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Ska

Toyota Advanced Member
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About Ska

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  • My Toyota Motorhome
    1980 Dolphin
  • Location
    Bellingham, WA

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  • Gender
    Male
    From Outerspace
  • Interests
    Metalsmithing, Jewelry and Talisman Creation, Astrology, Tarot, Outdoor and Tiny Home Living

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  1. I'm not an expert, but what I've been told is that typically the alternator in the truck is meant to have a specific load (one battery). When you add an extra battery it puts a heavier load on the alternator, and then shortens the life of the alternator. Again, I'm not an expert but this makes sense to me. The switch is a redundancy, I like redundancies. If I have manual control over the charging of my house battery I feel better about the whole situation. My solar keeps the house battery tended well, and if I don't need to charge it with the alternator I prefer not to. The isolator should keep the house battery from draining the starting battery, but my experience has been that as soon as you turn the key to on, before the engine starts, the batteries level out to each other. Maybe its not wired correctly, but its wired up exactly as stated in the product's instructions, so idk.
  2. Thank you! Yeah, I imagine there are many of these holding tanks that are failing or on the verge of it. The fiberglass kits aren't fun to work with, but it does the job! Not too expensive either, I think I spent $30 on the fiberglass resin and fabric and brushes, $10 on the foam, and $5 on the straps. I went ahead and replaced the valve while I was at it too.
  3. Its a fail safe, in case of failure of the isolator. Also, helps prevent strain on the alternator.
  4. Current isolator setup should be fine, but it will probably fail at some point being as old as it is. My isolator stopped working in my 80 dolphin and I replaced it with this one from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HC6UJ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_PBW632R85K2F4JBB3WF4?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 I also would recommend wiring a switch and running it under your dash to turn your isolator on or off. That way if you totally drain your house battery you have a fail safe to turn off the isolator and you can get your motor started. Also, highly recommend doing a solar setup. I have a 180 watt that really does a great job of keeping the house battery at full charge. A lot of the time I won't even run the isolator if I'm in an area with great sun, that way it saves my alternator some wear and tear. That, and I have a battery tender if needed. I figured I might at some point and if I'm at a spot with hookups I can charge the battery also. Never needed it yet, though. Its really great to have different options for keeping it charged and no need for hauling around a generator. The only reason I'd ever need that I suppose would be to run my fridge off of, but it does well with propane while boondocking, ac at a site with hookups, and dc while I'm driving..
  5. Finally getting around to posting my findings! (On the road now so I haven't had much time for internet usage) So I dropped the tank, and ended up replacing most of the plumbing to make it back to stock. When I dropped the tank I realized that the 40+ year old tank had cracked, and was on the verge of cracking more all around so I bought some fiberglass repair fabric and resin and went over the whole thing (see pics). I figured it was out of the question to find a replacement for this specific tank that sits how it does around the frame (it was originally made by inca plastics and they don't make them anymore, no surprise). The metal straps that were holding the tank were actually damaging it, causing cracking, so I went ahead and cut those and replaced them with ratchet straps. That and I added some foam insulation to protect it more. So with the straps I was actually able to put in place by myself! Using the grommets Linda suggested everything lined up nicely. The toilet had a thread and not a grommet, fyi for anyone else doing a repair on similar model, so it had to be unscrewed before dropping, then lined up and installed last after the tank was in place. So, almost 3000 miles on the road and so far all repairs and the strapping has held up! Eventually I'll get around to documenting all the other repairs and refurbishing I've done...
  6. Great, thanks for the link! I'll update with my findings when I get the tank dropped 🙂
  7. Oh, I meant freshwater as in drinking/washing water. I do not have a second grey water tank. Sorry for the confusion!
  8. Thanks Linda, That is sort of what mine looks like, the divider is there so it can fit under the steel frame of the camper/truck. At the bottom there is no divider however. The 22 gallon blackwater tank seems right (it looks about that size) and yes I do have a separate 16 gallon freshwater holding tank. I think I'll drop the tank and get in there and plumb it back to the inlet on the top, shouldn't be too difficult a job, especially after gutting the whole thing, reframing the roof, and building it back out! 😅
  9. Also, on top of the tank is an extra inlet, so maybe that's where these other pipes used to go.
  10. Here's some pics of the interior layout and plumbing Excuse the mess, I'm towards the end of the extensive tear down and rebuild of the interior (I'll post a new thread soon of that process 😅)
  11. I feel like it must be aftermarket. Maybe somebody re-piped it to drain their grey water where they were and not have to drain the blackwater as often. This would make sense if they were at a park solely. Here's a few more pics, First of the shower drain second and third of the sink drain pipe Last of the tank itself which stretches the width of the camper I can't quite get a good picture but the pipe from the kitchen sink comes from above the tank and over to meet up with the bathroom sink drain.
  12. Thanks Fred. It is definitely leaking to the ground. As I was saying, the piping is running from the two sinks into the 2" pipe on the left and the shower drain to the pipe on the right (from picture above) which are connected past the main valve to the tank. I will investigate the split tank idea, however, if it was split I'm not sure why the drains still do not lead to the tank then. I'm considering dropping the tank to check out what's going on, anyone have experience with that? Do I have to disconnect the toilet ring to drop it and/or are there other things holding on the top? Looks like I just have a few straps holding it up from underneath, I'm just unsure of what's connecting it on the top.
  13. The floorplan has the rear kitchen and bathroom, I'll post some more pics later. In the picture there the two pipes coming to the drain (outside the main valve) are piped from the kitchen sink, bathroom sink, and shower drain. Fred, did you end up using it this way or modifying it? I don't see that it would be widely accepted that my gray water just drains into the street...
  14. Hey all, I hope you can help me with this. The way the plumbing is hooked up in my dolphin the toilet drains into the blackwater tank, however both the sinks and the shower drain past the tank to the outlet where the drain would connect to the hose (for draining). There is only one tank, which makes sense for such a small vehicle, but I would think all waste even gray water would drain into it. Is this normal? Is it legal? The plumbing seems like it's original but hard to tell. Any help is appreciated!
  15. I get what you're saying. I'm curious about whether or not it's advisable to ditch the tag axle on these models, seems like the wheelbase is pretty short to support all that 8 feet or so past that first set of rear wheels.
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