Flood!

[GCAKIA]

My wife woke me up this morning @ 2AM to get help with an overflowing toilet.

Apparently she had gone to the bathroom at midnight (#1) and flushed as usual. She got up again at 2PM to go again and the toilet was overflowing. It was overflowing slowly, but had apparently begun when she used the toilet at midnight. The overflowing water seemed to be crystal clear and had no odor. The water covered quite a bit of the bedroom and had leaked through to the storage compartment and the concrete below.

The black water tank was less than half full and didn't seem to be the problem. I stepped on the flush mechanism and the water was gone, overflowing stopped. Since then, we have used the toilet several times with no problems and have still not reached the half way full mark on the black tank.

As you can imagine I have a few questions:

1. Any idea what could have caused this? My best guess is that somehow the flush water (clean) continued to flow after my wife flushed at midnight, yet the flush valve at the bottom of the toilet stayed shut.
2. We've gotten up the water as best we can. Is there anything more we can/should do to address the moisture in the floor and carpet? fans? baking soda? Since the water was clean I don't believe there was any waste that went into the carpet, etc.
3. Any suggestions on preventative steps we can take to avoid this in the future. In the near term, the only thing I could think of was to wait after flushing to ensure the water stops flowing before departure.

Two months in a new Redwood (36FB) and this is our first significant problem.

[gfshaffer]

We had the same problem and discoveed it was a water valveproblem problem, that Stefford stood behind. Until we had it fixed, we jut always did a visual check after flusing to make sure the water stopped flowing into the toilet.

[csg11]

Borrow or rent a dehumidifier. Run it for at least 24 hours. It will pull (wick) the moisture from under the walls. Trust me, I have done this twice, long and embarrassing stories.

Gary

[AE New Holland]

We had similar issue but I cought it befor overflow. The rubber seal was dry and did not allow the ball valve in the toilet close completely(enough to close the drain but not enough to stop the water. I now occasionally drip 1 or 2 drips of vegitable oil on the ball valve to lubricate- no more problenms.

[Amishco]

Great information to know in advance, thanks RW forum members

[Happy Camper]

Ours would either seep water or not hold water after flushing. Explorer in Ft Worth put in a new seal and hooked it up backwards without testing it. Imaginine the surprise we got when we got to the campground in Grand Prarie. Explorer admitted they hooked it up backwards but would not come out to fix. We had to take it back to them for another 1/2 day in the shop and still same issue. Sunbelt RV in Belton tried to fix it with another new seal - same leaking issue. They finally replaced the toilet (white instead of bone) but no more leak issue. Sunbelt played the he said/she said game and bottom line we have a bight white instead of bone toilet but it works. FYI, if they replace your toilet make sure they order the right color.

[mhs4771]

Not sure, but think Thetford had an issue with some valves. There have been several reports on the Montana Forum of folks having the same problem. Some have also thought if the water pressure is on the low side it seems to make it worse.

[Dave&Ginny]

Thanks for pointing this out to the rest of us.

[GCAKIA]

Thanks for the valuable feedback. We soppd up most of the water the night it occurred. Bought a de-humidifer and ran it all night last night (will run it again till moisture gone). Also called the dealer and will turn in a waaranty claim. The claim is more of a precaution at this point. They wanted pictures of the damage but there is none,...so far. Things may begin to show problems in a few weeks or month like warping, peeling, etc. We'll also supply details to the dealer about the toilet mainufacurer and model if there is one. They plan to check to see if there are any known problems that should be addressed with the toilet or flushing mechanism.







Appreciate everyone's suggestions.

[jlandon13399]

Gary,

Even though you do not have pictures at this time you did right by informing the dealer. You might also consider copying Redwood directly with the problem so they have it in their system. At the price of these units we should not have to worry about water shutting off when flushing the toilet.

[Retired educators]

Had same problem, toilet would seep water all the time. When I took my Redwood back to factory they replaced the toilet.

[BradPAjax]

All,

An inexpensive and useful tool for nasty stuff like this is a wet/dry vac. Home Depot and others have small ones that will suck up most the water if something like this ever happens again. Used one in my sail boat 2 summers ago to cleanup after a thru hull leak. Now plan to have on hand in the trailer for cleaning the floor of my truck which collects all manner of sand and other flotsum and jetsum...

[GCAKIA]

Jlandon, I was thinking the same thing! With the money they get for these RV's, you "assume" the basic, simple components will work when they are used. Indoor toilets have been around for a while and as noted by another poster, Thetford (verified this is the toilet we have) has known about the problem. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that the dealer (Exploere of FW, Texas) also knew of the problem whenthe unit was sold to us.



Maybe it's becasue we're newbies, but I would have never thought to stop after flushing to ensure the valve works and the water stops flowing. This has re-enforced for my wife and I that we can't assume anything will work the way it is supposed to. With the exception of the mortgage billing process (ha)!

[RollsRoyce]

Retired educators

Did they replace your toilet with same brand and model?

[Retired educators]

Same brand, theft ford, but a different model.

[Hart116]

This just happened to us this morning. Water had been running for probably an hour. We have a 36 FB and the toilet is over the water heater and furnace. It shorted out the circuit board in the furnace. Had about 2 inches of water in the basement. Need to keep an eye on it...

[Sailorman]

I have had the same problem twice but have been fortunate enough to see the water rising in the toilet before it was able to overflow. Everyone needs to double check to make sure the water has stopped flowing into the toilet before they leave it, that is until they get the toilet repaired or replaced.

[DonMac]

Water..Due to the information posted on the toilet problem I have purchased three water alarms. They set on the floor and activate like a smoke alarm when water touches the metal connections. I found them on Amazon for about $30. Placed one by the toilet,one by the washer and one behind wall in the cargo area. No problems with toilet so far.

[Dave&Ginny]

Originally Posted by DonMac

Water..Due to the information posted on the toilet problem I have purchased three water alarms. They set on the floor and activate like a smoke alarm when water touches the metal connections. I found them on Amazon for about $30. Placed one by the toilet,one by the washer and one behind wall in the cargo area. No problems with toilet so far.

That's a good idea

[Retired educators]

We haven't had anymore problems since toilet was replaced. Like idea of placing alarm near washer and the underbelly.