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Old 03-23-2008, 07:08 PM   #1
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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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Old 03-23-2008, 07:23 PM   #2
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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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Old 03-23-2008, 07:32 PM   #3
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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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Old 03-23-2008, 08:35 PM   #4
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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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Old 03-23-2008, 09:30 PM   #5
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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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Old 03-23-2008, 11:31 PM   #6
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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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Old 03-24-2008, 09:17 AM   #7
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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?
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?
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:27 AM   #8
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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.
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.
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:27 AM   #9
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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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Old 03-24-2008, 09:32 AM   #10
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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
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.
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:36 AM   #11
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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
Darol, sorry I gotcha you. The tank thread are plastic.
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:44 AM   #12
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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.
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Old 03-24-2008, 09:53 AM   #13
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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?
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Old 03-24-2008, 10:40 AM   #14
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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
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.
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Old 03-24-2008, 08:00 PM   #15
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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.
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Old 06-10-2013, 06:41 PM   #16
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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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