Wag N' Tails fresh water indicator.

[furrybestjob]

One of my biggest fears is running out of water. I'll go out of my way to make a trip home to refill "just in case". When I look at my indicator, it drops form full to 2/3 really quickly. By quickly, I mean on the first dog I'm doing even if its a small dog. It seems to stay at 2/3 for awhile (between 3 & 4 dogs). I've never let it get to empty (even though the indicator said it was)so I don't know how much water is left when it says empty. Can someone give me an idea of how much water is left when it says empty? Could you finish a small dog? Does your indicator work the same as mine?

[TAILSRWAGON]

Small dog only

You can easily finish a small dog when it's on empty. I have ran out of water twice (usually on days when I have big hairy dogs, like Siberians)
You will hear the pump skipping which means it's searching for water when it's about out.

[irish23]

that is so funny I say that all the time that it drops from full to 2/3 in 2 sec it seems. Not to worry.. I have done up to 3 small dogs on empty. If you are nervous about running out of water, blow some of the shampoo out instead before rinsing. It is messy but worth it. It helps to get out undercoat as well and you use less water. Double bonus

[Crystal]

I have the same problem. But I find once I hit empty I still have enough to do a small dog, but that I fear is pushing it sometimes so I never let it go that low.

I just think that 2/3 indicator is set a little high and it's a little premature when in reality I think it's more like 3/4 or more left.

I just wish it would display how many gallons are left because I could judge better that way.

[bow_wow_wheels]

I'd be careful about running a pump with less than enough water to let it run properly. You can burn them out that way and it is a bear to replace it from my understanding. Is there no way to "eyeball" the water you have left? I don't have a WnT van (too many bells and whistles for me) and I've only been in a couple and never really paid attention to the water meter. I gage the amount of water I have left by listening to the sound of the pump. If it sounds "right" I normally have plenty of water. If it sounds "iffy" I check the water level. I don't like replacing pumps

[Doug]

water level

You can adjust the sensitvity on the meter but I never found these to be very acurate and it is hard to fool with.Think of it more as a rough guide.Making adjustments to the electrical sensor is not much fun.They are already sensitive enough.
You can take the time to measure the water and mark off the lights acordding to gallons with a small peice of tape over the full 3/4 1/2 1/4 marks but even then it will still be a rough guide.
First the way these things work so you can picture it in your head.
You take a square tank (in your mind) lay it down flat.Poke 4 or 5 holes in the side of the tank with a pencile.The first hole is at 1/4 of the way up the side next one at 1/2 next at 3/4 and last on just below the top.Then you push small rubber stoppers into the holes.A steel screw is then put into each stopper so it reaches through into the inside.Each screw is atatched to a wire.When the water in the tank fills up and reaches each screw and lights up one more bar of light on the meter.Depending on the number of screws and rubber gromets you have a mystery distance between them.This distance between screws will not show up on the meter acuratley as you use the water.Only as the water drops bellow each screw will one more light bar go off because it lost it's connection to the water.There is tiny voltage going into the water tank water which it needs to make each light go on.The only one you really have to be carefull of is the last one,the last light bar.
So how much water is left between the last bar and empty? Park your van on flat ground and empy all the water out.
Then take a fill hose and a gallon jug and a watch with a seconds hands digital is fine to as long as it reads seconds.Take the hose your going to fill with and time how long it takes to fill the 1 gallon jug, write it down.
Then connect the hose to the van and time how long it takes to reach 1/4 full.The time starts when you turn on the water not when you finally get in the van to check the meter.If you can fill the gallon jug in lets say 4 seconds or what ever the time may be.Then devide the total number of seconds to reach 1/4 full on the meter by the number of seconds to fill the gallon jug.Thats is how many gallons you have from 1/4 to empty.
You can guestimate how many dogs you can do safely with that amount of water.It will very by 1-3 gallons depending on if you are parked on a angle while actually working on a dog.So to be really safe subtract 3 gallons from the total. You only have to do this once ever.
Wow that was hard to articulate,I dont normally do that with out having my morning coffee first.If there are typos or spelling errors to bad.lol

[furrybestjob]

Oh my goodness, Doug. I read your post and started having an anxiety attack. I'd be so afraid to start fooling around with the water tank. For a second I thought my husband was answering my post.lol! I'm impressed that it can be done and that you know how to do it.

