By Cheri Sicard
Jared Gillis, of All About RVs, is not a big fan of RV tank sensors. However, since he gets so many questions about them and sees internet threads constantly with questions, he thought he would address the topic.
Like many of us, Jared is not a fan of tank sensors because they are often wildly inaccurate. I know that mine are, to the degree of rendering them useless.
Even when they are working, the RV tank sensor lights that come standard in most RVs don’t give you precise information. Jared shows an example where the tank level could be anywhere from one-third to one-half full.
Easier solution with more accurate results
There’s an easier solution that Jared says will provide far more accurate results: a wireless tank sensor called the Mopeka Pro.
Jared is using the Mopeka Pro for water tanks, which works for fresh or gray water tanks. However, know that you can also get one for your propane tanks. Judging from the consumer comments on Amazon, most people who bought these are as enthusiastic about the product as Jared is.
While the product is not recommended for black tanks, Jared does know of people who have used it for this purpose with success.
How it works
So, how does it work? The small, round Mopeka Pro disc is magnetized and simply attaches to the bottom of your propane tank. For gray or fresh water tanks, the Mopeka comes with easy mounting accessories that stick the sensor to the bottom of the tank. It uses sonar to detect the amount of material in the tank, and you read it via an app on your phone.
Watch the video as Jared shows just how easy it is to install and use the Mopeka Pro. No more guessing how much fresh water or propane you have, or how full your gray tank is getting!
Here’s a link to the Mopeka Pro.
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At least Jared addressed the issue with covered bellies. This is still a substantial labor effort to do the install and has ongoing maintenance with battery changes. Much of this ongoing effort could potentially be mitigated if the manufacturer offered a way to wire this into the RV’s power system.
And let’s face it, the tank with the worst sensor reliability is the black tank. And this product is specifically not recommended by the manufacturer for use on black tanks.
Many motorhome tanks sit right on a solid base in a bay, so no attaching this device to any of those.
On my Winnebago Forza diesel pusher, the gray tank is plastic but sits in a metal “tray”. The only place to put the sensor was on the bottom of the metal tray, and because of the thickness of the tank and tray, it did NOT work. I spent weeks working with their customer service, trying different things, including trying a second one they sent me, but it just would not work.