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03-23-2008, 07:08 PM
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#1
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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How to Remove Toilet Flange from Waste Tank?
I am in the process of removing the floor as part of a frame-replacement project. Removing the toilet was easy after the bathroom assemblies were removed. At this point a metal flange remains on the floor and is attached in some way to the waste tank. How I'm not sure? My question is how to remove this metal flange so the waste tank will drop clear of the floor? Does it unscrew? Surely it's not glued? The 1975 service manual doesn't describe removal of this flange.
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-23-2008, 07:23 PM
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#2
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Retired.
Currently Looking...
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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Those rusty nubs are screws. After you manage to get them unscrewed, you can then unscrew the closet flange from the black tank. It will be stiff, and require no small amount of persuasion, but it will unscrew. A hammer and flat punch on those flat tabs on the flange should get things moving.
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Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
Terry
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03-23-2008, 07:32 PM
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#3
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Hi Terry, trust me, those screws weren't holding anything. The flooring was completely gone underneath. So the black rubber/plastic inside the metal flange will unscrew frome the waste tank? I was guessing so. About 1 o'clock in the photo you can see an indention in the black ring that I hit a few times with a screwdriver and hammer but it didn't budge. So I stopped before I broke something without knowing the disassemble procedure. Okay...I see...so I'll keep hammering!
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-23-2008, 08:35 PM
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#4
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Rivet Master
1969 23' Safari
New Orleans
, Louisiana
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 699
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wait! before banging more. you can get a $20 mini-grinder from Harbor Freight (the best 20 bucks you will EVER spend, trust me) and a piece of angle iron and make your own "airstream black hole wrench" like this:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/530025-post67.html
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03-23-2008, 09:30 PM
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#5
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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airstream black hole wrench
Hi Rick, I'm thinkin' the ryobi angle grinder I just bought to ease out those floor screws (and other stubborn problems) might do the trick! Great tip!
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Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-23-2008, 11:31 PM
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#6
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Rivet Master
1978 31' Excella 500
Genoa
, Nevada
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,554
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Maybe make a wrench that will help back that puppy out. the more nubs pushing on slots, the better. Maybe mate up those screw holes in your bottom plate with bolts in a plate you make up above, then rotate. i suspect it goes counter clockwise?
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03-24-2008, 09:17 AM
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#7
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NevadaGeo
Maybe mate up those screw holes in your bottom plate with bolts in a plate you make up above, then rotate. i suspect it goes counter clockwise?
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That's something I hadn't considered. In this case the metal flange is no longer secured to the floor by the wood screws due to the condition of the rotten floor.
So if the black rubber (closet flange) is meant to unscrew from the metal flange this action may exert too much rotational pressure on the waste tank...perhaps cracking the neck of the tank.
I suspect, however, that the black rubber flange unscrews from the tank itself. If this is the case the metal flange really doesn't matter so long as it's unscrewed from the floor.
So the question seems to be: does the rubber flange unscrew from the waste tank?
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-24-2008, 09:27 AM
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#8
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by overlander63
Those rusty nubs are screws. After you manage to get them unscrewed, you can then unscrew the closet flange from the black tank. It will be stiff, and require no small amount of persuasion, but it will unscrew. A hammer and flat punch on those flat tabs on the flange should get things moving.
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Actually I think Terry answered my question. The closet flange (black rubber ring) actually unscrews from the waste tank itself. Still I wonder how much rotational pressure the waste tank can withstand in this situation. This is the original flange as far as I can tell and so it's been hardening there for 32 years.
My guess is that Rick's suggestion to use a "airstream black hole wrench" is probably the best way to spread the pressure evenly around the flange.
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-24-2008, 09:27 AM
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#9
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4 Rivet Member
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 411
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The rubber part is just a gasket. The threaded portion is steel. I've removed a couple of these by making three hacksaw cuts equally spaced around the flange being very careful not to cut into the plastic threads of the tank, then breaking out the flange in three pieces. The steel gets so corroded that it simply will not unscrew from the tank. Replace this with an ABS floor flange and use some light grease on the threads when you install it both to seal the threads and to make it easier to remove IF there is a next time. Darol
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03-24-2008, 09:32 AM
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#10
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darol Ingalls
The rubber part is just a gasket. The threaded portion is steel. I've removed a couple of these by making three hacksaw cuts equally spaced around the flange being very careful not to cut into the plastic threads of the tank, then breaking out the flange in three pieces. The steel gets so corroded that it simply will not unscrew from the tank. Replace this with an ABS floor flange and use some light grease on the threads when you install it both to seal the threads and to make it easier to remove IF there is a next time. Darol
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So is the waste tank threaded with steel too? Which portion is steel: the flange or the tank neck or both? This would explain why its so stubborn. I definitely do not want to break the neck of the tank.
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-24-2008, 09:36 AM
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#11
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Darol Ingalls
The rubber part is just a gasket. The threaded portion is steel. I've removed a couple of these by making three hacksaw cuts equally spaced around the flange being very careful not to cut into the plastic threads of the tank, then breaking out the flange in three pieces. The steel gets so corroded that it simply will not unscrew from the tank. Replace this with an ABS floor flange and use some light grease on the threads when you install it both to seal the threads and to make it easier to remove IF there is a next time. Darol
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Darol, sorry I gotcha you. The tank thread are plastic.
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-24-2008, 09:44 AM
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#12
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Retired.
Currently Looking...
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Join Date: Jun 2003
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The tank threads and flange threads were plastic in all the ones I've changed. The part that screws to the floor will rotate independently if you try to use it to unscrew the flange.
__________________
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.
Terry
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03-24-2008, 09:53 AM
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#13
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Rivet Master
1975 Argosy 26
1963 24' Tradewind
Seattle
, Washington
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,341
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Hmmm - I'm confused by the above. My '75 black tank is the same.... I wacked and wacked on the black abs part, but with no movement ... and much fear that I'd crack the tank. The metal part just moves around the black "gasket" which is made from abs. I'm assuming that the black abs is stuck to the tank. If I cut the metal, how would I get a new flange around the black abs part -it's not flexible?
I think the older models did have a flexible gasket, but not the '70 models?
Marc
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03-24-2008, 10:40 AM
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#14
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3Ms75Argosy
Hmmm - I'm confused by the above. My '75 black tank is the same.... I wacked and wacked on the black abs part, but with no movement ... and much fear that I'd crack the tank. The metal part just moves around the black "gasket" which is made from abs. I'm assuming that the black abs is stuck to the tank. If I cut the metal, how would I get a new flange around the black abs part -it's not flexible?
I think the older models did have a flexible gasket, but not the '70 models?
Marc
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Marc, if I understand this correctly the some of these inner abs flanges have abs threads and some have metal threads. The outer metal flange seen in the photo isn't stuck but rotates free of the inner parts.
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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03-24-2008, 08:00 PM
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#15
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Rivet Master
1975 29' Ambassador
San Antonio
, Texas
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 517
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Hammer and center punch method
Success! I decided to try the hammer and center punch method before fabricating an airstream black hole wrench because I didn't have any angle iron lying around. The center punch method worked in this case. The black abs flange moved about an 1/8 inch with each tap of the hammer. So quite a few taps were require. Eventually the punch actually rounded out the taps in the flange. So I had to cut new tabs in the flange with a small hand saw. The black abs flange in this case had plastic threads.
__________________
Todd
“Complications arose, ensued, were overcome...savvy?”
- Captain Jack Sparrow
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06-10-2013, 06:41 PM
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#16
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New Member
1988 32' Excella
Church Point
, Louisiana
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 3
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I have a 1988 Excella. Does the flange screw into the black water tank on that model as well?
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