Bathroom Explosion!!!

[Roll With The Changes]

Add me to the wall of shame... We had to move the 5th wheel to do some work on the site so close everything up and pull out, do the work and pulling back in. Easy peasy right?

The work took longer than expected and apparently I was getting tired. I couldn't back the thing up to save my life. It took forever to get parked again.... Hook the sewer hose, electrical and water back up just like I've done a thousand times. I went off to do something else and a little while later, DW comes out screaming. "Something didn't sound right so I stepped on the toilet pedal and I got a face full of...!!!

Some of you already know what I did, but for those still wondering, I connected the water hose to the tank flush instead of the city water connection. Amazingly, DW caught it just in the nick of time. Other than the initial explosion (which was mostly air), there was no leak or spill whatsoever.

After cleaning everything up and using all the hot water in the shower, my amazing wife had a few words for me that I shall not repeat here. I deserved every bit of it. ?

The moral of the story:
We all get overconfident (I prefer the word Cocky, but...). We're pretty careful of distractions and we check and double check when we hook and unhook the truck and other critical tasks, but it can also be the mundane tasks that hurt pretty bad when we screw them up.

All ended well, but it got my attention for sure.

 

[WhittleBurner]

Sadly, we know just what you went through. Circumstance was a bit different and it was not directly self inflicted. But the end results we just as tty, if not a bit more because we were parked longer.
Certainly not a fun clean up but our bathroom was as clean as the day we got the trailer by the time we were done. Sounds like we both learned lessons from explosive events like this.

 

[jmbopp]

I'd be checking the roof vent, there should not have been a pressure buildup in the tank.

 

[mkevinmarshsr]

WOW, Thanks for the warning. Good on your wife being a real trooper at that moment, and sorry to hear you'll never kiss her again. LOL

 

[Steven@147]

We have all been there. I did something stupid when servicing our thetford toilet. The foot pedal was a little sticky so I took the foot pedal off and was using some plumbers grease on the ball valve arm and the water valve. When putting the foot pedal back on I got the ball valve drive arm out of position and the first use snapped off the peg on the drive arm. The ball valve will not open or close. The water valve is pretty much available but the ball valve drive arm is just about unobtainable, online or at any RV parts store. Wife was not happy we couldn't use the toilet until fixed.

I couldn't believe my luck when I found one in stock at Camping World San Antonio, after a long drive and $15, I had the toilet fixed. Wife was happy!

 

[jkwilson]

I'd be checking the roof vent, there should not have been a pressure buildup in the tank.

You could get a few pounds of pressure with just water in the tank due to the height of the vent pipe. Any solids in the tank are likely to block the vent as the water rises though and then things get sketchy.

 

[uwskier]

I thought this was going to be a Taco Bell thread from the title.

Thanks for the warning. This newbie needs all the stories like this he can read.

 

[Ynot4me2]

There's some lessons that we will remember for ever. This one I think will be one of them for you. Lol glad it all worked out in the end.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

 

[Roll With The Changes]

I'd be checking the roof vent, there should not have been a pressure buildup in the tank.

I thought about that too, but I've checked it before and all was well. Just for fun I looked up a water pressure table and it turns out that the top of the vent pipe 8ft above the toilet is about 26 psi. That's enough to make things interesting.

And that also says something about the timing and DW's.quick response. I think a few more seconds or a minute and it would have been running out of the vent.

 

[Dick Noble]

Once upon a time, I was working at an RV resort i Idaho and was cleaning toilets. I like toilets to be sterile and cleaner than at a hospital. I used some harsh chems and this time I blew the base out from the toilet. I got to replace it.

 

[Casa_Woody]

"Something didn't sound right so I stepped on the toilet pedal and I got a face full of...!!!

Any Submariners out there? Nothing better than trying to flush a pressurized (300psi)) poop tank! Been there....done that....Never want that T-shirt again.

 

[krsmitty]

We have friends who did the same thing. He could not figure out why there was so much water running off his roof. A few minutes later he figured it out...when it started coming down the stairs in the 5er.

 

[Stormtruck2]

Yup. USS SILVERSIDES SSN-679 STS2 (SS) 4,400 PSI will change your life. Lol

 

[Nogrey]

Haven't done THAT yet, but it reminds me of all the times that I've made mistakes just like that. Upon looking back, even you question what the HE double toothpicks you were thinking? Sounds to me like you were tired, the backing issues seem to support that, and that tired you out even more. Then you made a simple mistake. Proves you're human. Don't know if the DW gave you a tongue lashing, but you didn't deserve one in my book. And as they say "instructions are on the bottom". Lesson learned (a face full of black water has a tendency to stick with you!), probably won't do that one again. And now you have a funny story to tell. Ain't life grand!

 

[Nogrey]

Yup. USS SILVERSIDES SSN-679 STS2 (SS) 4,400 PSI will change your life. Lol

Now that's some high pressure poop right there!
��

 

[SilentService]

Any Submariners out there? Nothing better than trying to flush a pressurized (300psi)) poop tank! Been there....done that....Never want that T-shirt again.

Yep, remember a pissed off officer when our A-ganger forgot to hang the "flushing sanitary" sign.

 

[SilentService]

Yup. USS SILVERSIDES SSN-679 STS2 (SS) 4,400 PSI will change your life. Lol

use a broom!

 

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Wasn't sure what I was gonna read in a thread titled 'Bathroom Explosion'........but..........it didn't disappoint.

 

[Casa_Woody]

Yep, remember a pissed off officer when our A-ganger forgot to hang the "flushing sanitary" sign.

That was not accident! The officers always get S#!T on. Only bad part is A-Gang normally has to clean up the mess.

 

[yobigal]

Last year there was a couple with kids set up a trailer next to us and then left. A couple of hours later when I was outside I heard water running and quickly looked around to see if something was leaking from our trailer. What I saw was water pouring out from everywhere in the trailer next to us and I mean everywhere, Slides, doors, underbelly. I quickly went over to turn off their water spigot and then went to the office to see if they can call the couple after telling them what happened. When the couple arrived I talked with them to see if we could figure out what happened. The first thing I said did you hook your hose to the correct water inlet and not the black tank flush. He looked at me funny and said what is a black tank flush. Here they just got this trailer which was used. The inlets didn't have the stickers on them and they never had a black tank flush on previous trailer so he wasn't aware of one and ended up hooking to it, turning the water on, and then they left.