jmowrey

Thanks guys.

"The AGM battery you linked to cost more then 2 1/2 times what a Walmart battery costs with the same reserve power." Thanks jd. Like I said, I'm pretty challenged on this subject. So when you say the same "reserve power," what measure are you referring to? I was assuming a 125ah battery would give me a lot more hours of usage before needing a charge than say a 35ah battery. I'm not seeing any 125 ah batteries at WalMart's site. They have one 110ah battery but it's in the $250 range. But I could be all wrong about this and am looking at the wrong number to measure the actual power in the battery available between charges. What I want is a battery that will get me through the a few days of sunless boon docking when I can't get a solar boost. I run lights, water pump and a couple of small fans on occasion. Also a toaster via my inverter (big draw, but for a very short period).

I know little or nothing about batteries and am very challenged in the area of electrical knowledge. What is the best, most powerful and long-lasting 12v coach battery I can buy? I am looking at this one. 125 AH deep cycle sealed. I will have to modify my battery compartment/box to fit this (basically I'll just be cutting the back out of the plastic box because this battery is too long), but since it's sealed I will no longer be concerned with fumes. I use a 100watt solar panel w/controller and a 1100 watt inverter (inverter is wired directly to the battery). I assume this battery will be fine for those elements. But will the electrical/charging system in my 1985 Dolphin be able to charge this and use it as a power source for the 12v stuff in the coach? Thanks for any and all input and suggestions. http://www.ebay.com/itm/SLR125-VMAX-Sealed-Solar-AGM-Battery-12-Volt-Deep-Cycle-Mobile-home-RV-125AH-/281872564966?hash=item41a0ea02e6:g:iHsAAOxyBjBTQqTF&_trksid=p2349526.m3874.l7936

Yes, sounds like your low point drain valves. Pull up on them and the water drains out of your system. Don't freak out if they are really hard to pull. Mine usually are because the o-rings were replaced. When you do get them to move, they might pop completely out of the hole. Again, don't worry. Shove them back in. At least that's how mine work. There should be black o-rings on them. If they ever start to leak, replace those o-rings.

So is there actually a 26 gallon tank that will fit in the space allotted for a 17 gallon tank? Is this also true for my 85 Dolphin? Both I and my mechanic recently searched high and low for such a beast. No luck. My stock tank may have some problems looming on the horizon due to a shoddy conversion/addition of a supplemental tank which has since been removed. We're doing just fine with the 17 gallon tank. Not really a problem to fill up more often. But if I ever need to replace that original tank I would love to put in a 26 gallon model, strictly for convenience. Can you point me to a source for this tank?

In my 85 dolphin, the seat portion of the couch is independent of the clever fold-down backrest. Not easy to reach, but there were four nuts on the underside, more or less at the corners, holding it in place. I don't know how easily that portion will come out with the back rest in place once those nuts are off because I had already removed the backrest portion (permanently) when I removed mine. I now leave those nuts off so I can lift that up whenever I need to. The sofa has never moved with them not in place.

We have an 85 Dolphin. 19 gallon black water (I checked it using a flow meter on filling) 21 gallon grey water. With conservation measures we have gone 6 days with two people and a dog and not even come close to filling those. The shower is the big offender for the grey water tank. Use the campsite's showers or be very conservative. I can shower using about 1.5 gallons from a pour bottle. Pretty spartan shower though. Also, dish washing adds a lot to the grey tank. I use a plastic pan in the sink and dump it outside instead of down the drain. If you are boon docking and have no water source to refill your fresh water tank, that can be limiting.

We had our leaf springs re-arched and a new helper spring added. This made a big difference in how it handles and rides. Took out a lot of that "whoah" sway feeling on curves and in high winds.

Okay. I may be the only one to rain on this parade. But I have to say this. I hope none of you generator junkies are running these things in a campground where anyone else camps. We've had to leave places more than once because some inconsiderate arsehole pulls in and turns on his jet engine to power his AC. Even the more "quiet" generators are an extreme irritation when they drone on continuously throughout the day fifty feet from where we are camping. People who run generators in campgrounds are like the guy who lights up a cigar in an elevator. As long as he's getting his needs met, to hell with anyone else's rights. You're camping guys. If you need to be cool, stay home or stay in a motel. If you have an old pet, as we do, stick to electric sites so you can run your AC. Otherwise, stay out of campgrounds where people like us are trying to enjoy nature and a little peace and quiet. Harrumpff!! Joe

Not at all Linda. We, too, are very upset about the horse. Someone's sweet companion met a terrible end. Very sad. More details begin to emerge. Apparently the horse was spooked by thunder. In it's panicked escape it managed to impale itself on a piece of rebar or other fence post. It had a deep puncture wound in its chest between it's forelegs. We weren't home for any of this. Out of town for the weekend and a house sitter was here for the event. The dead horse is lying under a tarp at the end of our road. Very terrible end for the poor animal. Joe

Does indeed look like that. Thanks! Yes, I know this story is a hard sell. Kinda sorta tough for us to believe too. The horse corpse is down at the end of our driveway this morning. Very real.

