Sussex Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Hi I bought my 2004 Auto-Sleepers Sussex (essentially a Marquis badged Symbol ES) recently and the fresh water tank level indicator was working fine. Now it has stopped. The level indicator is coupled to the battery level indicator so pressing the left hand side of the rocker switch tests the level of either the leisure or the van battery and pressing the right hand side tests the fresh water tank level. The battery side is working without problem, it is the water level that seems faulty. The problem I have is getting it fixed as I live in west Cumbria and we now do not have any local motorhome dealers, Marquis and Todds, our nearest, are both in Preston. Having contacted both of these they say that I would have to take the van down to them for them to drop the tank and discover the fault, put everything back together again for me to drive back home – 2½ hours each way, for them to order the part(s) and then have to drive down again to have them fitted. This works out as a very expensive repair; 10 hours driving, 450 miles total plus the cost of £80 quoted for the tank probe and labour quoted at £60 per hour, the job requiring 2-3 hours. I estimate a grand total in the region of £360! Marquis did say that probes rarely need replacing but are often affected by lime scale from hard water preventing current passing between the probes or the circuit board on the top of the probe can get affected by water from the tank overflow located close to the probe. Do you have any experience of this type of problem, a cheap solution, or is there such a thing as an additive I could add to the 50 litre fresh tank to try to dissolve the lime scale with the tank probes intact to see if this could be a solution to avoid having to go to all the hassle, and expense, detailed above? Your advice would be very much appreciated, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sooty10 Posted June 12, 2011 Share Posted June 12, 2011 Try a solution of white vinegar in the tank. A friend has just bought a new van and been advised to do this to keep his heater element free from limescale. It may work for your problem. Sooty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 Hi Sussex Do you know how big your water tank is as you may need to work out how much vinegar/plastic kettle descaler you need to buy to get your proportions correct for an efficient descale. You can buy kettle descaler from any supermarket - it is citric acid crystals but remember that a kettle usually holds 1Ltr of water and your on board water tank may hold 40 Ltrs. I am not sure of the water/white vinegar ratio, perhaps google it as it may work out cheaper. With Kettle descaler, you need your water hot to make it activate. This option is definitely worth a try before the Dealer option. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 If your sender unit is the type with 4 different length metal rods, just remove it and either treat it with a descaler solution or rub lightly with a scouring pad. The waste water sender will probably need degunking as well. If it is the type with the metal studs embedded in the wall of the tank, you could attempt to get at them in situ and rub them with solution or scourer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted June 13, 2011 Share Posted June 13, 2011 On this model the sender unit is in the top of the tank and includes a small PCB. These got corroded (on top of the tank) and the replacement senders are sealed units. It needs replacing. Cost about £50 from Autosleepers direct for the new bit. The rest is spanner and connector work to drop the tank. Hope its not raining! C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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