New to Me 1981 Sunline 15.5 SB

[SSF156]

Hey everyone, I purchased a 1981 Sunline 15.5 SB camper. I'm excited to continue to restore this beaut and do some camping in the Spring! I

 

[JohnGB]

Welcome SSF156!

Congrats on your new Sunny!

Good times ahead.

John

 

[Tin Gypsy]

Nice! I also have a 1981 15.5.

 

[SSF156]

Question for you.

Do you know if it has a separate black and gray tanks? If so, how can I figure the capacity? Thanks!

 

[JohnGB]

Question for you.

Do you know if it has a separate black and gray tanks? If so, how can I figure the capacity? Thanks!

Hi,

If you haven't found the FILES area yet, we have a lot of good info there, including many of the original Sunline sales brochures that list many of the campers' specs.

In this case, for a 1981 15 1/2 SB, they list the tank sizes as:

Septic: 8 gal
Grey water: 25 gal
Freshwater "system": 20 gal. Note, the system means all the pipes, water heater and fresh tank = 20 gallons. The physical tank might be 78 to 8 gallons less. 6 gallons in the water heater and 1 to 2 gallons in the piping.

At least, that was what was offered as std sizes back in the day. If you crawl under the camper, you should see two black plastic tanks; one is the septic, the other the grey water from sinks etc. The septic tank (aka, black tank) should have a 3" dump pipe, and the grey water tank a 1 1/2" dump pipe that both join to one dump station drain port. Sometimes, prior owners remove things if a tank gets damaged and just leave it. A good thing to do it look and see before filling them with water. If there are holes, even large ones, we can help on how to repair the tanks for not a lot of cost.

Hope this helps

John

 

[JohnGB]

This can help, too.

In case you have not yet found our FILES section, there is a lot of excellent resource info in there, including most of the sale brochures from way back when, owner manuals, appliance manuals, and other good stuff.

The sales brochure contains a lot of helpful information about your model camper that is hard to find in one organized spot. You can download a copy by scrolling to your year. The same goes for the owner's manuals.

To get to the FILES section, you have to be logged in. Look up top along the forum for the words "FILES." That is a tab; click it. Then select the area you want to go to and can read on for hours, days, maybe weeks...

A heads up: RV camper owners' manuals are unlike automobile owners' manuals, which give exact instructions on almost everything in your auto. The camper owner's manual generally talks about things to help you along the way. Owner manuals for the actual appliances have very detailed information from the manufacturer. We have many of those in the files section, too. If your model is not there, could you give us the appliance's make and model no.? We can help search for it, too, then add it to our files section for future help to others.

You are also welcome to ask any questions about your camper. You can just create a post in the appropriate forums and ask away. I think many areas have already been answered in an old post, but we have no problem asking questions you need help with.

Hope this helps

John

 

[Sunline Fan]

Welcome and congrats!

 

[C-Stack]

Hey everyone, I purchased a 1981 Sunline 15.5 SB camper. I'm excited to continue to restore this beaut and do some camping in the Spring! I

Hey there! I'm currently working on an '82 version. I'd love to see more of your trailer and what you've done with it so far.

 

[C-Stack]

Question for you.

Do you know if it has a separate black and gray tanks? If so, how can I figure the capacity? Thanks!

Thanks to sunlinefan, I may be able to help. When looking under the camper, I'm assuming that like me, you are seeing just one tank stretching the width of the trailer. That's the grey tank. I was confused, because it looked like there was no black tank. It seems that there is a small black tank located in the step up under the toilet. I can't tell you capacity, though. I'm having issues accessing the files since the upgrade, so I can't even see if that was listed in the brochure.

Carla

 

[BigDJiggles]

Hello, all. I just bought an 81 Sunline mostly gutted and in need of some love. Just like me born 81 got some issues but still fixable, and neither of us leak! lol

 

[C-Stack]

Hi and welcome! I'm currently working on a 1982 version (I wish I could way I was born the same year, lol). There are some awesome people here with a lot of knowledge and a willingness to help. Your rock guard is in great shape! Can't wait to see more pics.

 

[C-Stack]

Question for you.

Do you know if it has a separate black and gray tanks? If so, how can I figure the capacity? Thanks!

Found your brochure and it looks as though you have an 8 gallon black tank.

 

[JohnGB]

Hello, all. I just bought an 81 Sunline mostly gutted and in need of some love. Just like me born 81 got some issues but still fixable, and neither of us leak! lol View attachment 1114336

Welcome, BigDJiggles!

Congrats on your new Sunny.

You have a Ruby in the rough there. As you start working through the camper, consider creating a post of your own with pics of the before and after. We have several good folks now doing the same thing with '80s Sunlines, and we all help each other. Pictures go a long way to explain what you see and help others on their camper restoration/repair journey.

Have fun this season getting your Sunny back in the campground.


John