Water Hammer in toilet on 3400RL - Montana Owners Club

rickety · 06-04-2007, 05:07 AM

The DW and I had noticed when using the toilet that when we flushed there was a very loud thump when the water shut off on our Sealand Toilet in the 3400RL. I called Sealand/Dometic and they were very nice. I talked with a man there and after a few minutes we determined that the problem was Water Hammer in the line. He suggested a hammer reducer or a pressure vessel to maintain constant pressure.
I opened the basement to determine where to put the hammer arrestor, and after looking at the piping had a thought. I grabbed hold of the pipe and asked my wife to flush the toilet. NO HAMMER!!!
The pipe as it comes out near the floor of the basement turns 90 degrees up, and then at the top of the basement turns 90 degrees to the passenger side of the basement and then "Tees" into the the line to the toilet and to the cold water of the vanity sink. None of the lines are supported before the "TEE". I insulated the line with black foam pipe insulation, and using 2 inch plastic electrical surface clamps attached the pipes to the wall of the basement in 2 spots. Voila'! nice quite flushing now and its great!

Just thought I'd pass this on in case any of you have the same problem.
Rick

sreigle · 06-04-2007, 07:37 AM

Rick, how "loud" was that thump? Ours has had a thump since new but I thought it a characteristic of the toilet. Ours is when you release the pedal and it closes the slide. Is this when you heard the thump? Thanks.

rickety · 06-04-2007, 11:52 AM

That's it Steve! look insdie the b asement on the passenger side and you'll see that the watere lines are unsupported. grab hold and have the wife flush it ask her if the nosie subsides. My wife was ecstatic, "NO MORE THUMPS!!!"
Hope this helps
rick

5rvers · 06-04-2007, 12:05 PM

rickety,

You da man! I like Steve thought it was a characteristic of the toilet. Thanks for the great info!

Lou

sreigle · 06-04-2007, 12:56 PM

Rick, that's it! I just held the lines while Vicki flushed and that stopped the noise. I could both feel the movement in the lines and see them move. Unfortunately the basement is so packed with everything out of the old truck and it's raining too much for me to empty it out now. But I'll get those lines locked up out of the way and tied down soon as I can. Thanks for a great tip.

Imp · 06-04-2007, 08:00 PM

WOW, we thought it was just normal, but such a nuisance when someone is sleeping!! Thanks for the tip.

sreigle · 06-05-2007, 07:39 AM

Another toilet thing... ours has a habit of water seeping out of the bowl, leaving it dry. Not every time but enough to make us wonder. I tried cleaning the groove with a coat hanger, twice. Vicki tried the vaseline tip. No change. I just called SeaLand at 800.321.9886. It turns out a few of our model got out of the factory with a bad spring pack. They are sending us the correct materials and I'll install them. They also said since we're under warranty we could take it to an authorized repair facility if we'd prefer. So, anyone having this problem might want to give them a call. The model of our SeaLand is 8C-210. It was the 210 series with the problem, but only a portion of that model has the problem.

Mudchief · 06-05-2007, 08:08 AM

Rick, that was a great find. I fixed ours today.

Chuck and Carol · 06-05-2007, 09:04 AM

Ours has an even different problem. We flush, it empties, fills, leaks out and more water comes in. Over and over. OK when on a full service site. But Chuck would be very busy if we weren't. Fills the black tank overnight.

Being fixed on the 27th.

Carol

05WAF350 · 06-05-2007, 03:24 PM

After we purchase and brought the 3400RL unit home we opened the area and rerouted several water pipes and the heater lines and then provided support where necessary. It sure was a jungle the way they inter-wove all the water and heater lines. As a retired marine pipefitter I was always looking to make each job pleasing to the eye for our cutomer, US GOV. Not the kind of work I found behind the wall in the basement.

Cat320 · 06-06-2007, 03:00 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

Another toilet thing... ours has a habit of water seeping out of the bowl, leaving it dry. Not every time but enough to make us wonder. I tried cleaning the groove with a coat hanger, twice. Vicki tried the vaseline tip. No change. I just called SeaLand at 800.321.9886. It turns out a few of our model got out of the factory with a bad spring pack. They are sending us the correct materials and I'll install them. They also said since we're under warranty we could take it to an authorized repair facility if we'd prefer. So, anyone having this problem might want to give them a call. The model of our SeaLand is 8C-210. It was the 210 series with the problem, but only a portion of that model has the problem.

We had the same problem and got the same kit...easy to install. However, the leak was fixed by the new washer and assembly, not the spring. In fact, I did not even put it on...I'm saving it for when I really need it.

sreigle · 06-06-2007, 04:30 PM

No problem, Cat320, with removing and replacing parts without removing the toilet from its base?

Cat320 · 06-08-2007, 10:22 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by sreigle

No problem, Cat320, with removing and replacing parts without removing the toilet from its base?

I don't have all my paper work handy, but seems that you have to remove the toilet from the base, but the toilet just sits on the base and is not a problem...no mess. There should be some instructions with the Bowl Seal Kit.

On edit...the silver band holds it all together.

sreigle · 06-08-2007, 01:18 PM

OK, thanks. I removed/replaced the toilet in our prior Montana so not a big deal. I was hoping to avoid the foul odors, although cardboard over the opening helps once you get that far.

Rainbirds · 09-10-2007, 08:02 AM

This is the only topic I have found so far discussing toilet problems.
Hope it isn't too old to find someone with some advice,

We have lost the water pressure when we flush our toilet. The result is the same whether we are conntected to an outside faucet, (with or without a pressure reducer), or when using the pump from our fresh water tank.

I suspect there is something blocking the line. Possible left over junk from the original installation or something that got past our water filter. (Not Likely).

Any Ideas?

The Rainbirds - Still on our migration between Grandkids

OntMont · 09-10-2007, 08:36 AM

We have had the thump. Dometic/Sealand told us that the toilets are only designed for 40psi water pressure. We put on a regulator, and true enough, that did stop the thump. Nevertheless, I'll check out the plumbing again, but I think ours is a bit different, at least it did not seem to be the cause of the noise the last time I checked on it. We also part of the "few" units that leaked water out of the bowl. Replacing the seal did seem to fix that.

You may also like: