Debbit

Ok, now I want to paint mine.....

The water pump doesn't go off and on, so I don't think it is a line with pressure. Maybe a drain? It is odd! I can see most of the lines, but now that you mention lines in the wall, I'm going to take a closer look. With the toilet removed, I can feel around in the space under the shower pan. Hope it's cold enough to have killed any creepy things that might be in there! I do have a rear kitchen, and the bath is in the rear corner. So really, all the water is in one area, except for the water heater and it isn't leaking. Thanks!

I hate leaks! Yesterday I finished the waste water tank instalation. I put some water in the fresh water tank to test things. I turned on the faucet in the bathroom sink for a second, to let air out. The bathroom sink drain isn't connected to the waste water tank, but it continued to drip drip drip. Annoying, as I was under that exact area putting the valve on the tank. Then I noticed wetness below the area where the city water connection is, sort of a drip and seeping along the bottom edge of the camper. I can feel no water at that connection, it is above the floor by the low point connections. That whole area is dry. Also the floor of the bathroom is dry. Under the camper, I can't see anything leaking either. So something is leaking, maybe in the area between the fiberglass floor and the underside of the camper....? I wonder what is under there?

Thanks Linda, I wasn't so sure myself! Good idea, plumbers tape. This isn't to be black water, just kitchen sink. The instructions on ppl's website say drill a vent hole near top of tank. Later, we may put another tank for black water. Bathroom is for porta potty and only showers in the forest if camping. Rv parks, etc, no water in bathroom.

How pretty!!!

The waste water tank arrived, and all my measurements were right. It fits where I thought it would. Then I measured carefully and drilled the hole with a doorknob saw drill bit. Under the camper, no jack, I found it easy to maneuver the tank around using my knees and belly. and it fits! The hole needed to be right in a corner, it was a bit of a challange to get the pipe in the hole at the same time fitting the tank in the ledge and angle iron support that keeps it tight and secure. To support the other side, I had to lower the angle iron by replacing the short bolts with longer threaded rods and lock nuts and washers. I got rubber threshold material to put between the tank and angle iron at the other side for cushioning. Now just have to put the outlet pipe and valve on and all done. We may need a vent hole, gotta call and find out if that applies. I'm surprised how smoothly it went! Depending on how secure it seems when the tank is full and heavy, I may need to move the angle iron to support the tank at the front by holding it along the ledge instead of along the bottom of the tank.

Ingenious, but I think I need fewer projects!

?? Not sure how that would work!

I've decided I have to keep both. Each is so unique, and has its place. If I sell the westfalia, I will always regret it! If I sell the dolphin I will also regret it!

Do you drive it and if so, is it in good mechanical condition? I guess first you have to decide if it really is worth fixing up. Then, I would make a list of what it needs, in order of importance, and decide where money would be best spend in getting help. My list would be something like this; Find and fix leaks. I don't know the best way to fix the roof, but I bet if you search on this forum, you will find answers. Check for rotted wood where it has leaked and replace and repair. We did this, and there are lots of pictures of what people have done on this forum. Making sure the wiring and converter is safe and work (this would be where I'd spend money for) My dolphin had very leaky plumbing. I paid someone with the tools and contortion skills to fix the plumbing. We replaced the water pump ourselves. My dolphin waste water tank was combined black and grey. It fell apart and we took it off. A new one is on order, and we will attach it under the kitchen drain, where it fits. You can't really find an exact fit, just measure the space and decide what will fit in it. Later we may attach a second under the bathroom, but for now, we have replaced the toilet with a porta potty. If we need showers, a night at an rv park or motel gives that option. We use a portable wheeled grey water tank under the kitchen sink. We slip a rubber hose over the kitchen sink stub and fit the end in the tank. When it is full, wheel to approved for grey water place to dump. Gets you exercise too. AC...depends on if you need it. If ours went out, I'd use one of the room units that vents out the window. For heat, electric heaters are very safe and efficient now. Water heaters are nice, but not a necessity..if the stove works, boil water. I suppose if you are full timing, many of these solutions may not be as easily workable as if you were camping. But If you have access to shore power and showers, I think they would. Our dolphin was a bargain, and very mechanically sound. The camper part looked to be in really good condition, but it did have issues. About halfway through fixing things, I begin to wish I'd never seen it. It was summer and hot and miserable work. Now I love it, but it know I could love another just as well. Just have to weigh out the pros and cons to know if it is worth it.

When we bought our dolphin, we didn't know what worked and what didn't. What we found was: Electric wiring was ok Water pump worked, but needed to be manually shut off Shower worked but leaked Plumbing had many leaks Toilet leaked Air conditioner works Stove and oven work Furnace worked, but fan squealed Refrigerator lit and ran but didn't cool Water heater works Grey/black water leaked There were seams and windows that needed to be sealed, and some leaking and rot in the upper corner of cab over bunk. This is fixed, ceiling is painted walls re-papered or painted both to cover stains and to spiff up the interior. We are lucky in that the mechanical condition of the truck is very good. When I look at campers for sale, especially old ones, I wonder what needs work! So I was thinking about what I like best about the things that work. I don't really mind not having a furnace, because we don't often plug in and I don't want to use that much electricity. I like the mr buddy as a heater. I love running water, and running HOT water, so I'm happy the leaks are all fixed and we have a new water pump and bathroom faucet. I know I will appreciate the AC in the summer, although we seldom will plug in. Maybe a generator will be in our future, but I doubt it. I don't mind that we replaced the toilet with a porta potty. More room and no worry about black water Like the cabinet space and closet...oh and the little private bathroom. I'll be glad when we have a waste water tank again, but the portable one works for now Looking forward to having a fridge too. Really, I like it all, i guess

I too avoid city water. We put on a new hookup with a pressure regulator, but it still just seems like a good way to cause a leak.

