BobBeery Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 This is my fault. I am ready to put the house battery back in my 87 Dolphin after a year and a half of storage. I have six wires in the battery box and did not label them or group them when I took the battery out. so I don't know which wires go on which terminal. There are two small red wires with 15A inline fuses, two white wires, one heavy and one small, and two black ones both heavy. One of the black wires goes through a small block that is mounted inside the battery box. First thing I did was look at the house battery of a 90 Dolphin hoping that they would be the same. They are similar but not the same. The 90 has one heavy black wire to the positive, two small red wires to the positive, one heavy white wire to the negative and two small white wires also to the negative. So five of the wires are the same: heavy white, heavy black, small white, and two small red. The last wire in the 87 is a heavy black, in the 90 is is a small white. My inclination is to put both red and both black on the positive and to put both white on the negative, BUT I AM ASKING FOR HELP FIRST. Does anybody know or can find out? And what might happen if I try something and it was wrong? Can I damage anything or start a fire? Again, this was my fault. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 A volt/ohm meter is going to be best friend. Use the ohm function and check the wires to ground, those that are go to the neg side. Plug in the Toy to 110v AC and check with the voltmeter to ground, your looking for 12-14v dc. Still got wire you don't know about? then unplug from the house and start the truck and check the rest of the wires for 12v. Still more wires then follow them and see if they go to your 12v fuse panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob C Posted July 6, 2014 Share Posted July 6, 2014 I have heard several people on here talking about hooking a bunch of wires together and plugging everything in. DO NOT DO IT. You could end up wrecking a bunch of stuff. Get a volt/ohm meter and learn how to use it. WME gave you good advice. If you need more help, find a local friend that has basic electrical skills and buy them a case of their favorite adult beverage for their help. If you keep working on your own RV, you will get good at the use of a volt/ohm meter. I keep one in the RV at all times while traveling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 A hint and take this as just a hint, black + white - red + that might help you with the volt ohm meter. These things are old and lots of people who think they know about wiring have had a hand at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvin Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 If you hook it up wrong, almost for sure bad things will happen. Don't do it. Isolate 1 system at a time, connect each system after you're sure. Label everything and make copious notes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks for the replies. I will get a VOM and try it Monday evening if it is not raining. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvin Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Thanks for the replies. I will get a VOM and try it Monday evening if it is not raining. Bob Bob, be prepared for systems with blown fuses or old connections. This is your opportunity to go over anything, become familiar with each system and tidy up. Keep an eye out for in-line fuses and things which may need attention as you go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrel Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Do you have a generator. If so one wire may go to the generator starter. It will be a large black wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 Here's where things are now. First, special thanks to WME. I bought and used a VOM. It showed a good ground on the large white wire and didn't move the meter on the other five wires. Next I plugged in shore power, checked first for 110 AC and found none. Good. Then I checked for 12v DC between the white ground wire and each of the other five wires. One of the large black wires showed 11.8v. The other four wires showed nothing on a 0-20v scale. There are 15A in-line fuse holders on the two blue wires. I will check those fuses next, then not so sure what to do. And Darrel, thanks for the tip on a generator, but this Toy does not have one. The 90 Dolphin that I just bought does have one but that is not part of this story. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 " One of the black wires goes through a small block that is mounted inside the battery box" Is that block an auto-reseting ckt breaker?? see a lot of those on RV's. Check to see if it's conducting. On my Dolphin that is the wire that goes up to the battery isolator in the engine compartment. Try starting the motor with the AC not plugged in to see which wire feeds your battery from the Toyota. vanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 my 87 dolphin has a large black wire from pos post to a crkt breaker runs to batt isalter up front then two line fuses white wires to battery pos so three on hot pos post and two white grounds too the neg ground post of battery so 5 wires total. and I would reaferm NEVER just connect a bunch of wires unless you know what and where they go . at the least bad damage at the most a catastrophic fire Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBeery Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Solved! This was easy once I used the wiring diagrams in the Dolphin owners manual. I thought the manual was in my filing cabinet and couldn't find it. I asked my wife and she said it's in the box under the Toy's dinette seat. She was right. There were several diagrams to piece together. One showed a #8 white to the battery ground. Another showed a #8 black to battery pos. Another showed two #14 reds and a #8 black to pos. Checking showed this was not the same #8 black as before. So five wires were accounted for; only the #14 white was left. Then I saw a note on the page that there was a same-size white to ground for the circuits and behold, all was accounted for. I hooked them up, tried lights, bath fan, and water pump. All work. Maineah's hint above was correct. Vanman's question above was, according the the wiring diagrams, also a yes. Thank you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I think all the Forum would like in the way of thanks would be for you to scan (if you're equipped) and post the Dolphin wiring diagram for the benefit of those who don't happen to have a manual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alvin Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I think all the Forum would like in the way of thanks would be for you to scan (if you're equipped) and post the Dolphin wiring diagram for the benefit of those who don't happen to have a manual! No scanner? Digital camera images of documentation work too. We take picture of notebooks and whiteboards at the office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonSteve Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Hi- I have the same issue. Purchased a "new" '86 Toyota Dolphin that came without an auxiliary battery. I sort of understand the method WME described... Could you explain it to me in a little more detail? I've worked with multimeters before but it's been about 25 years. Also, I looked everywhere in the coach but can't find a fuse panel. [Update] Found the fuse panel...right next to the power converter!!! 😀 Shore Power works!!! Thanx OregonSteve "Never never doubt what nobody is sure about." -Willy Wonka Edited July 10, 2020 by OregonSteve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 My best guess black large wire + White large wire - yellow wire +. The rest this is where the meter comes in with the battery connected to the known wires probe the other wires to - they should be a few ohms if they are - if they are pretty high resistance to ground they most likely are +. Crude test touch them to the + arcs and sparks they are grounds. Many hands have touched the wires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OregonSteve Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Here are the wiring diagrams from my owner's manual for 1986 Dolphin. Not sure why the images decided on their own orientation???              Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted July 24, 2020 Share Posted July 24, 2020 Thanks for the upload. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Those are nice ones engineering diagrams! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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