Fuel Quantity Issue

[Nicholas Soldevere]

OK Fellas, I took a short trip and found a few bugs. The most pressing is the Fuel Gauge reads below empty when full. I think I was able to sort this out one time by rapping the side of the tank with a rubber mallet. I tried that this time to no avail.

Any tips on trouble shooting? Also, does the sender come out the top of the tank or the side?

[Fred Cook]

Had the same problem. Solved it by finding a loose ground wire next to the tank. Hope this helps.

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Had the same problem. Solved it by finding a loose ground wire next to the tank. Hope this helps.

Thankyou for the info I suspect the issue may be related to something along these lines. Where was the ground wire , left right, front or rear of the tank?

Thanks!!

[Carl Boger]

Nicholas,

If memory serves me right the sending unit is on the drivers side of the tank a few inches down from the top.  There should be some nuts on studs that stick out of sending unit.  The wires go the the back of the fuel gauge.   If making sure everything is clean and tight on both ends doesn't fix the issue it could be the sending unit itself or the gauge.

Sending units are known to wear out.  I had to replace mine and it shows the tank to be completely full for the first two hundred or so miles.  By the time it drops to 1/2 tank it is fairly accurate. I really don't let it get to far below 1/2 so I don't know the accuracy there.

The gauge is simply reading a voltage level from the sending unit.  The voltage changes as the float arm swings up and down.  You can take a screwdriver and touch both post on the back of your fuel gauge to see if it swings all the way to the full position.
Hopefully this will make sense and help you some.

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Nicholas,

If memory serves me right the sending unit is on the drivers side of the tank a few inches down from the top.  There should be some nuts on studs that stick out of sending unit.  The wires go the the back of the fuel gauge.   If making sure everything is clean and tight on both ends doesn't fix the issue it could be the sending unit itself or the gauge.

Sending units are known to wear out.  I had to replace mine and it shows the tank to be completely full for the first two hundred or so miles.  By the time it drops to 1/2 tank it is fairly accurate. I really don't let it get to far below 1/2 so I don't know the accuracy there.

The gauge is simply reading a voltage level from the sending unit.  The voltage changes as the float arm swings up and down.  You can take a screwdriver and touch both post on the back of your fuel gauge to see if it swings all the way to the full position.
Hopefully this will make sense and help you some.

Thanks Carl, I haven't had a chance to crawl up in there. I had the Beaver in an RV storage lot with just 30A service and its been fine the last 2 years but the place began having issues with electrical service being inconsistent, as a result I kept seeing irregularities with my power system and the Xantrex 3012 SW.

Finally it came to a head and the unit wouldn't charge the house batteries. Everything else seemed to be working fine, just no charging.  I called tech support over at Xantrex, a great service btw. Those guys are a fountain of information and I think they get paid by the minute. I was on the phone with Jeff as we went though numerous tests, setups and resets. Finally we got to the point where the suggestion was to completely power down the rig for and hour. I unplugged it and disconnected the house batteries and let everything sit for an hour, hooked it all back up and plugged it in and viola, power came back up and the nearly dead batteries were charging quite vigorously.

I'm planning on getting it in the driveway and crawling in up next to the tank in the next couple days and will report back my findings.

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Nicholas
Carl is likely right your fuel gauge sending unit wiring connection at the tank are the most likely cause.

If you go to the coach assist section of the web site by clicking the blue link above then click on the first titled ( "brochures for almost all beaver coaches")
Then click on the menu to the left titled (" safari motor coach corporation 1994 to 2001 ") then in that menu go down the third from the bottom titled (" miscellaneous diagrams and fixes. ")
In that section you will find a memo describing the troubleshooting of the gauge gauge and sending unit.

For a quick check run a jumper wire from the ground buss bar in the electrical bay to the signal wire on the fuel sending unit ( found on the side of the fuel tank just below the frame rail on the driver's side. This should result in the dash gauge reading empty .

Hope this helps
Eric

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Nicholas
Carl is likely right your fuel gauge sending unit wiring connection at the tank are the most likely cause.

If you go to the coach assist section of the web site by clicking the blue link above then click on the first titled ( "brochures for almost all beaver coaches")
Then click on the menu to the left titled (" safari motor coach corporation 1994 to 2001 ") then in that menu go down the third from the bottom titled (" miscellaneous diagrams and fixes. ")
In that section you will find a memo describing the troubleshooting of the gauge gauge and sending unit.

For a quick check run a jumper wire from the ground buss bar in the electrical bay to the signal wire on the fuel sending unit ( found on the side of the fuel tank just below the frame rail on the driver's side. This should result in the dash gauge reading empty .

