Where is the gray water tank on a '76 Argosy 22'

[aboyd03]

Hi all, we're trying to hardplumb a toilet in our 76 Argosy (22 foot) but for the life of me I can't figure out where the gray water tank is. Fresh water is up front, black water has been removed (it was sitting on the subfloor).

We want to make sure we don't punch through the gray water tank while installing the toilet. It will not be installed in the original area next to the shower.

Any diagrams or photos will be helpful. Spent a million hours on this!! =)

[jeffb831]

Some of the trailers only have a combined grey/black water tank so you may not be "missing" something.

[azflycaster]

In that era, Airstream added small gray tanks whichwere mostly located under the shower. My 75 25' had a section of belly pan which could be slid out the rear after removing several screws. Once removed the tank could be seen.

[AlbertF]

I found a scanned copy of the 1976 Argosy brochure online - https://www.airstream.com/wp-content...ations-282.pdf - but it's a bit short on details.

It notes that you have a 30 gallon freshwater tank, but says nothing about black and grey tanks.

I expect that the black tank would have been mounted on the floor, with the toilet above. (Our 22FB still has this design.)

I believe that grey tanks were introduced on the Excella 500 in 1974, and installed in all models starting in 1975. These 1970s models have a tiny 10 gallon grey tank directly under the bath/shower. The larger Airstream models had an under-floor black tank under the toilet on the street side.

From photos I've found online, the shower drain is below the level of the black tank, so I don't think the black and grey are combined.

So my guess is that you will find the grey tank under the floor, at the rear, on the curbside of the trailer. Are there two dump valves? These were typically attached directly to the waste tanks, but the Argosies are a bit different.

azflycaster's comments are consistent with my experience with my 1975 27', except I had to remove rivets to get the belly pan out of the way.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Back in the day, gray water just dumped out into the grass. Weird as it may seem, there are still a few places this is "legal". The rules started to change in the mid 1970's. It took a while for all the models to get updated with the "new approach".

Bob

[rucos]

not sure on 76 but my 1970 didnt come with a grey and I added 2 ..... back then you just dumped on ground

[mrdes8]

On my '76 Argosy 24 the gray tank was between the frame rails at the rear of the trailer with the black tank being above the floor with a "short" toilet. I belive this was fairly standard on Argosy trailers although I might hedge my bets on Minuets. This space is the same as where the black tank was on my '68, there being no gray tank in '68. I remember laughing out loud when I saw how small that tank was, around 10-12 gallons and there was all kinds of stuff around it and crazy pumbing because somehow they kept it below the level of the shower drain. BTW, all the parts associated with that had "Airstream" written on them in marker. In our Argosy that tank got tossed and replaced with the largest gray tank I could fit, I think around 35 gallons. Plumbed the shower through the side, never had any problems. Good luck, Mark D

[JCWDCW]

On the ground it was
On the '72 we borrowed there was a hose connection to drain the grey water from the sewer cap while the BW valve was closed

[overlander64]

Greetings aboyd03! Welcome to the Forums and the world of Vintage Argosy ownership!

Originally Posted by aboyd03

Hi all, we're trying to hardplumb a toilet in our 76 Argosy (22 foot) but for the life of me I can't figure out where the gray water tank is. Fresh water is up front, black water has been removed (it was sitting on the subfloor).

We want to make sure we don't punch through the gray water tank while installing the toilet. It will not be installed in the original area next to the shower.

Any diagrams or photos will be helpful. Spent a million hours on this!! =)

I do not have any photos or diagrams, but the location on the rear bathroom Argosy standard travel trailers for the gray water tank from 1974 through 1979 was between the rear frame rails below the toilet. The dump valve release handles for both the gray (Wash or Auxiliary) and black water are typically found in the rear bumper compartment generally to the streetside of center, however, a few models were produced with the dump valves located in the banana wrap beside/above the drain termination valve in the rear streetside corner. Most of the gray water tanks held 12 gallons with some being a little larger and some a little smaller. The Minuets 6.0 Meter, 6.7 Metre, and 7.3 Metre were exceptions to this as their gray water tank was mounted on top of the floor in the rear streetside corner in the bottom of the rear streetside cabinet, and this tank (approximately 13 gallons) only collected gray water from bathroom vanity and kitchen sink -- the Minuets' shower drain requires a portable tote or sewer connection for disposal. I am not certain how the first generation Argosy travel trailers with side bathrooms handled their waste tanks, nor am I familiar with how second generation (1986-1989) Square Argosy travel trailers handled their waste tanks.

Good luck with your Argosy 22!

Kevin

[dbj216]

Maybe not helpful as I know little about the Argosy model line up. But on my 75 Overlander 27' the tank described above is what I had. The Overlander is a rear bath floor layout as was common back then. Here is a photo of the side by side tanks. The steel pan held the tanks up in place under the floor at the rear of the trailer. The small grey tank was directly under the tub/shower. My friend's 76 Sovereign 31' was the same way.

David

[Eric 26 Argo]

Here are some photos of my 26' 77 Argosy for reference. The black tank sits against the back wall on top of the subfloor and overlaps the gray tank. The gray tank is basically under most of the bathroom floor. Note the location of the vent pipe the extends up through the closet. That will be a good reference for you. Also the 26' had the "full" bathtub so there is a little more space in the bathroom between the interior wall/door and the toilet. Hope this helps.

[IMG]Back panel 1 by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]back panel 2 by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/IMG]

C channel finish by Eric Frye, on Flickr

[IMG]day 8 bathroom rot removal by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]day 6 by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/IMG]

[nickclifford]

Originally Posted by mrdes8

On my '76 Argosy 24 the gray tank was between the frame rails at the rear of the trailer with the black tank being above the floor with a "short" toilet. I belive this was fairly standard on Argosy trailers although I might hedge my bets on Minuets. This space is the same as where the black tank was on my '68, there being no gray tank in '68. I remember laughing out loud when I saw how small that tank was, around 10-12 gallons and there was all kinds of stuff around it and crazy pumbing because somehow they kept it below the level of the shower drain. BTW, all the parts associated with that had "Airstream" written on them in marker. In our Argosy that tank got tossed and replaced with the largest gray tank I could fit, I think around 35 gallons. Plumbed the shower through the side, never had any problems. Good luck, Mark D

Hi, thanks .. did you save any pics you could share ?

[mrdes8]

Hey, that was 10 years ago so will be mostly a tech challenge but let me have a look.
Mark D