Flood

[K&Gs3400RL]

Well The toilet got us, I was the last one to use the rest room Monday night before we went out to eat. Back up a few months and we have been having problems once in a while with the valve not shutting all the way, and the water not shutting off unless you lifted the pedal from the bottom with your foot. I thought I had it fixed, But apparently not. Back to monday now as we get out of the car and head to the 5er. I say O'sheet I look and see and hear water poring out from under the trailer it's coming out of every crack it can. The Bed room rug is soaking wet there is a 1/2" of water in the Basement And as were cleaning up I have everything removed and take the Basement wall off cause its wet up about 4 to 5 inches I look between the Black and grey tank and see at least 3 to 4 inches in still in the Belly. I undo a bunch of screws holding up the cover and the water comes gushing out. Im now laying on the ground soaking wet. Well its now Thursday and we just about have it all dried out except the Area right under the entry way and where the stairs go up to the bed room. I had to cut a hole in the insulation on the bottom side of it. Got some water to come out but now just the insulation is soaking wet. I have a fan pointing in the hole I made but not sure its going to do any good. Its day 1 of that. Hope it works.
Have an appointment to go in Tuesday to the dealer.

[DQDick]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, that's one bad story.

[NCFischers]

I've been trying to get into the habit of shutting off the water to the trailer when we go out. I don't always remember. I'm going to try harder.

[bigmurf]

Another reason we always run off the pump. Got in the habit of turning the switch as we leave.

[Bill and Lisa]

Sorry for your troubles. Hope that your recovery actions are sucessful.

[Jay Bird]

As with Jim Fischer I try to remember to turn off the water when leaving the camper for some time. Hope your efforts pays off.

[mainer]

Oh my goodness, so sorry to hear that!!! We have never thought of turning our water off when gone, but thanks to your post we will.

[1retired06]

We got into the habit of shutting the water off because we are on a well at home, and just hit the pump switch. That insulation that got soaked may well have to be pulled out and replaced.

[drsmart]

Sorry to hear about your situation. We had a Thetford Aqua Magic II in our 2011Montana and the side flush pedal fell off. The valves stayed open as you describe and I had to close them by hand. The pedal was unusable and we had to replace the toilet after only 18 months in service. I emailed Thetford twice and got no reply. I then emailed Keystone and received a courtesy reply within 24 hours. I was aware that the warranty was only one year but wanted to let Keystone know that this unit may have a high failure rate based on the design and having spoken to two other RVers where we were staying that had similar problems. This morning after reading about your problem, I thought there should be a prestigious "Marathon Award" for RV products that qualify :-)

I hope the dealer takes care of you.

Dave

[CamillaMichael]

Wish you the best of luck in getting this matter taken care of...we had a similar problem (caught it before too much water spiller over) last fall...not fun. Again, hope you get it taken care of.

[oldelmer1]

I left the flusher going for a few hours with the black tank valve closed and us gone. Someone turned the water off for me, but the damage was done, the black tank split open on top. After we got home, I polled the underbelly off and removed the tank and it was very easy to repair. Thanks to OZZ for the ABS patch kit, we are all back together and good to go.

The insulation under there is the Reflectix bubble wrap stuff. I just sprayed it all down with Clorox, let it dry and it was good to go.

I called a dealer in Delaware and he said it would cost anywhere from $800 - $1000 to replace it. I fixed it for $45 for the repair kit and $12 for the rubber couplings.

I have a post with pictures if you want to look at the repair.

Here is the link with pictures.

http://www.montanaowners.com/forums/...ad.php?t=49055

[seahunter]

We are so sorry George and Karin. Hope that once you get it dried out it won't be too bad a fix. Good Luck.

[K&Gs3400RL]

Thanks everyone, I will let you know what happens. Ya we have never thought about turning off the water when we leave. Im just glad this did not happen in the winter. I have posted a picture of the area I cut open under the entry way where the steps lead to the bedroom. This is the area I am most worried about, because its the fiberglass insulation with the black plastic backing put under the living area from the steps to the rear of the trailer. Hopefully it was just the first section affected. As you can see I have a hole cut out and let the water drain out, but its still soaking wet. I have a fan directed up in the hole with a dryer vent hose for the past 2 days, and I just put a dehumidifier in the basement will see if it helps. Full timing in this makes it hard to have work done. Have no idea what we will do if they have to keep it ???????