In a most bizarre incident, last night an injured horse from somewhere in our neighborhood charged down our driveway, crashed though our barrier chain, then died after thrashing around in our driveway. No kidding. In the process, it managed to damage the front grill on our 1985 Toyota Dolphin. Does anyone know a source for this part? Strange days. Joe

Ours has a closable vent on the kitchen side. Plus, I put a piece of gorilla tape over it to really seal it, because like you, I didn't see any reason to be blowing cold air onto my kitchen sink. No problem. You are really just closing a duct. The air will go out the other side.It's such a small space, it all cools off pretty quickly anyway.

We had leaks into the cab when we first bought our 85 Dolphin. My mechanic said he thinks 90% of all cab leaks on older vehicles are because of poorly-sealed windshields. Turns out he was right. A little silicone did the trick.

Why electric only for the water heater? They make a propane/electric option. They don't use all that much propane, assuming you get one that is pilotless and can be turned on and off from inside the coach. We generally turn ours on when we start breakfast in the morning. It heats the water up in a jiffy, then we turn it off. There's enough hot water in there to wash the breakfast dishes, then it stays hot all day in case we need hot water. Same at dinner time. Turn it on to heat the water, then turn it off and we have hot water through the night. We can even get one shower out of the dinner time heat up. I know there are some folks who camp without hot water. Easy enough to do, of course. But we enjoy the luxury of it. Plus, for me, I just kinda like the idea of it. All the comforts of home! More or less.

Hey JD. How about some details on how you integrated the secondary fuel tank into the system. We just had a leaky, poorly conceived and executed secondary tank removed from our Dolphin. We may want to add on back in later.

Yep. Generators and barking dogs. Their owners never seem to be bothered by them. And they could care less if it bothers others. IMHO, this reflects the generalized, self-centered nature of our society. As long as I have what I want, as long as I'm doing what I want to do, it doesn't matter how it impacts anyone else. It's all about me, me, me. Here, let me show the latest selfie I took of me. Also, have you noticed that the people running the generators almost always are the ones who pull up, set up, then never leave their RV. Why are they even at these beautiful locations anyway? They might as well set up in their driveways at home, or in a Wal-Mart parking lot. I think generators, even the "quiet" ones, should be banned from rural campsites.

I had leaks coming in both bottom corners of the windshield area in my 85Dolphin. I thought it was something to do with the chases and the grill area, but it turns out it was the windshield itself. I siliconed it and that was the end of the problem.

Less than two? Hmm...if that doesn't mean "one," then could it possibly mean one and a half? Pretty funny.

When we bought our 1985 Dolphin three years ago, I drove it 1800 miles back from Michigan to Santa Fe. It's a peach and was worth every mile of the journey. The best part of the story is that it cost me more to get from the airport in Detroit to the little town where the vehicle was than it did for my plane fare from Santa Fe to Detroit! There was no bus service or any other way to get to this town. I had to hire a limo service! Again, worth every dime. We got a beauty and have been enjoying it ever since.

Wow! I want it! Gotta wonder what the condition of the engine and transmission seals is after 35 years with so few miles put on it. Even so. What a toy!

We also kept our panel free floating, not roof mounted, so we could track the sun with it. It's great. We get full advantage of the sun when parked in the shade. In addition, we used a dual controller (controls two battery connections instead of just one) then wired the panel to the vehicle battery as well as the coach battery so we can use the panel to trickle charge both batteries during the winter months. This has worked out great for us. No need to remove batteries or worry about them during the winter. The controller allows for adjusting how much charge goes to each battery. When we are on the road and camping we set it to give 100% to the coach battery. During the winter, we split the charge between the two batteries.

We put a Suburban water heater in our Dolphin and it's been working just fine. If you are up for the wiring project I highly recommend you get the kind with the electronic ignition and the remote switch for inside the cab. It's such a pleasure to be able to just flip a switch inside and the water heater lights itself. Likewise, once the water is hot you can turn it off without going outside. Plus, no pilot light using up your propane when the water heater isn't actually heating water. We find that once the water is hot it will stay that way for a good part of the day in case you need a little hot water for washing hands or whatever. Then we turn it back on after dinner to bring the water up to full heat again for washing dishes. Also, be prepared in cooler weather for the water heater to overflow a bit out the overflow valve when you are heating up the water from a cold start. Expansion causes it to do this. It's normal.

Instead of mounting our 100w solar panel, we ran about thirty feet of cable out the electrical land-line door on the side of the Dolphin. When we're on the road, we carry the panel mounted on the wall of our bathroom. It just fits nicely there. The cable coils up and hangs on the back bumper. Once we reach our destination, we plug the panel in and then can move it around and position it for the best possible sun exposure. Since the goal is usually to park our rig in the shade, this gives us much better gain from the panel. I actually carry another 25 feet of extension cable, which we have used to position the panel more than fifty feet from our rig on occasion. Access to direct sunlight makes all the difference with a solar panel We also invested in a dual controller for the panel. So we ran a second set of cables from the controller to the vehicle battery. That way we can use the panel to trickle charge both the coach and cab battery during the winter months. It works great. We don't have to remove the batteries in winter and they maintain their charge nicely. The controller allows us to direct all the juice to the solar panel when we are camping.

Wonderful! Carpet looks very cozy. Where did you find the perfect size boot tray. I'd love to put one in my dolphin. joe