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pmanton

pmanton

Final Approach
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Indian Hills Airpark Salome, AZ
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My wife has a sewing room in our hangar that's plagued with sewer smells. The bathroom is vented through the side of the hangar with a vent in the side of the hanger. All the plumbing vents that I've seen are straight pipes emerging through the roof. Could this be the source of the stink? The wind channels through the area between house and hanger. IMG_0402.JPG
 
biplanebob said:
Is there a floor drain with a trap that dried out ?
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That was my first guess. We have a trap at a place I work that always needs water poured into the floor drain once a month or so.
 
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Matthew said:
That was my first guess. We have a trap at a place I work that always water poured into the floor drain once a month or so.
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Me three first guess. Then see if there's anything blocking that vent, bird stuff, big bug, sometimes a movable valve that's stuck.
 
I assume you have a commode in the bathroom?

I had a similar problem recently that I had never seen before. We couldn't get rid of the sewage smell no matter what we did.

Finally, I pulled the commode, which was difficult because it was cemented in (mortar around and under the base). I had to chip it away being careful not to crack the porcelain. When I finally chipped it away enough that I could pull the commode, a flood of sewage spilled out from underneath. Yechh. I almost vomited.

Apparently, the wax doughnut was not seated correctly and it had been leaking under the commode, but the crap couldn't go anywhere because of the way it was sealed. But the smell could seep out.

Just a thought if you don't find anything else to check.
 
Matthew said:
That was my first guess. We have a trap at a place I work that always needs water poured into the floor drain once a month or so.
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Use mineral or cooking oil to pour into it. It will flow through if the drain actually flows, but will not dry out (at least not for a long while). Interestingly, that's what Microsoft did in their main server rooms in the early 90's. The raised floor had drains and thankfully they never had any water so they had to fill the traps periodically until they switched to oil.
 
If you have a toilet in the hanger pull it and check the wax seal.

Also if you are running a large exhaust fan of some type it can defeat your traps.
 
Worst case you can have s plumber do a smoke test. Basically they put a smoke bomb in a shop vac and blow smoke into the vent pipe. Finds the leaks quickly. Had a tv mount in a restaurant that was drilled right through s vent pipe, chased that smell for weeks before I finally had my plumber smoke it and found the problem in 30 seconds.
Jim.
 
What's in the bathroom? Toilet, sink, other? Shower? Any other fixtures on the system such as hangar sink?
Is the sewing room between the bathroom on the exterior vent?
 
The bathroom adjoins her sewing room. Toilet, sink, shower and combination washing machine dryer. The shower and washing machine aren't used. There are two drains that could be the culprit. (or culprits) I read somewhere of using cooking oil in unused drains to get around them drying out. I'll try that.
 
pmanton said:
I read somewhere of using cooking oil in unused drains to get around them drying out. I'll try that.
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4 posts up! I'm really curious if that's acceptable to do, I have a couple drains in the basement that would benefit from that treatment if it's safe. Anyone else have experience and can confirm?
 
Maybe there's a dead mouse in there somewhere.
 
JOhnH said:
Apparently, the wax doughnut was not seated correctly and it had been leaking under the commode, but the crap couldn't go anywhere because of the way it was sealed.
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This is exactly why you NEVER seal a toilet to the floor!

jsstevens said:
Use mineral or cooking oil to pour into it.
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iflyvfr said:
I'm really curious if that's acceptable to do
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Vegetable oil is likely just fine. RV antifreeze is likely finer.

But neither is a good solution if there are vent problems. If a floor drain is near a toilet (or washing machine, or...) and the toilet isn't properly vented (or the vent is blocked) then a bit of water in the floor drain trap will be sucked out every time the toilet is flushed because the toilet is venting by sucking some air thru the floor drain.
 
timwinters said:
This is exactly why you NEVER seal a toilet to the floor!




Vegetable oil is likely just fine. RV antifreeze is likely finer.

But neither is a good solution if there are vent problems. If a floor drain is near a toilet (or washing machine, or...) and the toilet isn't properly vented (or the vent is blocked) then a bit of water in the floor drain trap will be sucked out every time the toilet is flushed because the toilet is venting by sucking some air thru the floor drain.
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True that. But if your only problem is a dry trap then this works well. And I never thought of anitfreee.
 
The shower and washing machine that aren’t used likely have dry P-traps too.
 
BTW, some commercial plumbing codes these days require a "trap primer" be installed for toilet room floor drains. Every time the toilet is flushed a little bit of water is diverted over to the floor drain trap to keep it from drying out. They're a freaking maintenance nightmare.
 
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I suspect our ptraps self-drain whenever it is windy. 40kt+ winds will make the toilet water bounce up and down until there is very little visible in the bowl.
 
Flush twice. It's a long way to DC
 
hawk25u said:
Flush twice. It's a long way to DC
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We had a similar sign in the bathrooms in the dorm my freshman year in college. "Flush twice. It's a long way to the Roto." The Roto was short for the name of the "dining" hall. :p
 
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