Overflowing Toilet

[ian_c]

This has been some trip! Tonight we're in Gallup and during dinner we hear a "thump" that sounds like it has come from outside. A visual check reveals nothing and I come back inside to my fork.
About this point, my wife who is sitting across from me, facing the bedroom, says "My God!" and races up the stairs to the toilet. Water is flowing down the stairs out of the bathroom. When I look, the toilet is full of water (clean) but pressing the foot pedal doesn't flush it away - it appears that the holding tank is full!
I race outside, turn off the water, and then use a pot to empty the water in the toilet down one of the sinks.
We've now tidied up but as we don''t have a waste connection here I'll have to wait until tomorrow to dump it.
(Fortunately we dumped yesterday and the waste tank got a good hosing out. There was nothing in it when we unhitched.)
So.. somehow water has got into the waste tank. No I did not connect the hose to the waste cleanout connection.
I have no idea how this could have happened and all suggestions are appreciated!
Many thanks!
Ian

[RJsfishin]

Maybe not relevant to the thread at hand, but there is definitely more to this story than was told. In reality, it is impossible to fill a house turlet to overflowing,.....unless of course the drain was completely clogged.

itguy08 wrote:

RJsfishin wrote:
I think most all RVs are plumbed same as houses anymore w/ pex and ABS.
But different situations for sure. Like the very common problem of a turlet valve leaking in a house doesn't fill and overflow into the house :).

Oh yes it does happen in the house too. Friends went out in the AM to work and came home to the hose flooded because the toilet valve was leaking and overflowed it all day. IIRC the damage was over $100k as it took out their kitchen, family room, and basement

[CJW8]

Here is one that got me some time back: Someone... took a shower and didn't turn the faucets off, they closed the valve on the shower head. I've never seen one of these that doesn't leak some. Over time, gray tank filled, tub filled and overflowed. There wasn't much overflow when I found it and no real damage. Another reason to turn pump odd when not in use.

[John_Wayne]

Last time I heard a thump the water line blow off the heater and wife came back from a walk to tell me water was running out the bay doors.

[itguy08]

RJsfishin wrote:
I think most all RVs are plumbed same as houses anymore w/ pex and ABS.
But different situations for sure. Like the very common problem of a turlet valve leaking in a house doesn't fill and overflow into the house :).

Oh yes it does happen in the house too. Friends went out in the AM to work and came home to the hose flooded because the toilet valve was leaking and overflowed it all day. IIRC the damage was over $100k as it took out their kitchen, family room, and basement

[RJsfishin]

I think most all RVs are plumbed same as houses anymore w/ pex and ABS.
But different situations for sure. Like the very common problem of a turlet valve leaking in a house doesn't fill and overflow into the house 🙂

Having said that, don't it seem like the RV turlet would have an overflow near the top to the outside ?? Of course not, the feds would never allow any chance for black to hit the ground,......grey either for that matter.

[ktmrfs]

RJsfishin wrote:
Using the FWT and pump isn't fool proof either if you don't turn the pump off when leaving the RV.True story,.......
I recall a couple years ago, a TT right next to me had water running out of it, and I could hear the water pump running. I went to the neighbor on the other side, asked if they knew these people,....answer was no, so then I tried the door, and to my surprise the door was not locked. Thinking someone mite be inside,... that something had happened to them,....left water overflowing somehow, I asked the neighbor if he would go in w/ me to check,.....to turn off the WP switch if nothing else, which we did. No one inside,.....very strange !
Later I found the owner, by himself, said he had done some plumming couple days before, wasn't very concerned about water damage,.....and never even say thanks for turning the switch off.
At least he didn't threaten to sue me for entering his RV w/o permission !:)

we make it a habit to turn off the water pump when we aren't around the trailer for any length of time. I've known to many fellow travelers that have had leaks in trailers. In the majority of the cases, they had small, but noticeable leaks, mostly when hooked to city water. (without a pressure regulator as well).

Expect TT plumbing to not be anywhere near as robust as stick house plumbing and a bit of caution can prevent a bad camping experience.

