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Old 07-26-2022, 06:27 PM   #1
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2002 Dolphin 5355 Fresh Water Overflow Line Rotted Out

2002 Dolphin 5355. W22 Workhorse chassis.

I am trying to access the tank end of the overflow line on the fresh water tank. I searched and didn't see any threads that could help me. The overflow is 1.25" corrugated water line. I ordered new line, but can't reach the tank end of the line to replace it. I have tried by reaching up from underneath towards the rear. I can follow the line back, but not far enough to reach the coupling. I'm recruiting my daughter's skinny boyfriend to see if he will have any better luck. He's a shipbuilder at NAASCO so is used to tight spaces.

I also noticed there is an access panel above the generator, and a small one in the small storage compartment in front of the LP tank. LP is on right rear compartment, generator is opposite side. Is there access from one or both of these panels?

There is also a small overflow soft line on the passenger side rear corner of the fresh water tank that is sealed in with some type of sealant. No idea why a manufacture would add a overflow there, or if it was added later. It acts as a syphon if the tube isn't up above the level of the tank. I have folded it over on itself and zip-tied it so its sealed for now, because it came loose and dumped a bunch of water out of the tank while I was traveling.

This coach has been in my family since new and is very well maintained. I have made a bunch of upgrades to it and plan on keeping it for many more years. Still one of the nicest, well thought out floor plan coaches I have been in, and that 8.1 Workhorse pulls great.
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Old 08-02-2022, 05:32 PM   #2
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Nothing, Bueller??

I pulled off some panels, and the one above the generator looks the most promising. I think my daughter's skinny boyfriend can get his arms in there to replace the overflow line. The overflow appears to have two fittings on top of the water tank. One forward, and one towards the center of the tank. Fitting towards the center of the tank seems accessible. Hose between the two fittings looks to be in terrific shape. If he can replace the hose from the center fitting out that should take care of it.
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Old 08-04-2022, 09:23 PM   #3
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I had my tank out for another reason, but you can see the overflow elbow and a removable cap on the top of the tank on the side of the tank near the side out side of the bedroom. I believe there is an access cover under the bed that allows you to remove the cap for adding bleach to the water tank for cleaning/disinfecting it. The over flow elbow is close to the cap and I think you can reach it and maybe pivot it around to attach a new overflow hose. My hose was rotted out as well.
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Old 08-05-2022, 12:45 PM   #4
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So the tank does come out above the generator. That's good to know.

My tank appears to be different than yours. It has the main overflow elbow and the smaller overflow next to it, but then has another main overflow about mid-point in the tank. The elbow at the front has hose that connects it to the T. After the T the hose continues out through the roof of the enclosure and to the passenger rear. You can see the T in the second picture of my second post. Access is only about a foot in from the side, but you need to be skinny to get up on top of the generator. Hoping to get this done without pulling the tank. I replaced all the fresh water soft lines behind the main panel when I replaced the water pump and all the ball valves last year. Pump was tired and two of the ball valves were seeping.

I saw what looked like access from the center storage under the bed, but thought it was for the slide operation. I'll pull that panel, because it appears to be directly on top of the T. The hose inside the tank enclosure seems to be in excellent condition. Also hoping I can tape the new hose to the old hose and pull/push it out through the hole in the top of the enclosure.

Still not sure what that second smaller overflow line is for. It might be to allow the larger overflow to drain back into the tank. When I get the main overflow repaired, I am going to leave the side access open and fill the tank so I can see how it's all working. I also have had a ball valve in the end of the main overflow for many years. It's because after the tank is filled and it stops draining out the overflow, I can shut it off so I don't lose 5 gallons of water out the back on the first grade. Two reasons for that are I do a lot of dry camping and 5 gallons is a nice shower, and when it dumps water it spreads out all across the inside of the back cap, then showers my toad (and anything else behind me) with dirty water.