We would stay in their house while there, and they only have street parking. The street is narrow and hilly, so I'm glad to sleep in the guest room;) But as long as we drive so far, we would like to wander a bit, up the coast, or down. It seems most places on the coastline are heavily used, and relatively expensive...well, not compared to a cottage on the beach, so maybe we will splurge for the beach camping and take advantage of free spots when inland.

Not installed yet, thanks for the link, it looks like a well designed solution.

I have found the information we needed, the box baffle directs air in and out where it needs to go. My old fridge just had a piece of bent metal at the top, guess that was it's baffle.

Today we took the old fridge out and begin installation of the new one. For those who have installed fridges, I would love advice. Reading the installation instructions, there are some things that are different from the way the old one was installed. First the new fridge is about 2.5" shorter than the old one. It looks as if we don't want a lot of dead air space, it says to fill any spaces over 1/4" around sides and top of the fridge and the enclosure box with insulation. This avoids trapping heat and sacrificing performance of unit. No insulation is to come in contact with the cooling unit. This is all clear and we understand it. It also says for upper and lower side vent installation, if there is more than an inch between cooling unit and wall, a box baffle should be installed. The idea, again is to limit a lot of air space and, I guess, to help with air flow. But I wouldn't want that hot cooling unit up against that old wooden wall. The heat build up between the wall and cooling unit makes me concerned. Has anyone used said "box baffle"? Would a plain panel of galvanized metal screwed to the section of wall between the top and bottom vents accomplish the same thing? Should some kind of spacer be used to keep a piece of metal away from the wooden wall? Thanks in advance for any advice!

When we took the dolphin to Tulsa, we did stay in walmart parking lots. It was very convenient, especially when we needed that tire! In Amarillo, there is a beautiful visitors center with overnight stays allowed and it was very nice. Now when I go to walmart to shop, I start wanting to go on a trip My daughter lives near LA, and that is the problem for places to stay nearby. There is the state forest north of southern LA, and the state beaches, and most of them are crowded and $$$$. I love the harvest host link!! What a great idea!

We just returned from a trip to CA and back. We went to visit our daughter and her husband, about 1800 miles. We were going to take our westy, but it had a leaky (very) fuel line, and we need to replace them before driving it. Yes, we were lucky it failed before our trip, not on it, or I'd be collecting insurance money from the fire. (Or worse) We took our car and chose routes we wanted to explore, and scouted for places to stay when we make the trip in the dolphin. It was a lot of fun, really! Driving and thinking "how slow would we get down to on this hill" or "I'd be a wreck in the traffic on this road". It was also fun to check out different state and rv parks and potential places to stay. So the car used $199 in gas, I figured a rough estimate of 26 mpg and we stayed in a motel two nights on the way. For the same trip in the dolphin, I think we would spend at least $350 in gas, and maybe $75-$100 at rv parks. We have made the same trip in the westy and it always gets around 20 mpg. It is not as roomy and comfortable as the dolphin, but pretty nice once you rearrange everything for the night. I love the dolphin for it's space and convenience. I think the dolphin would be best for road trips and camping trips closer to home, or long distance trips where we are staying many nights along the way. But our hope is to take it on a long trip up the CA coast. I suppose stealth camping is tricky in CA. So maybe up northern NM, CO, places where you can park and stay the night and enjoy the beauty of forest or desert for "free" would be best for the dolphin.

Yes. Since we used to take all our road trips in a VW westfalia, I am very familiar with the attitude of wound up, in-a-hurry to get nowhere drivers. I don't mind slowing down, not at all. I have just done the math from our trip, which probably belongs in "general", so will post it there.

Still waiting for the grey water tank we ordered, but it should be here soon. And last week, bought a new dometic fridge. We took a trip to CA in our car, but was checking out places to stay and best routes to take for the trip when we take the dolphin!! I was relieved to see most RVs on the road seemed to be traveling much slower than the cars. I think the trailer speed limit?

That sounds good. We may plug in a week at a time, for the most. But we would use the AC. That would be our only real need for shore power.

Ah ha! Thanks!

I look at lots of toy homes. Some look so much shorter than others. I know there are a few modules that are shorter, but my 84 dolphin 300, for example looks much shorter than pics I see of, say a 91 dolphin. I wonder if it's the windows or photo angle. Or are some bigger.

Appreciating the answers. What about running the AC? Have to plug it in to do that. If we need to disconnect battery or put a battery minder on, we can easily do that. I'm going to give this thread to my husband to read and figure out. I want to understand rv and automotive electronics, but I don't.

Thanks!