Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2018 06:51:55 -0700
Reply-To: Doug Toomey <drt@UOREGON.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Doug Toomey <drt@UOREGON.EDU>
Subject: Re: Westfalia Water Tank Level Indicator Issues
In-Reply-To: <CAKLYf130iHp4uh2SpvVQqa55uxf5o2vB=N1ri646BRfySh-faA@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
For what it is worth, my 87 westy has had the same problem for years and there are a lot of local brewpubs. ;-)
> On Aug 24, 2018, at 6:43 AM, Ryan Perry <rjdperry@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> Hmm, well I do live in the mountains and our water is known for magical
> properties. (Its interestingly why we have 32 breweries in our city)
> So if I ground the yellow bolt/connector it glows strong at yellow. Even
> seems to start to indicate the green just slightly.
> Does that mean my ground is compromised somewhere? And to fix I just wire
> up a new ground for all the connectors?
> Maybe leave it that way till my kitchen comes out again and I can look into
> it? I just pulled it about a year ago and redid everything, wonder if
> perhaps I didn't get as good a ground as I thought. My original fridge has
> not been working so well thinking maybe I pull that to take a look and can
> also check behind for grounds.
>
> Thanks for the help ya'll. Camping this weekend so would be good to get
> this fixed if to just say its done for a while.
> Ryan in Beer City, USA
>
> On Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 9:33 AM pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Weird indeed.
>>
>> If you run a wire between the two in-tank level positions, then does the
>> light come on full and strong (and not fade over time)? I am guessing yes
>> from what you said about touching the wires earlier.
>>
>> If yes then I think problems with the circuit board is eliminated and the
>> conductivity of the water you're using is in question. You could try
>> adding some salt.
>>
>> I'm not sure exactly why off the top of my head (maybe David Beirl has an
>> opinion?), but I think the fading behavior you see is actually consistent
>> with a dearth of ions in in water. You can try an experiment with a
>> voltmeter and a glass of water. Set it to measure resistance and put the
>> probes in the glass. The resistance rises over time. Take out the probes
>> and replace them, the resistance is back where it was, but rises again.
>>
>>
>> I guess another possibility is that there are some conductivity problems
>> at various wire connections that are making things borderline, and then the
>> difference between your water conductivity and perfect conductivity is
>> enough to push it over the edge. So if adding salt fixes the problem, you
>> might find some connections you can clean so that the salt won't be
>> required.
>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 24, 2018 at 4:01 AM Ryan Perry <rjdperry@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> No distilled water, just regular old tap water.
>>>
>>> I went and checked it again and sure enough when I flip the switch starts
>>> off with the correct indicator then fades to red. Flip it off again and
>>> wait a few seconds and the same.
>>>
>>> Weird right?
>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 9:13 PM Jim. Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> That's a good point. But doesn't really explain the fading-away thing.
>>>>
>>>> Jim
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 23, 2018 at 7:12 PM pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> You're not using distilled water are you?
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Aug 23, 2018, 15:21 Ryan Perry <rjdperry@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This one has been stumping me for a while and can't seem to figure
>>> it
>>>>> out.
>>>>>> Wanted to see what the collective brain trust thinks.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Turn the switch on the kitchen to power the system on.
>>>>>> 1) No water no lights. Correct.
>>>>>> 2) As soon as it hits red bolt turns red. Great.
>>>>>> 3) As soon as it hits yellow bolt turns yellow. Awesome.
>>>>>> 4) Give it a moment and it fades back to red. Huh?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I take the wire that goes to the bolt for the yellow indicator
>>> and
>>>>> touch
>>>>>> it to the bottom most bolt the light turns immediate strong yellow.
>>>>> Remove
>>>>>> it and it goes back to red. OK, that would make sense.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> At first I had cleaned all the bolts figuring it was just a
>>> corrosion
>>>>> issue
>>>>>> and it was working well but then after a few minutes it slowly faded
>>>> back
>>>>>> to red even though it is above the yellow bolt. Do I have a weak
>>> ground
>>>>>> somewhere that is blocking signal? Clean the bolts inside of the
>>> tank
>>>>> more?
>>>>>> Redo my connectors?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Small potatoes but it just irks me a little since it seems like
>>> such a
>>>>>> simple system.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> thanks for any help or advice!
>>>>>> Ryan in Asheville
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>