Hope this helps
Eric

Got It!! Thankyou! This troubleshooting procedure is perfect. Not a huge fan of pulling the dash panel because its brittle and should be handled with extreme care but I'll do it so I can get to be bottom of this indication problem.

I crawled under the rig yesterday and verified connections to the sender, ground and associated wiring, all of it looked great!!

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Ok Guys, Happy New Year! I'm grateful for all of your help. Someone mentioned in this or another thread; "Bringing another Beaver back to life." Its interesting and fun but, I don't want to wear out my welcome here so I'm judicious about my questions. Which is good, in these cases I research harder and learn more.

Now, as to the fuel quantity, the connectors are good, I have 12vdc and a good ground at the gauge, 9.3vdc from the sender with 43 ohms.

I'm thinking bad gauge. It has a number on the back (from what I can see), it doesn't pull up on the internet in a search. Anyone know a number?

I'm missing a halogen puck light lens, I've been running that number too to no avail.
I also need a few fluorescent light lenses, I've gotten no where with those searches too. Anyone have a number for that?

I'm getting ready to take her out on a run for a couple weeks so until I have a good fuel qty indication, I make frequent stops for diesel. Just a shorty up to Hot Springs, looks like a nice area so I'm looking forward to it.  I'm staying close to the 333 rule so as to not run it out of fuel. This is no problem as it gives me a chance to get out and stretch/walk around.

[Eric Maclean Co-Admin]

Nicholas
The fuel gauge should be a standard 2 inch 90 ohm fuel almost any of them would substitute but if you want one of the original ones to match your going to have to go for a used one from a salvage yard you could try Visone RV salvage or Colaws RV .

I believe your gauges look like this one but not sure.
Here's one from Visone but it' pricey.

https://rvcomponents.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/rvcomponents/motorhomecluster-gauges/M10808.1.pl?

For your florescent lights if we are talking about the small two tube 12 volt ceiling units if the lenses are in good shape I would convert them to LED strips and eliminate the ballasts. I did all of mine and they work great.

Here's a video showing how to do it

https://youtu.be/SNYagVwc6ao?si=QOFRwR_GCdGjBXTi

As for those puck lights you can check to see if Steve Huber or Roy Boles have any new ones left.

Hope this helps
Eric

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Nicholas
The fuel gauge should be a standard 2 inch 90 ohm fuel almost any of them would substitute but if you want one of the original ones to match your going to have to go for a used one from a salvage yard you could try Visone RV salvage or Colaws RV .

I believe your gauges look like this one but not sure.
Here's one from Visone but it' pricey.

https://rvcomponents.visonerv.com/cgi-bin/rvcomponents/motorhomecluster-gauges/M10808.1.pl?

For your florescent lights if we are talking about the small two tube 12 volt ceiling units if the lenses are in good shape I would convert them to LED strips and eliminate the ballasts. I did all of mine and they work great.

Here's a video showing how to do it

https://youtu.be/SNYagVwc6ao?si=QOFRwR_GCdGjBXTi

As for those puck lights you can check to see if Steve Huber or Roy Boles have any new ones left.

Hope this helps
Eric

Thanks Eric, I bought the gauge from NW RV Supply. I'm not sure if the bezels can be exchanged so the one I bought has a metal bezel to match the other gauges, I don't think the font is the same but close, so I'm going to go with it.

As to the flor lights, actually I think some, if not all, have them have been converted to LED already, where I'm in trouble with them is some of my lenses are in pretty rough shape so I'm looking for a source there. I'm pretty sure I've run the part number before with no success.

I'll check with these 2 fine gentlemen and see about the puck light lenses, its not a "must have" but a "it'd be nice to have". The most farthest buried puck light in the back corner above the stove top is the one missing the lens now. Kinda out of the way and not in my face all the time.

As an aside, wondering around RV Elite Parts, I found a Beaver Grab Handle that mounts to the outside. The one that is there is an Admiral and its shattered.

[Nicholas Soldevere]

Ok Fellas, now a drivers side head light out, relamp no help, Im guessing the fuse is there in the fwd elect bay, I looked at it yesterday and didnt understand those fuses. Any advice is appreciated.

[Carl Boger]

Nicholas,

If only one headlight is out I doubt it is the fuse or power out.   1st verify that you have 12 volts,or likely less going out to the headlight that is not working.  If there is no power there start tracing the power wire backwards toward the electrical panel.  At the same time check for good grounds along that circuit.  Unless your coach is different form mine both headlights are powered on the same circuit.