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  1. #1
    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    Toilet Mounting Flange Cracks Sewer Pipe Leak

    I was inspecting our basement area before our first outing to ensure of no water leaks, plumbing issues, loose cable connections, etc. I saw that the sewer pipe from the toilet to the tank seemed to have some bluish/gray stain streaks at the upper end close to the floor. When looking at the floor I did not see any obvious major leaking or staining anywhere. Good news.......an apparently small leak but the bad news a darn leak !

    After running some water in the toilet and crawling in and our of the basement a few times I could see a slight wet area and then a drip a couple times a minute but could not determine the exact area other than being close to or right at the area where the pipe comes through the floor. I then decided to remove the toilet (easy to do and takes just a few minutes) by removing the mounting bolt caps, unscrewing the nuts and unscrewing (by hand) the water supply line at the rear of the toilet. Ensure to first open the water lines to remove pressure and water volume. Place a bath towel on the floor when removing the water line to absorb the remaining water.

    The attached pictures show what I then saw on the toilet flange. The flange was cracked due to a combination of excess pressure and misalignment on some/all of the 6 large screws used to fasten the flange to the floor when our 303 was built and/or some stresses of movement on when using the toilet over time. These small cracks resulted in slight seepage on the outside of the gasket and thus running down the sewer pipe in the basement.

    Well now the easy fix to simply unscrew the flange and replace with a new one is not so easy. The factory plumbing experts decided to use some sort of adhesive to the threads at assembly.......oh crap, now what ! I did not want to cut the sewer pipe and patch since we were heading out in a couple days. So here comes using for my first time, Flex Seal to the rescue.

    After setting up for two days; installing a new gasket; and reinstalling the toilet all dry after testing and four days of use. Hopefully this will the be the case long term too.

    I also installed a screw with two washers (had to grind the washers) to fit in the 1/4" or so flange gap area to help better secure and re-enforce the toilet mounting bolts on the flange on the floor. There are other options to consider but doing something to help strengthen the area where the two toilet mounting bolts are located in the flange is a good thing to consider for this less than robust design not to mention factory less than loving care at build.

    And yes, Carol was not too excited about doing double duty, showering and using the toilet at the same time in the new location !
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    Dan
    Last edited by Canyonlight; 06-19-2019 at 08:20 AM.
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

  2. #2
    Site Team WhittleBurner's Avatar
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    Dan as I was reading this I started thinking about using a sealer as opposed to taking it all apart. Flex seal may be the right call here. Keep an eye on it and hope for the best.

    But just because you can close the shower door you're not going to get any more privacy in there
    Marcy & Gary
    2014 Grand Design - Reflection 303RLS
    2022 GMC 3500 Denali Duramax Longbed SRW
    2015 GMC Denali 3500 - Retired
    2003 F350 - retired
    Michigan
    We're in trouble now, the dog are bloggin'!
    https://3dogsandatrailer.wordpress.com/


  3. #3
    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WhittleBurner View Post
    Dan as I was reading this I started thinking about using a sealer as opposed to taking it all apart. Flex seal may be the right call here. Keep an eye on it and hope for the best.

    But just because you can close the shower door you're not going to get any more privacy in there
    Yes, Marcy - I think with the addition of the reinforcement of the two mounting bolts at the flange area, we s/b gtg.

    I should add that I did force open the cracked areas a bit to squeeze in the Flex seal so it was not just on the surface of the flange. After drying for two days I also painted the white Flex Seal with black paint as you can do so as noted on the Flex Seal. I also added black duck tape over the repaired cracked area in three separate overlapping pieces starting down the pipe and working my way back to the curved gasket seating area and then to the surface of the flange.

    If all this does not hold up.....Carol will learn to work the dual function tasking I am sure !

    Dan
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

  4. #4
    Seasoned Camper Joscelyne3's Avatar
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    Hi Dan.
    I suffered catastrophic flange failure. We noticed because the tolet would rock and almost felt like it was coming off the floor with when you stood up. Grand Design tect Mike checked it out for me at Tennessee rally, confirmed it was broken flange, said could get metal repair flange at big box store. Remove tolet and the black flange was in 5 or 6 pieces , the metal repair flange would not help. Box stores didn't carry the black ABS parts ,went to local RV parts store they had the ABS. Needed to get into basement and cut it free at the lower 45 and replace section of pipe and 2 45 elbows. Need to make sure to use the correct glue. ABS pipe do not require the purple primer.
    Hope this may help anyone else who might in counter this issue.
    John Joscelyne
    John & Carol Joscelyne and Hexy
    Red 2014 Ford F-350 Platinum, SRW, CC, Short bed with roll-N-lock cover.
    With replacement 50 gallon TransferFlow fuel tank, Magnaflow air intake, Edge CT turner.
    Pullrite superglide fifth wheel hitch.
    2015 Grand Design 305RE Solitude, with slide out toppers, <new>Titan disc brakes and Goodyear "G" rated tires.
    From: Hatboro, Pa

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