Help! Sheared off sewage pipes

[Wobbles]

Originally Posted by gspot01

Ok, I removed the drain pipes to reassess the situation. It looks like I can just reapply whatever the sealant is (any recommendations?) to the black water pipe, shove it back in, and tighten the clamp.

Oh, and the sealant feels just like old chewing gum. Have no idea what it is.

The problem is going to be the grey water pipe. Don't know of you can see it in this photo, but the end broke off in the 90-elbow it connected to. I've somehow got to figure out a way to replace this piece and the elbow, both of which are still glued to other pieces which I would like to salvage if possible.


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I looks to me that one part(small length with the o-ring) was meant to be mated inside the tank, and the rest was glued on like normal pvc. Mabey that was meant to be a flex point. I do not know but wonder if that was supposed to allow for some movement less than what you did to it. Good luck with it but think on it before there is stink in it.

[JLeising]

Originally Posted by OldCoot

For the smaller pipe, get a rubber coupler that has 2 hose clamps.

X2. They have them at our local Home Depot. You can abs glue a coupling to the small pipe to get it to the same diameter as the elbow, if you can't find a rubber coupling that necks down.

[jtstromsburg]

Originally Posted by JLeising

X2. They have them at our local Home Depot. You can abs glue a coupling to the small pipe to get it to the same diameter as the elbow, if you can't find a rubber coupling that necks down.

X3 fernco coupling

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by JLeising

X2. They have them at our local Home Depot. You can abs glue a coupling to the small pipe to get it to the same diameter as the elbow, if you can't find a rubber coupling that necks down.

The rubber couplings will stretch enough to connect to the elbow. I would also smear some Gorilla glue on the inside of the coupler to make it slide easier. Just don't get it on your hands as it is extremely difficult to get it off skin.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by jtstromsburg

X3 fernco coupling
Attachment 106567

X4 on the fernco for the smaller grey pipe.
You won't have to cut or remove any of the broken pipe still in the elbow.
As mentioned, if you can't find a reducing fernco, just cut the smaller pipe so a glued on coupler will match the elbow.
Just shove the whole thing back up to mate where it was originally and tighten the hose clamps on both sides of the fernco.
There's no pressure in the drain pipes so a fernco will work just fine.

[Toddupton]

They make a drill bit to drill out the inside of the fitting. If you have a friend who is a plumber he should have them. Really easy fix with that. A fernco will work to but if I had the drill bit I would use it.

[gspot01]

Y'all rock! That's some good info there. The only thing I'm a little unsure about is whether there's enough of an extension on the elbow to secure the fernco clamp. I'll have to go outside and look. If that works, however, you couldn't ask for any easier!

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[Toddupton]

They also make a 90 degree fernco. You could cut off the old 90 and replace it with a fernco.

[Iggy]

Sorry to see your accident which can be fixed.
The bright side is your tanks were empty.

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Iggy

Sorry to see your accident which can be fixed.
The bright side is your tanks were empty.

X2. 30 - 40, even 2 gallon of black tank contents spread by 20 gallon of gray water.... very lucky.

[gspot01]

Any ideas on what kind of sealant I could use? Somebody mentioned dicor, but I don't know what that is. Can you get that at home Depot too? I don't know about putty. All the putty I've ever used wasn't real tacky. This stuff is like chewing gum.

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[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by gspot01

Any ideas on what kind of sealant I could use? Somebody mentioned dicor, but I don't know what that is. Can you get that at home Depot too? I don't know about putty. All the putty I've ever used wasn't real tacky. This stuff is like chewing gum.

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Dicor is a roof sealant. Is the stuff really sticky, like chewing gum on the sidewalk on a hot day? If so it will be a butyl sealant. I would look for a butyl/rubber based caulk. DAP makes one that is used as a gutter sealant.

Aaron

[5picker]

I wouldn't have too much concern about the sealant on the large pipe. From the photo, it appears to be held on with a hose clamp so that will do most of the sealing. Is it a fernco rubber style coupler too?

[gspot01]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

Dicor is a roof sealant. Is the stuff really sticky, like chewing gum on the sidewalk on a hot day? If so it will be a butyl sealant. I would look for a butyl/rubber based caulk. DAP makes one that is used as a gutter sealant.

Aaron

Yes it is tacky like chewing gum. Hopefully the Depot will carry something like that.

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[Mr Havercamp]

The mechanical connection is because the Alpha systems tanks are MDPE and the piping is ABS. No such thing as an adhesive for MDPE. Even the epoxies they say will work eventually will fail. The only sure thing is heat weld and for that you would need to be joining MDPE to MDPE.

My Roo is the same arrangement and some day in the future I want to reconfigure all that piping to gain back the 2" of elevation at the outlet they lost putting it together. I suspect the sealant is a butyl product. The good thing is that an MDPE tank is much less prone to cracking or punching a holes through it than an ABS holding tank.

X2 on the Ferncos.

[gspot01]

Originally Posted by 5picker

I wouldn't have too much concern about the sealant on the large pipe. From the photo, it appears to be held on with a hose clamp so that will do most of the sealing. Is it a fernco rubber style coupler too?

No coupler. The end of the large pipe is simply pushed inside the hole on the black tank. There is an o-ring on the end of the pipe, but I have a feeling it doesn't do much.

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[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by gspot01

No coupler. The end of the large pipe is simply pushed inside the hole on the black tank. There is an o-ring on the end of the pipe, but I have a feeling it doesn't do much.

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How about a close up of the O ring on the pipe?
That fitting on the end just appears to be a standard ABS sleeve adapter. I doubt they had a special fitting manufactured just for this application. Probably more like..................."lets try shoving an O ring in there" "Well that still leaks" "Ok lets goober it up with whatever schmoo we have laying around"

[leefl]

No, no, no. I saw someone say that this was PVC, and you could use PVC firings.
This is ABS pipe, NOT PVC, and you can't get this from Lowe's/ HD
And you shouldn't mix PVC with ABS

The clamp on coupler might work ok, but I'd be worried about how well that'll last, and would want to add an extra support brace nearby.

Amazon carries everything you need (including the ABS specific solvent glue)
I've just been working on a big plumbing mod, so know what's involved.

Here are the parts you'll likely need: -
Oatey 30999 ABS Medium Cement, Black, 4-Ounce

NIBCO 5801 ABS Pipe Fitting, Coupling, Schedule 40, 3" Hub

Others suggestions for fixing the MDPE tank connection sound good

You don't use any primer before the ABS solvent unlike PVC. just the glue above

Let me know if you have any questions or need more help. Good luck

[Ford Idaho]

Lowes does indeed sell ABS.

Shop Charlotte Pipe 2-in x 20-ft ABS DWV Pipe at Lowes.com

[leefl]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

Lowes does indeed sell ABS.

Shop Charlotte Pipe 2-in x 20-ft ABS DWV Pipe at Lowes.com

OK, I know they "sell" it, but at least in this part of the country they don't stock it, and you have to special order. I know I tried, and the shipping cost and time were excessive.
Maybe it's different elsewhere in the country.

The one things that I didn't get from Amazon was the pipe itself. I got that from Jet.com (fulfilled via Zoro). 10ft length of 3" pipe under $22 with free delivery in 3 days