Flooded Bathroom

[Floodmaster9]

So, before anyone says anything, I realize that I am profoundly stupid. There is no need to remind me.

Today I picked up my brand new 2017 19CB Flying Cloud. I excitedly took it over to the nearest RV park to try it out for a night. I plugged in the power cable and hooked up the water and tested it. Everything seeming fine, I sat down to relax and enjoy my Airstream.

Then, I noticed a strange dripping sound. I looked up noticed a massive puddle that started in the bathroom and stretched almost to the dinette where I was seated. The shower had overflowed and water was pooling up against the base of the cabinets. I panicked and dumped a whole roll of paper towels on the floor and ran outside to turn off the water.

In my excitement, I had stupidly hooked the city water up to the fresh water tank. I managed to soak up the water pretty quick but I'm terrified some serious damage was done. Water was dripping from the bottom of the trailer, underneath the bathroom, pretty heavily.

Everything seems dry inside but what about the insulation and underneath? What should I do? How much damage did I just do?

So much for my glorious first night as an airstream owner.

[xrvr]

Hooking up that way and the water should have just overflowed at the fill port outside. Did you hook it up to the black water flush instead? Do you have only one black and gray water combo tank? Don't know much about the small AS, but that might be an idea. The onboard water fill is usually behind a locked door.

[Floodmaster9]

Oh maybe it was the black water flush, it was a screw in nozzle. Both the black and grey tanks filled and overflowed, then the shower. Luckily it was brand new and had nothing in those tanks.

[TG Twinkie]

Aren't the hose connections clearly labeled? What a mess to have to clean up.

[Floodmaster9]

Originally Posted by TG Twinkie

Aren't the hose connections clearly labeled? What a mess to have to clean up.

In my defense, in all the videos I watched of the fresh water tank fill, there was no screw on spout. I thought the black panel above it was the fresh water tank fill, and it was just like a hole you put the hose in, like in the videos I watched. But the black panel was the city water.

Luckily the black and grey tanks were totally empty.

[Floodmaster9]

Has anyone else done this? Will I get tons of mold around there?

[CRH]

You need to run some fans and the AC. Point the fans at the place the water went. If the AC cools the the trailer down to the point compressor kicks off, turn on the furnace. That will bring the temp up and cause the AC compressor to kick on.... The idea is to let the AC dry the trailer.

[TG Twinkie]

Luckily you live in Arizona. Low ambient humidity will be a great help.
Fans and open windows and vents will help.

[pcskier]

Usually when hooking up to the black tank flush by mistake, the tank will fill, and then fill the vent line to the roof and begin gushing there. Once that starts, it can also begin to fill the gray tank as both tanks share that vent to the roof. Did you notice if water was coming off the roof when this all happened? If not, very odd unless there is an obstruction in the vent.

Be thankful the tanks had not been used yet and your issue is only to get dried out. The suggestion to run the AC and the Furnace won't work, as the thermostat will only allow one to run. My suggestion would be to run the AC as cold as possible,with some windows cracked open for airflow. AC will dry the air. Furnace will add humidity, not lower it.

Since it was clean water you should be OK with this one time issue. Just watch for any floor bulges or expanded cabinetry near the floor. Nothing else you really can do at this point short of removing the belly pan to help it dry out, which is a major job and likely not necessary.

This happens often...it is a flaw in my opinion that the city water inlet and black flush are right adjacent to each other. While they are marked, it still is just too easy to get wrong, especially when new, or at night, or tired, etc....

[TBRich]

Hmmm... Sorry you had this happen. If you connected the city water to the black water rinse/flush inlet — easy to do if unfamiliar or tired ... I have almost done it before, but luckily caught myself — it would fill the black tank and I'd expect the toilet to eventually overflow, rather than the shower. (For those wondering, the 19' has separate black and grey tanks). In order for the shower to overflow the water would have to be filling the grey tank (which is separate from the flush system)... As far as I know, other than the blocked vent pipe mention above, the only way that could happen is if the main of the sewer outlet outside ins on ... and both the black and grey water valves are pulled open .. allowing the black water to fill, back up, and then fill the grey tank. I have not seen this happen but that's the only route water in the back tank could overflow from the shower. The great tank received water form the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink and the shower, and I assume none of those were flowing.

[pcskier]

Here is the water path. Click on it to open up a larger version. Water 'in' to black tank (Not pictured). After black tank is full, water backs up into the vent line. When it reaches the junction with the vent pipe that is shared with the greyk tank, water enters that pipe and fills grey tank. When grey is full, it pushes up through shower drain, which is the lowest exit point in the system, like when a stopped up sewer in a home overflows from the basement fixtures first.

It does seem that in some cases that have been reported, the water was forced up to the roof vent, but in this case the path of least pressure was to back up into the shower drain once the grey tank was full. Perhaps in other cases the rubber stopper was in the shower drain which forced the water up the vent pipe to the roof.

[Wayne&Sam]

Be grateful it was brand new. Otherwise that water would not have been quite so clean.

I do think they should place the city water and back flush connections further apart to avoid confusion.

[Floodmaster9]

Thanks for all the replies, I was really panicking last night. I called the dealer and they think it should be fine, especially since it's so hot and dry here. I'll just keep an eye out for mold... and double check the label on the water inlets in the future.

There was no water coming from the roof, the plug in the shower was loose.

Also, I can see water in the shower drain after taking a shower earlier, is that normal? I thought it would drain into the grey tank. The grey tank meter says it's half full.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Floodmaster9

Also, I can see water in the shower drain after taking a shower earlier, is that normal? I thought it would drain into the grey tank. The grey tank meter says it's half full.

The p-trap for the shower is so close to the shower pan that naturally you'll see the water trapped in the p-trap. The water is there for a reason, to block odors from coming up from the gray tank into your shower. You actually have water trapped in the sink drain p-traps for the same reason, but there's more distance between the bottom of the sink and the p-trap, so the water is harder to see.

[blkmagikca]

You won't have any mold - mold takes time and moisture to grow. You caught it right away. With the AZ heat and dryness, just leaving windows open and a fan running should dry everything out.

We experienced a similar flood when the XYL (ex-young-lady) left the faucet running in the bathroom. The water filled the gray tank and the shower stall and overflowed forming a large puddle under the AS. We used a wet-dry vacuum to draw the water out of the carpet and used a small ceramic portable electric heater with a fan along with open windows to dry it all out. We happened to be camping at the time in Casa Grande AZ, so the low humidity accelerated the process. A few months later when we passed through JC, the bit of carpet in the hall was replaced. There was no trace of any softness or mold.

[RandyNH]

As blkmagikca points out, it would take a bit of time being soaked, for mold to become an issue. Being right there and drying all you can, then leaving everything open to air out and evaporate in the Arizona heat is the best thing you could do, that will work better than anything else, you can help it with strategically placed fans, one moved around is fine, to push air in and out of enclosed spaces to aid in the process.

Home builders leave exterior plywood exposed all the time, during construction, its the prolonged exposure that causes an issue.

[xrvr]

An oscillating fan or two or three would help a lot. Keep the air moving twenty four hours.