Solve a Bad Black Tank Sensor Once and For All

Okay, the title says black tank sensor, because that’s the tank almost EVERYONE complains about. But really, don’t we want a more accurate reading from all our tank sensors — black tank, gray tank, and freshwater tank?

If you’ve tried cleaning your tank with a stick wand or cleaner solution and still are having no luck, then you may want to upgrade your sensor system entirely. Here are two of your better choices if you want to go that route.

In order to change the sensors, you have to have access to the tank. Depending on how easy and what sort of access you have, you may wish to pick one system over the other.

Upgrade your tank sensors with Horst.

The Horst Miracle Probe Sensors for RV black water tanks (manufactured by Valterra) is an internal sensor (it goes in your tank) that can either go in the holes from your current sensors, or can go beside your current sensors in new holes. The probes work with your current system and are significantly superior to stock sensors. They are also wrapped in Teflon sleeves to prevent solids from attaching to the probe itself — especially key for the black tank sensors.

If you’d like to learn more about the Horst Miracle Probe System, their website is quite informative. Theoretically than can be used on other tanks as well, but are marketed as separate black tank sensor probes and gray tank probes because those are usually the most problematic tanks.

Or, do a full system upgrade with SeeLevel.

Obviously, if you can only have access to the current sensor sites, this would be the easiest solution. But it still has a few challenges. Because it is in the tank, it still can get matter stuck to it. So if you have access to the sides of your tanks, the fix we recommend, for several reasons, is the SeeLevel system.

Being external, the SeeLevel sensor is never in contact with waste or minerals to deposit on the probes. It also offers a percentage-based readout for precise information. This means you are replacing the entire system, from the probes to the readout display. They have a handy little video that explains the features well…

Installation

Both systems can be installed by most RV mechanics or RV dealerships, or if you are feeling ambitious, can be a do-it-yourself project.

Where do I get them?

• The Horst Miracle Probes are manufactured by Valterra and are easily available from a number of sources, including Amazon.
• The SeeLevel System is available from independent distributors, of which a comprehensive list of suppliers can be found on Amazon.

If you haven’t first tried a good tank cleaning, be sure to check out…

Fix a Stuck Black Tank Sensor – Stick Wand Cleaner

Manufacturer Notes:
Horst Miracle Probes are manufactured by Valterra.
SeeLevel is manufactured by Garnet Instruments