Any alternatives to standard plumbing vent?

[malconium]

After having resealed the plumbing vents on my 1973 and reflecting on the fact that I will have to do it again in perhaps a few years it occurred to me to wonder if there might not be a better solution out there. For one thing surely there must be some type of vent that has a lid on top of it rather than the vent being entirely open to the elements? It seems like with the right design and a lid that it should not be nessary to have a gasket that needs to be replaced from time to time.

So here is the question: Have any of you seen, or used an alternative approach for your plumbing roof vents?

Thanks,

Malcolm

[Happycampers]

Check Ventline web site..

[32spar]

We used an inline vent that vents into the wall or through it. It has a diaphragm that opens and closes as needed. So far it has been great. We purchased it at Home Depot and installed it with multi purpose pvc cement. Good Luck.

[boatdoc]

Originally Posted by malconium

After having resealed the plumbing vents on my 1973 and reflecting on the fact that I will have to do it again in perhaps a few years it occurred to me to wonder if there might not be a better solution out there. For one thing surely there must be some type of vent that has a lid on top of it rather than the vent being entirely open to the elements? It seems like with the right design and a lid that it should not be nessary to have a gasket that needs to be replaced from time to time.

So here is the question: Have any of you seen, or used an alternative approach for your plumbing roof vents?

Thanks,

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm; What I used is a product of Camco. It is a high impact plastic that is UV stabilized and fits 1 1/4 to 2 3/8 diameter pipe. Before installing it
I have placed SS screen inside attaching it with 3M 5200 adhesive. Same was used to seal it to the shell instead of putty tape that comes with it.
3M 5200 is a great product for sealing any problem spots. Thanks, "Boatdoc"

[Phil Gobie]

Our trailers are going into a holding tank and your house is going into a septic tank or sewer. In both you need at least one vent that is open to the atmosphere. The mechanical vents or air (admittance valves) made by different companies only let air into the system. These are there to prevent the trap from being siphoned or gurgling. The trap is there to prevent sewer gasses from coming inside. The vent open to the atmosphere allows for air displacement from the tank without this your system will bubble like trying to fill a bottle with a hose. Air admittance valves could be used to protect your trap seal in conjunction with a open vent but may not be necessary on such a small system. Phil

[SmokelessJoe]

Malcolm:


Vents made for the marine world are generally of much better design and quality. You can check nearby suppliers out there on the West Coast or go to the West Marine catalog for ideas.


Sergei

[Radman]

I have also been pondering this open to the world system. My 72 Overlander is gutted minus front end cap and floor. With that said, I thought upon reinstallation of vent pipes was to use something along the lines of the fridge vent cover only a smaller version. The rain water filling tanks inside doesn't appeal to me much. I found a little sparrow in my galley line. Poor guy. I am a couple months away from this part of the project. I would be most interested in exactly how you solve this funky design.

[malconium]

Originally Posted by boatdoc

Hi Malcolm; What I used is a product of Camco. It is a high impact plastic that is UV stabilized and fits 1 1/4 to 2 3/8 diameter pipe. Before installing it
I have placed SS screen inside attaching it with 3M 5200 adhesive. Same was used to seal it to the shell instead of putty tape that comes with it.
3M 5200 is a great product for sealing any problem spots. Thanks, "Boatdoc"

Is it the cyclone type with the small wind powered fan? That the only type I saw on the Camco site.

Malcolm

[boatdoc]

Originally Posted by malconium

Is it the cyclone type with the small wind powered fan? That the only type I saw on the Camco site.

Malcolm

Hi Malcolm; No it is not, it is a standard vent. I would have given you a Camco # but I have thrown away the packing. If you cannot find it Pm me and I will get you the #. Thanks, "Boatdoc"

[malconium]

There are a number of different types of shower drain pumps that are designed to pump drain water into the holding tank. Many of the ones that I have seen in the catalogs are set up to permit more than one source of input. If the shower, bathroom sink and kitchen sink were all connected to a shower pump wouldn't that mean that no plumbing vent would be needed for the drains themselves? It seems to me that only a vent for the holding tank would be needed.

Does anyone reading this have experience with shower drain pumps? How noisy are they? Is it true that no drain vent would be needed? Is it also true that no traps would be needed at the sinks?

What do you think?

Malcolm

[malconium]

Boatdoc,

I think I have found the type of vent you described from camco. I found it, of all places, on Amazon.com

Amazon.com: camco plumbing vent

The funny thing is that there seem to be several different prices for what apears to be the same product. At $5.40 even the most expensive version of it looks like a good deal. Does the attached photo look like what you have? It would be nice if it were available in silver or grey but I suppose it could be painted depending on the type of plastic. Did you leave yours white? Did you use the supplied screws or something else? Are they stainless?

I could not find where it says anything about the diameter of the base. It does look like it would be large ennough to cover an old style vent hole though.

Malcolm

[john hd]

malcolm

Is it true that no drain vent would be needed?

yes you will need some sort of vent. when you dump your tanks there needs to be a rather large vent because the air rushing in to replace the draining water would vaccum out all of your p traps.

those camco vents are just cheap plastic and would degrade faster than the factory aluminum and neoprene gasketed ones.

i would stick with the originals and just plan on doing maintinence on them every 5 years.

john

[malconium]

John,

Thanks for the feedback. I did not, however, mean no vent on the tank. I was just speculating if the drains from shower and the sinks themselves might not need a vent if they drained into a shower sump pump unit.

Thanks,

Malcolm