[kab449]

George
What model and make was your toilet?

Thanks for the post as I used to turn off the water when I left, but of course after years of coming back to no problems I concluded this was one of the anal things I do and stopped.

I will start again.

[grampachet]

Following is a post from Sept 09. Update may 2012, everything is working without any problems.

I finally fixed mine. I tried Pam, Silicone rubber slide lube and the snapping it closed. The snapping it closed was not well accepted during the "wee" hours of the morning!" I totally disassembled the whole unit and found that the black shaft on pedal side of the unit (the shaft that is connected to the half round valve that closes the big hole) was over-sized. This shaft was such a tight fit and was binding and not allowing the valve to close unless it was snapped closed. After much cleaning I removed the two "O" rings and put the shaft in my drill and with a fine sand paper sanded the shaft to a smaller size. I lubed it liberally with Vaseline and now it works so very smooth and no leaks. DW is much happier and sleeps better too.

This was posted in Sept 09 under "Toilet stopper not stopping" along with many other solutions to the problem.

[K&Gs3400RL]

quote:Originally posted by kab449

George
What model and make was your toilet?

Its a Thetford Model #42072 Style ll

[bighornram]

Great timing for this flood thread. Last week after a great stay by Zion NP I dumped the black tank and ran the flusher. Seemed to be ok though didn't seem to push much out of the dumper. Didn't think that much of it as I could hear it running and had some clear water draining out the sewer line. After packing all the hoses up etc. final vehicle inspection revealed water dripping from the underbelly edges along the frame. Then I noticed the underbelly sagging in the center. Seemed to have some water in it. I pulled the rig out of the slot and out came all the water! Quite a lot of it.
Video and Photos link ==> .
Move ahead, now I'm back home, I opened up the utility panel cover and hooked up the flush hose. Turned it on a short time and saw literally "ONE" DROP of water come down the line from where the valve is behind the shower. I suspected that was the culprit. Any water is not right but one drop would not fill up the underbelly. So looking with a flashlight I don't' see any sign of water behind the utility panel or looking towards the back behind the utility panel. I am still under warranty and am awaiting a replacement microwave and ceiling fan to come in for replacement. This trailer has sure had more than it's fair share of problems...sigh.

[K&Gs3400RL]

Hope you get yours figured out where it came from. I didn't think to take pictures or video wish I would have. My biggest concern is the insulation under the main floor, I know the first section is damaged I just dont know how far the water went back. : (

Ya ours looked just like that in the video.

[steelpony5555]

I just got done fixing my toilet. I was having trouble with mine not shutting the whole way and the water not staying in the bowl. Well there is a spring pack between the pedal and the toilet. On mine the spring had sprung a little sideways and would not allow the ball to close the whole way. Now, there are 2 screws that hold the thing together so I figure ok I can put it all back the way it should be.....well not gonna happen. I wrestled with it for a day till I called the RV dealer and he laughs and says you'll never get it back together. A new part is only $20, would'a saved me a lot of aggravation and cursing if I had called earlier. Toilet works great now.

[seahunter]

quote:Originally posted by bighornram

Great timing for this flood thread. Last week after a great stay by Zion NP I dumped the black tank and ran the flusher. Seemed to be ok though didn't seem to push much out of the dumper. Didn't think that much of it as I could hear it running and had some clear water draining out the sewer line. After packing all the hoses up etc. final vehicle inspection revealed water dripping from the underbelly edges along the frame. Then I noticed the underbelly sagging in the center. Seemed to have some water in it. I pulled the rig out of the slot and out came all the water! Quite a lot of it.

Move ahead, now I'm back home, I opened up the utility panel cover and hooked up the flush hose. Turned it on a short time and saw literally "ONE" DROP of water come down the line from where the valve is behind the shower. I suspected that was the culprit. Any water is not right but one drop would not fill up the underbelly. So looking with a flashlight I don't' see any sign of water behind the utility panel or looking towards the back behind the utility panel. I am still under warranty and am awaiting a replacement microwave and ceiling fan to come in for replacement. This trailer has sure had more than it's fair share of problems...sigh.

bighornram, really sorry about your water issue too. Water leaks/malfunctions on the trailers is a huge fear of mine as we have had two floods in our stick house with fairly major damage. And with the trailers it can be so difficult to find and fix some of these water problems. I hope it works out as well as it can for you.

Greg