scheduled this week) involving multiple dealer discussions with manuf, 2 tank card replacements reported (about 10 total shop days, 4 hours roundtrip each), we removed the monitor cover ourselves and found this skinned wire, see attached. Wondering why no one else had.
The dealer said they could not get wiring schematic from manuf but had been following manuf recommendations for troubleshooting which resulted in multiple replacements of tank "cards" that were getting fried after we'd drive home each time.  This has been since day one.   No one from manuf ever returned our calls which is why we brought it up here a while back. 

Right now, we are getting readings on grey, black, battery, but fresh is OPN.

We do appreciate your note.

phulishcat

@Mariner459, not teasing you, but we had a totally different issue than your running into. All our readings were off by about half empty tank would read half full. Was given the advice that some times there is debris on the sensors and to get something that cleans it off. Worked like a charm. Don't really think it can fix actual equipment wiring or malfunctions.

Runtarooti

If you read PopT@bs most excellent installation instructions as Michigan_Mike noted in his post above, the sensors are not mounted inside the tanks, but on the outside of the tanks on a diagonal. So they are not exposed to the tank fluids that may cause them to foul. Some monitors do have immersed sensors. But for the SEE LEVEL II, no cleaners put in the tanks will even touch the sensors. You'll have a nice clean tank though.  

Verna

Correct, @Runtarooti. Sometimes, if you have a T@B S, you can see the black tank sensor on the outside of the black tank under the lower undersink cabinet down inside the wall between the kitchen and bathroom. 

phulishcat

Interesting. Good to know. Now I am wondering what exactly fixed the issue. We had the problem for multiple trips. Did the tank rinse with the product as was suggested on another site and it started working the next trip out. Research is now required.

Michigan_Mike

Mariner, is the white wire that curls around in the photo attached to the pump ground wire (one of the yellow wires) on the pump switch?   If you look at my schematic you can see the white wire coming off of the harness that plugs in to the switch.   The white wire coming off of the harness needs to be connected to the ground wire of the pump.  

Regarding the sensors -   The instructions for the SL Lloyd sensors if they are left exposed and uncovered beneath the trailer call for them to be sprayed with a protective coating made by 3M Corporation.   Cleaning the sensors would not accomplish anything and as noted above, they are outside of the tanks which make them a more accurate style sensor as opposed to some of the earlier RV sensors located inside the holding tanks.

Mariner459

Thanks for follow up. The white wire is traced back to trailer ground, and it was positioned to short out on water pump switch we believe.  Headed there tomorrow....and sent your post and drawing ahead by email to help educate dealer.  :-) 

Photomom

phulishcat said:

Interesting. Good to know. Now I am wondering what exactly fixed the issue. We had the problem for multiple trips. Did the tank rinse with the product as was suggested on another site and it started working the next trip out. Research is now required.

The manual has a very good troubleshooting section. It is possible that sludge buildup will cause the seelevel to think the black and gray tanks are more full than they are, and Happycampers is the answer. See p. 26, paragraph 9.

Michigan_Mike

Mariner459 said:

Thanks for follow up. The white wire is traced back to trailer ground, and it was positioned to short out on water pump switch we believe.  Headed there tomorrow....and sent your post and drawing ahead by email to help educate dealer.  :-) 

I was at the factory yesterday and they said that early on they did have a rash of problems with the SL ll system and some were related to bad sensors on the tanks.  When the sensors were replaced the problems seemed to clear up.  I do know that the instructions state that when the monitors are placed onto the tank the wiring must be placed in the correct orientation and that only butt style connectors are used when splicing wires.  

And as PhotoMom stated sometimes the sensors give off erroneous or incorrect readings because of the thickness of the wall being read.  The black tank is thicker and the readings can vary, but this tank wall cannot be changed for obvious reasons.  

There are pitfalls to this system and others on the market and with the systems using the monitors inserted into the tank the sensors are in contact with the fluid in the tank. This makes them subject to fouling and corrosion. Readings will be very erratic and the system is basically useless until the sensors can be cleaned. The second problem with this is that the system is only designed to give approximate readings.  



It will be interesting to see what they find or the conclusion they come up with in your situation.  I would have your rep contact Marvin Raber at the factory and discuss the problem with him if they are unable to resolve the issue for you.  

Mariner459

I will send your note to them right now.  Already shared prior one.  They have the T@b.  They are supposed to be replacing everything again (including monitor display this time) and fixing the bare wire.  We are hopeful.  Thanks a zillion!

Michigan_Mike

Mariner459 said:

I will send your note to them right now.  Already shared prior one.  They have the T@b.  They are supposed to be replacing everything again (including monitor display this time) and fixing the bare wire.  We are hopeful.  Thanks a zillion!

I'm betting that a new system will resolve your issue and I applaud your dealer and their staff for doing it.  Hopefully the new system will clear up your problem completely and allow you to enjoy your trailer to the fullest and utilize the SeeLevel ll system as we really enjoy ours.  I believe that it adds value to the trailer in allowing owners to monitor fluid levels and have the ability to adjust to gray/black & fresh water tank levels and giving you an idea as to the voltage level of the battery.  

Here is the PDF file for the SeeLevel ll and it's a great reference file to have for future questions, installation and trouble shooting the system.  

Best of luck to you!