[kari]

Hi like other post have said when the meter is on empty you still have enough water to wash a small dog and be o.k.I second that thing about blowing your dogs off when they still have shampoo on them just make sure you have something covering your face from the spray that will come off the coat.It will let you wash a lot more dogs than usuall and have plenty of water left over.It also loosens the hair up and get the coat cleaner.Try it you will be amazed.We used to run out of water quickly when we had large dogs to groom and started blowing them off before rinsing and found that we rarely have to fill up on water during the day.

[Meesh]

You can get a better idea of what's left in the tank by checking both your gray level and the fresh level. When it hits 2/3 fresh left after just one or two dogs, you'll see that the gray tank still reads empty ... you probably have close to 3/4 fresh left. As you use more water and it still reads 2/3, you'll see the gray tank filling up. Between the two indicators and the more experience you get with them you'll soon be able to figure out exactly how much water you have left.

I seem to be able to do 4 dogs on the 2/3 tank ... I am comfortable doing up to three- four dogs once it gets down to 1/3 tank without undo worry. I have done 8-9 dogs in a day, combination of large and small, without running out of water. On days when I have a loot of big dogs a bring along my compact Prema. It hold 5 additional gallons of soapy water and is a high pressure wash.

If you try to park at the slight right tilt so you can use the Super Sudser you'll save a lot of water too.

If you really want to know how much water you have left once the tank reads empty, just empty it one day after you're done. Run the water till the light reads E, then get a gallon or two gallon bucket and run the water into it till you have no more water and you'll know for sure how much you have left when the tank reads empty.

[Misty]

If you are worried about running out of water just carry a couple of gallon jugs of water with you. It takes about a gallon and a half to rinse a Shih Tzu. Even if you have to rinse them with cold water out of a jug at least they are getting rinsed.

[marcey]

What Doug said will work, or...

You don't necessarily have to poke new holes - just go and LOOK at what level on the fresh tank the indicators are attached.

In my trailer, you can SEE them clearly when you open up the back (mechanical compartment) and the fresh water tank is right there. The "full" indicator is nearly 1/3 of the way down the top of the tank, the 2/3 indicator is like 1/2 way down and the 1/3 is practically just below it, so despite being able to wash 2-3 more dogs when it registeres 1/3 or "empty", I just have gotten used to it and know where the wires run physically, and keep a mental picture of that.

It's kind of like some old trucks, they just keep going and going even though they say their on empty

[Aussheplady]

fear of running out of water

I have only run out of water once and it was because I forgot to fill from the day before. (I usually do between 6-10 dogs/day) I don't really worry about it at all though. I have a hose in my van and should I run out of water it is nothing to ask a client if I can fill from their home and I give them a $5 discout if I have to do so. It is a flat hose on its own reel and takes up very little space. I also use that hose in winter to run through the house and fill from the hot water heater when everthing else outside is frozen.

Carol

[Doug]

Marcy

Good greif dont poke holes in it.I am just trying to convey a mental picture of the components and why it is not like a gas gage on your car.It reads in large steps not every gallon so there is a big gap between each sensor and the difference between 1/3 tank and empty wont show up unitll you are empty.

[Meesh]

I try to avoid it but I have filled up at client's houses. I never offered a discount though and no one seems to have minded. One problem where I live is people tend to turn off their outdoor taps for the winter here. Most days I am never far from home so if I really had to I can swing home to refill. During a kitchen remodel over the summer I got an outdoor hot water tap installed! It's AWESOME!!

[Gracy Rose]

I have a Hanvey Sprinter, we don't have this feature... I like the concept. How many gallons is your tank? Mine is 65.