[RJsfishin]

Using the FWT and pump isn't fool proof either if you don't turn the pump off when leaving the RV.True story,.......
I recall a couple years ago, a TT right next to me had water running out of it, and I could hear the water pump running. I went to the neighbor on the other side, asked if they knew these people,....answer was no, so then I tried the door, and to my surprise the door was not locked. Thinking someone mite be inside,... that something had happened to them,....left water overflowing somehow, I asked the neighbor if he would go in w/ me to check,.....to turn off the WP switch if nothing else, which we did. No one inside,.....very strange !
Later I found the owner, by himself, said he had done some plumming couple days before, wasn't very concerned about water damage,.....and never even say thanks for turning the switch off.
At least he didn't threaten to sue me for entering his RV w/o permission !:)

[ian_c]

Thanks to all of you who contributed you ideas! Such a simple thing but it hasn't happened before.
Yes, the toilet didn't close fully. It left a tiny slit open, the water continued to trickle in and you know the rest.
Many thanks!
Ian

[ian_c]

Thanks to all of you who contributed you ideas! Such a simple thing but it hasn't happened before.
Yes, the toilet didn't close fully. It left a tiny slit open, the water continued to trickle in and you know the rest.
Many thanks!
Ian

[WILDEBILL308]

ian.c wrote:
This has been some trip! Tonight we're in Gallup and during dinner we hear a "thump" that sounds like it has come from outside. A visual check reveals nothing and I come back inside to my fork.
About this point, my wife who is sitting across from me, facing the bedroom, says "My God!" and races up the stairs to the toilet. Water is flowing down the stairs out of the bathroom. When I look, the toilet is full of water (clean) but pressing the foot pedal doesn't flush it away - it appears that the holding tank is full!
I race outside, turn off the water, and then use a pot to empty the water in the toilet down one of the sinks.
We've now tidied up but as we don''t have a waste connection here I'll have to wait until tomorrow to dump it.
(Fortunately we dumped yesterday and the waste tank got a good hosing out. There was nothing in it when we unhitched.)
So.. somehow water has got into the waste tank. No I did not connect the hose to the waste cleanout connection.
I have no idea how this could have happened and all suggestions are appreciated!
Many thanks!
Ian

Well I can sympathize with you I had the same thing happen to me last summer. My problem was the fill valve on the side of the toilet had started leaking(bad internal seal) Mine is on the peddle side and has a small plastic shroud/cover over it. It is a simple job as there are only two screws holding it on and two hose clamps. One of the few times the seal in the bottom of the toilet actually worked as it didn't fill up the holding tank just ran all over the floor.
This is what my valve looked like.
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/sealand-toilet-water-valve-kit/16453
Bill

[TenOC]

imgoin4it wrote:
Same thing happened to us when the water valve to the commode leaked and flooded our bath room area

I had the valve stick open. I was in luck that at the time I was not on city water but was using the holding tank. Heard the pump continue to run as I was leaving the bathroom. Disassembled the valve -- added some grease. All has worked OK for 2 years. . . :). I added a shut off valve to the toilet line in case it should happen while on city water.

[imgoin4it]

Same thing happened to us when the water valve to the commode leaked and flooded our bath room area while we were in the coach watching TV. We now have a battery powered water dog water alarm in bath area. Available at most ACE hardware stores for about $15.00.

[ktmrfs]

Harvard wrote:

RJsfishin wrote:
Wish I could help, and I can help so it never happens again.
I wouldn't be caught dead w/ city water pressure hooked to my RV !
Oh.....that wonderful sound of that noisy water pump,...I love it !:)

X2

A great leak detection system.

me also. by the time you hookup a pressure regulator, remember to turn off the water when you leave, realize with city water you usually use more woater with higher flow rates, run the risk of overflow from an infinite water source, may as well just fill the regular tank as needed.

In our case a full water tank lasts 3-4 days with DW and I, two grandkids. longer with DW and I.

and as mentioned, if pump cycles or turns on when I don't expect it = leak somewhere.

[Harvard]

RJsfishin wrote:
Wish I could help, and I can help so it never happens again.
I wouldn't be caught dead w/ city water pressure hooked to my RV !
Oh.....that wonderful sound of that noisy water pump,...I love it !:)

X2

A great leak detection system.