Saniflo woes

[SteveOM]

I recently did the unthinkable and got my hands (well, inch thick rubber gloves) very, very dirty unblocking my saniplus unit. All went fine with removing the blockage, however on opening the unit up I did notice that the water seal from the lid was not where it should be and was sort of folded in half in amongst the rest of the gunk in the chamber.

It was un-damaged so with the blockage removed I popped the seal back on around the lid in it's rightful place. We now get a bit of a weird sort of tapping noise after the unit has cycled, and I have read up on the saniflo docs which suggest it may be syphoning at the water seal if there is a significant drop on the outlet pipework - which would make sense as it runs at about 45 degrees down the outside wall to meet the main soil pipe. I guess this would also explain the seal previously being 'sucked in' to the unit?

So (finally!) my question - the saniflo document says that a 10psi air admittance valve can be added at the top of the pipe run to prevent the syphon effect - but the outlet piperun from the unit is a rubber hose jubilee clipped onto 22mm copper pipe... the smallest valve I can find rated at 10psi is 32mm on plastic - how on earth can I incorporate this into the current setup? To go from 22mm to 32mm, from copper to plastic, under such pressure.... I've had a few ideas in my mind of how I might achieve it but all of them have ended with a mental image of me covered in you-know-what! Any advice?

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Softus]

First:

then:

 

[KeithM]

LOL!!

 

[kevplumb]

chris r put a brilliant rant on here a while back softus has just summed it up

 

[SteveOM]

Well, thanks for the ahm... helpful... replies.
I have heard all the horror stories and that sort of recommendation before, but believe it or not until the recent blockage (which was user error - too much loo roll) this unit has served a full house without any problems for over two years. I expect it will continue to function OK the way it is, I'm just looking to improve it / prevent possible future issues by introducing an AAV.

Believe me, if i had enough spare cash to move house or call the experts I would have done so a long way before taking the lid off a full one - it was quite the unforgettable experience - but hey it's the credit crunch so you do what you have to.

Any sensible advice, anyone?

 

[cowboyplumber]

They are french!!!
'Nuff said

 

[SteveOM]

Think I'm going to re-post this question and not mention the saniflo!!!!

 

[Agile]

These should not be fitted if they are the only toilet in the property!

You dont really need a dedicated air admittance valve as such!

A 22 mm single non return valve should do the trick!

A few types do have a rather strong spring and you should choose one which you can blow through.

The unit should have been installer with plastic pipe not copper! It does not matter much though but it will be more prone to corrosion and the roughness can aid blockages forming.

Tony

 

[SteveOM]

Hi Tony, thanks for the reply.

It's not the only toilet in the property but unfortunately it does act as the 'main' bathroom for the house as the other loos are one in the basement and one in an en-suite.

The majority of the outlet pipe run is plastic (have had floorboards up and traced it from the outside wall) it's just the initial bit from the unit to under the bathroom floor that's copper for some reason. Tricky to look at / replace that part though as it's in a tight corner and would also probably need to take the sink out completely to get the floorboards up.

So if I get a non return valve, am I best installing an equal tee between the rubber outlet and the start of the piperun, extending a short length of copper from the tee vertically, and putting the valve at the top of that?

Cheers,
Steve