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[stimpy774]

I just purchased a 1998 Dutchmen model 1204 pop up camper. its in fairly decent shape for its age and should make a great beginner model for me being new to camping with an rv. This is a unique model which i looked for due to the inside thetford cassette toilet and shower unit.

I am finding it more difficult than I thought to find online any manual or documentation for this model. If any can point me toward more material i would appreciate it. thanks.

Brett

 

[wahoonc]

Hi and welcome!

I had a 2000 Coleman Niagara and loved the thetford cassette potty and shower. Only bad thing about the Coleman was the ABS top.

Manuals are pretty sparse for Dutchmen products, and most RV's in general. I would check on some of the popup specific sites like PopupPortal or Popup Explorer.

If you have specific questions I might be able to help. I have owned a couple of popups over the years.

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

Aaron thanks for the reply. I put a post on pop up portal so thanks for that.

Do these units have a grey tank? Is it the shower and sink grey water? Ice seen photos where peoplehave a mobile tote looks like they are collecting grey with.

The trailer has a grey drain tube coming from the shower. I didnt get a portable grey tank with it but he said he never used the toilet or shower.

I get how the black works with the cassette.

 

[wahoonc]

Yes the sink and shower are considered grey water.
None of mine had grey water tanks, you either had to hook up to a sewer connection or collect in a tank. We had a rolling gray tank that was an option with the Coleman's in 2000, I have also seen people use 5 gallon blue water totes from WM that they put hose fitting on the top of and daisy chained two or three of them together. Depending where we camped, we could quite often lead a hose out away from the camper into the woods.

Rolling tanks run from $70 on up depending on the size.

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

Interesting so if i get a site with full hook ups i could run a hose(not sure i have that) from that drain. Then again only weekends with a light shower maybe 1 five gallon tote would do it. I imagine the pop up sites they prefer be used don't have full hook ups.

The first place i plan to try says they have water and 30amp so i would need the tote.

So the sink must have a different drain. I think i recall he showed me the connector on the side.
So there is a city water connection. A connection to fill a fresh water tank and a sink drain connection? Sound right?

 

[wahoonc]

That sounds right. Typically there are two water fills, one is larger so you can pour water into the tank, the other is a female water fitting. If I recall correctly the drain line should be garden hose size, male fitting, we used a 8' length of old garden hose. They make an adapter to put in the sewer pipe that a hose will fit on. Typically the sink and the shower will be plumbed together to a single outlet. Popups can usually stay in any site they want, just have to pay extra for sewer. We used to stay for a week at Myrtle Beach in the fall and always got the fancy site with sewer and cable. Usually the fancy sites were only $4-$5 a night more than the water/electric sites.

If you can take pictures of the side where the fittings are and post it will help with the ID of stuff.

Aaron

 

[wahoonc]

Another thought... I assume with the shower you have a water heater too? Need to make sure that gets drained in the fall and filled up in the spring. It probably has an anode rod on it that will need to be replaced too, depending on which brand it is. On the Coleman I used to pull the anode rod in the fall and leave it out over the winter as part of my winterizing.

Aaron

 

[wahoonc]

Might have found a manual for you...

http://dutchmen.com/media/5758/fold-down-camping-trailers.pdf

and the sales brochure from that year.

http://dutchmen.com/media/5112/1998-skamper-tent-campers.pdf

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

Wow thanks Aaron. I think thats it for the manual. in the skamper catalog mine would be the 23s model. i think the specs are correct. so thor made this for skamper and dutchmen. attached are my hook ups. I think you are right looks like the sink and shower both run to that grey water pipe.

 

[stimpy774]

so looking at that skamper catalog mine even has the bike rack listed as an accessory and the screen room with awning. although the bike rack has seen better days not sure how functional it is. i may need to refurbish it.

 

[wahoonc]

The yellow fitting looks like the drain connection to me. Can you hook it up in the driveway and give it a go? Another recommendation, make sure you use a water pressure regulator on the water line going in if you are using campground or city water. We used a dedicated white water hose and a water filter too.

Thor bought Dutchmen in 1991, now the Dutchmen brand is built by Keystone, which is also a Thor company. Not too many independent RV manufacturers out there any more. Skamper became part of Thor in 1995.

Fleetwood and Thor were the 500# gorillas of the RV world until Fleetwood went bankrupt in 2009.

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

Sadly no. I live in a small townhome development with a short drive. To extend the beds out of the way to reach eveything it would need to stick out too far. I would have space around the front of my unit but my front water spigot doesnt work.

I plan to go camping this weekend and play with everything.

So you are saying the small yellow plug is the drain for just the sink right?

But i can see that black pipe is joined at the end by a vertical section coming from where the sink is.

 

[wahoonc]

Nope the yellow cover should drain both the sink and the shower.

Good luck with your trip this weekend!

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

okay but whats the big black pipe then?

 

[wahoonc]

okay but whats the big black pipe then?

Got me...

Can you look under the trailer and see where the plumbing actually runs? On most popups there is not a belly pan.

Aaron

 

[stimpy774]

yes the black pipe runs from under the shower but a vertical section coming from the sink area joins it before the end sticks out which i took the picture of.

can the small yellow plug be how i drain the fresh water tank?
this is going to be fun testing this stuff out to see what goes where. haha

 

[wahoonc]

yes the black pipe runs from under the shower but a vertical section coming from the sink area joins it before the end sticks out which i took the picture of.

can the small yellow plug be how i drain the fresh water tank?
this is going to be fun testing this stuff out to see what goes where. haha

Usually there is either a valve or plug on the underside of the fresh water tank for draining that down. I have never seen a side wall plug for that, but there is a first time for everything.

It will definitely be an adventure!

Aaron

 

[MartyG]

Usually there is either a valve or plug on the underside of the fresh water tank for draining that down. I have never seen a side wall plug for that, but there is a first time for everything.

It will definitely be an adventure!

Aaron

Just a guess, but in my (years ago) limited experience with pop-ups, the drain for the cold-water sink was a garden hose connection, like the yellow one here. However, in this unusual model, with hot water and a shower, it appears from the pictures they installed a wider drain pipe. (and, I would hope, a larger gray tank.) But I don't see a valve in that line. Does that mean you have no tank, and must hook up to sewer? I'll follow this thread until the OP finds out and tell us all!

 

[stimpy774]

Marty - you are correct. I see no grey water tank from underneath the trailer. I assume then its meant for sewer hook up or to drain into a portable tank. there is not much info on this unit available on the internet.

 

[MartyG]

Marty - you are correct. I see no grey water tank from underneath the trailer. I assume then its meant for sewer hook up or to drain into a portable tank. there is not much info on this unit available on the internet.

OK, then Stimpy, we're getting closer. With no gray tank, and no valve, any shower water will come right out that black pipe, so you better have it hosed into a sewer connection or a receiver of some sort.
Now, about that vertical pipe. There are three possibilities. One is a vent pipe to allow the shower to drain without gurgling. If so, then your yellow garden hose outlet is for a small sink gray tank. Typically 5 gal or so. Another possibility is that on your model this is not used, and your sink water goes the way of the shower water. The third possibility (most likely as I think while I type!) is that is your sink drain, straight from the sink with no gray tank. In that case, if you are boondocking, you won't shower, but you could still catch dishwater from the sink in a smaller receptacle.