What Happened? - Awful Toilet Leak

[Utahgoldrup]

We just got home from camping and had an awful leak from the toilet somewhere and I am wondering if anyone else has had something similar happen? We noticed yesterday that the bathroom floor going out into the galley/hall was wet!! We noticed that whenever we flushed the toilet, water (sewage) was leaking underneath the trailer too. We just had the whole trailer carpeted and a new toilet put in and had not used it until this weekend, this is very sad, not to mention, gross!!

I pulled the carpet back from the bathroom floor and pulled it up from in front of the toilet and found that the floor was all wet but that it wasn't wet underneath the box/platform that the toilet sits on, just down on the floor and going out into the hallway. I have attached a picture that shows some dark areas where we could see and feel it leaking through. I drove into town and bought carpet cleaner (compact) and cleaned the bathroom floor and hallway but when we got home decided to pull the carpet up, I tore out the padding underneath and hope it will start to dry out, I am going to take it to the dealer that put the toilet in but I can't figure out where the leak came from.

One thing I want to mention because I don't know if it would make a difference or not but I have the sewer vents covered with duct tape up on top of the roof as I need to change the gaskets and did not want rain to leak down in and casue problems, I forgot the duct tape was up there covering the vent openings, could that have caused the toilet to not drain properly?? All I know is this is a big mess and hope to have the dealer look at it as soon as possible and then have the carpet and pad replaced.

If anyone has had a problem like this or might know where the leak came from, please respond. The top of the platform/box was never wet and like I mentioned already, it wasn't wet going down in front of the toilet down to the floor.....

[darlingbooks]

Having the vent covered may have contributed to the backup and eventual leaking of water at the toilet. Our toilet drains directly into the top of our black water tank, and I think that if our vent was plugged, that it may not drain properly. The vents are necessary for the drain system to work properly, and drain in a timely fashion and not back up and bubble and gurgle on its way into the holding tank. Your RV dealer will let you know if the problem is the blocked vent or if the toilet has a problem.

Steve

[trucker101]

Think of it this way. Put a straw in a glass of water,plug the top of the straw with your finger,take the straw out of the water,remove finger.With the vents plugged off,the toilet is the straw.

[66Overlander]

With the vents covered, I wouldn't think there'd be any problem flushing the toilet, as the toilet opening should allow for air "exchange", but a plugged vent would be a problem when emptying the tank. I might guess that it could result in a collapsed/cracked tank.

Two other things to consider:
1. Was a new gasket (the donut that seals the toilet to the closet flange on the floor) used when the toilet was reinstalled? It's best to not reuse an old one.

2. Could the carpet installer have used any long nails or screws that penetrated thru the carpet and floor boards into the top of the tank?

[thecatsandi]

You need a new gasket between the toilet and the flange. If you toilet comes apart (mine does) you may need one there too.

[Utahgoldrup]

I am not sure if a new gasket was used when the toilet was installed as we had a local RV dealer install it... somthing to consider but the carpet around the base of the toilet was not wet, I am not sure where everything leaked out.

I don't think long nails were used when the carpet was installed, I pulled the carpet up and there were staples, the tack strip could have had longer nails but I haven't pulled it up to check, good idea.

Come to think of it, when I tried hooking up the outside water to the sani-flush valve (to rinse out the black water tank), I turned the water on and the water wouldn't run in, it backed up and that must be because I had the sewer vent pipe covered on top.

I guess I will take the trailer in to see where the leak occurred even if it was caused by having the vent pipe taped over, there could still be a leak somewhere that it shouldn't be coming out...