This is a great coach, but it's got some goofy design issues when it comes to fluid storage. My main issue with the tanks is the black tank has a shelf directly below the toilet that poop sits on. If they had used a tank with an angled shelf it would just slide right into the main tank. I rebuilt the toilet a few weeks ago because the seals had degraded and when I had it out I was trying to figure a way to alleviate the poop issue, but there is really nothing to be done. Also having the gray tanks so shallow they take a long time to drain. Helps to put the front levelers down.
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Old 08-05-2022, 12:57 PM   #5
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Couple more pictures. One is the front end of the tank and overflow elbows, the other is the overflow hose going out through the roof of the tank
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Old 08-06-2022, 11:24 AM   #6
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I looked at it again this morning before removing the panels in the bottom of the bedroom slide out. I can see a small cut out, maybe 4" square in the roof of the tank enclosure. Its visible in the second picture in my second post. Its way out of line with any fitting on the tank, so I have no idea why they would even bother cutting a hole there. It's like all those crooked screws, clearance lights and the right-side mirror. Not done right. Guess I still need to wait for my daughter's skinny boyfriend to get around to coming over and helping.
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Old 08-06-2022, 11:03 PM   #7
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Yes, I agree, they did mess up in some areas while building the RV. Our current 2008 Dolphin had a unknown small leak on the bedroom slide roof. Rain water leaked in for years, unseen, down from the slides roof into the slides floor. The unseen moisture rotted out the wood sheet in the slide's floor until I notice a slide roller was breaking threw the fiberglass sheet under the slide floor, the strongest item, the wooden sheet was rotten. Checking the bedroom slide roof I found who ever from the factory applied the roof rubber membrane had folded the corners wrong leaving openings allowing water to leak in. I wondered how many other RVs were done in this way, I have read others had slide floor problems years later.
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Old 08-08-2022, 10:51 AM   #8
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Daughter's boyfriend came over this weekend for dinner. He easily fits above the generator and can reach the T fitting and the hole in the enclosure ceiling where the overflow hose goes through. He also pulled slightly on the hose and its not sealed into the hole so it moved with a small amount of pressure. All this is good because that means it should all go smoothly when he can come over in the daytime after his work while he's already all dirty from building ships. I'll post again when its fixed.
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Old 08-09-2022, 04:04 PM   #9
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All very interesting reading, thank you. I have the wet bay on my Dolphin torn apart currently upgrading valves and water lines, and moving things around a little. I'll have to look into the overflow line while I'm at it. I did have a leak on the fresh water fill lines, but that was very easy to fix by removing the water heater for access directly to the fill fittings on the tank.

Agreed the Dolphins are great RVs with a very nice floor plan. But I have replaced three windows so far and was not at all impressed with the way the old window holes were cut out. One window outside mounting surface just barely made contact with the outside wall because the hole was cut too big. Maybe it was installed on Friday. lol

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Old 08-09-2022, 06:20 PM   #10
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One if the two "overflow lines" might well be a vent?
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Old 08-10-2022, 12:35 PM   #11
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Water tank overflow

One if the lines on top could be a vent line? Need to vent as you use water or you would pull a vacuum in the tank. Just guessing.
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Old 08-11-2022, 12:59 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaplainEd View Post
One if the lines on top could be a vent line? Need to vent as you use water or you would pull a vacuum in the tank. Just guessing.
One would act as a vent if the other had water in it. I have had water push out the larger ID hose and the smaller one, but not at the same time. It would also allow both lines to empty back into the tank so they were not full of water. I'm really not sure National thought it through that far, but it works.
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Old 08-15-2022, 06:45 PM   #13
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Daughter's skinny boyfriend crawled up in there today. The hose I bought was 1-1/4" ID and the OEM stuff is 1-3/8" ID. Oops. The end of the OEM hose was very tight onto the T fitting on top of the tank and I was concerned he was going to break that 20 year old fitting. Instead, he pulled the remaining hose into the tank enclosure. The part of the hose that was inside the enclosure was still flexible and in very good condition. Used a piece of that as a splice as the 1-1/4" hose fit very tight inside the 1-3/8" hose. He pulled out some special nontoxic organic sealant out of his work bag they use to seal up wire hub joints on the ships. It smells like it's made from tallow. It's a cream that dries into a solid but stays flexible. Used that to grease up the splice and got a good 2.5" of solid hose to hose contact. After a few minutes we couldn't pull it apart. Used some silicone-based repair tape to seal the joint from the outside. Shoved the new hose out through the hole and it ended up going in the right direction, ending up right where it was supposed to end up. Saved me from having to remove the tank.

So, if you are skinny and pretty flexible, and don't mind tight spaces, then you can squeeze yourself in above the generator and do the repair. Kid even got himself sitting up in the end cap so he could see where the water line came out and bust off the one zip tie holding it down.
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Old 01-22-2023, 09:59 AM   #14
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Gregory what did you do to fix the slide rotted floor problem? I noticed on my 07 Dolphin that the fiberglass on the front slide roller is cracking,
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