October 3, 2020 - New Waste Vent for Homer

I mentioned a few days back that we had a sporadic sewer smell in Homer during our last campout. I tried to get water into the vents to see if they were blocked up but could not do so due to the design of the vent cover. I ordered two 360 Siphon vent covers to replace the old ones on Homer. They arrived and Saturday was a nice cool day to tackle the project.

Homer has a vent for the black tank (toilet water only) and a second vent for the gray tank (sink and tub water). I had no idea if either was blocked up. If a vent is blocked it will cause a sewer smell inside the rig when the tanks are getting full, or when the wind blows a certain way, and water is put down the drains causing a "burp".  The new 360 Siphon vents are designed to constantly draw air out of the vents into the atmosphere. They are definitely an improvement.

The original vents on Homer were two pieces. Once piece fits snuggly around the pipe and is screwed to the roof. The upper part of the vent keeps rain water from entering the holding tanks. It sits above the lower piece leaving a gap for the foul air to escape. It is screwed to the roof as well.  Here is a picture of one before I began.

Here is a picture as I dug out the caulk to access the screws holding down the top section of the vent.

The screws came out easily once I gained access to them. I then had to cut all the caulk away before the top section would come loose. Once it did this is what I found.

I put a hose down the pipe and turned the water on. Within seconds water came out the sewage holding tank so this vent was definitely not blocked up. I then scraped away the caulk to access the screws holding the bottom section of the vent to the roof. I was shocked to find that the lower section had been riveted onto the roof just as the ladder was riveted. I really expected it to be screwed down. I had to drill out the rivets.

Once the lower section was removed this is what I had. The vent pipe was obviously too tall for the new vent. I had to cut an inch off of it for a good fit.

The area around each vent was caulked at least two inches out from where the old vent was screwed to the roof. I have no idea why they did this. The old caulk had really hardened making it difficult to remove. I  applied putty tape to the bottom of the new vent and screwed it to the roof. I then moved to the other vent and started the same procedure.

Upon getting the cover off of the gray water vent I found a little restriction at the top of the pipe. Here is a picture. It is a little hard to see but it was blocking about half the airway and had been there a long time.

I don't think the restriction was enough to interfere with the tank venting properly but who knows. I removed the obstruction and ran water down the vent. Water immediately came out of the tank. No other obstruction. I then removed the rest of the caulk and installed the new vent.

Here is a picture of both vents installed with fresh caulk. 

If there is any smell inside Homer after this it has to be from the toilet flange seal leaking or the add-a-vent under the kitchen sink.  Time will tell.

Thirty-two degrees this morning so I may have to think about winterizing Homer sooner than I planned. I need to put him in the storage unit and bring Marge home and ready her for Florida.