How to find the toilet vent pipe.

[okmunky]

I’m installing a Turbokool evaporative cooler on my RV's roof and want to run the water line down thru the toilet vent pipe like the instructions recommend. It says to drill upwards at a steep angle, which makes sense. How do I find the pipe? Is it directly behind the toilet or can I locate it from inside the sewer bay?

[A32Deuce]

You will find the vent on the roof and unless you have a long distance between your waste tanks, the gray/black tank vents are tied together and come through,the roof as one vent. You have to see on your roof how many vents you have and if any are near where your toilet is located.

[Old Crows]

You didn't say where you are going to be 'most of the time.' This is an evaporate cooler. Better known as a 'swamp cooler' Not that you asked.... but the effectivness of swamp coolers depends 100% on where it is located in the USA.



See this map. https://www.turbokool.net/


I'd have two big concerns with using a swamp cooler in an RV.



Your RV/camper/trailer's health depends on having low humidity INSIDE the unit. People, pups, showers, cooking wet clothes, ambient outdoor humidity all play a part here. Think of your RV as being a big plastic bag that you are constantly exhaling, showering, or cooking in. It's going to be supersaturated with moisture inside. Walls, ceiling, furniture, etc.. Moisture leads to black mold. Black mold is dangerous and extremely hard to remove.... if you ever can kill it.



Point #2. I'd question the wisdom of dumping your 'excess' water from the unit into one of your holding tanks. Depending on how much water is 'wasted' to overflow determines how fast that tank will fill up. That means more frequent emptying. If you must install one, just let it dribble off the top of the coach/trailer just like AC units do.

[MRUSA14]

Yes, check the map. I don't know how well these coolers work in ideal conditions, but I do know that they are useless in half of the USA.

[okmunky]

I bought an acre of land in Yuma County, AZ where I plan to spend winters. There are few places with lower humidity. I grew up in west Texas. I’m very familiar with swamp coolers.

I bought the Turbokool because it adds much needed humidity to the air and because it uses so little power. This property is off grid and my solar works great there.

There is no drain on the unit so there isn’t any concern about the gray tank filling from it. The only reason to drain it would be storing the RV in freezing temperatures. We full time and head south to avoid freezing weather. The swamp cooler will extend our stay by 1-2 months.

I need to know where I can drill thru the bathroom wall and into the single vent pipe? I need to run a water line down the vent pipe, which is very close to where the toilet is, so that I can connect to a cold water line at a point between the water pump and the toilet or sink supply.

[TonyMac]

Originally Posted by okmunky

I bought an acre of land in Yuma County, AZ where I plan to spend winters. There are few places with lower humidity. I grew up in west Texas. I’m very familiar with swamp coolers.

I bought the Turbokool because it adds much needed humidity to the air and because it uses so little power. This property is off grid and my solar works great there.

There is no drain on the unit so there isn’t any concern about the gray tank filling from it. The only reason to drain it would be storing the RV in freezing temperatures. We full time and head south to avoid freezing weather. The swamp cooler will extend our stay by 1-2 months.

I need to know where I can drill thru the bathroom wall and into the single vent pipe? I need to run a water line down the vent pipe, which is very close to where the toilet is, so that I can connect to a cold water line at a point between the water pump and the toilet or sink supply.

Why not come UP thru the Fridge vent and tap into the ice maker water supply prior to the ice make solenoid?

[A32Deuce]

There is no toilet vent per say since it drains directly into the black tank. There is a vent for the black tank but unless the gray is further back on your unit. They are tied together through the roof.

[okmunky]

I’m without an icemaker and I sealed the refrigerator vent last summer when I replaced the Dometic with a Nova Kool DC Compresser unit.

After doing some investigating and measuring it looks like the vent pipe comes up thru a short wall that the bathroom door is on. It’s between the toilet and where there used to be a second sink outside the bathroom. Tomorrow I’ll take the light switch apart and explore. With the vent only 2” in diameter I think guessing would be a bad idea.

From the roof I ran the new water line down the vent pipe just to see how far it would go. At about 5’ from the roof the vent pipe feels like it makes a bend towards the outside wall.

Could the drain from the sink tie into the vent pipe there?

[FatChance]

The sink will probably have an air admittance valve (AAV) under the sink and will not directly tie into the tank roof vent.

[Wayne M]

Originally Posted by okmunky

I’m installing a Turbokool evaporative cooler on my RV's roof and want to run the water line down thru the toilet vent pipe like the instructions recommend. It says to drill upwards at a steep angle, which makes sense. How do I find the pipe? Is it directly behind the toilet or can I locate it from inside the sewer bay?

Now Barb, you know I have to say this.

Go up on the roof, hands and knees, and sniff for the aroma!

I just had to.

The vent is going to be relatively close to the roof top, and most likely close to over the toilet. It will have a flat cover over it to keep rain out with slits on the under side of the cover around the edges.

The cap should look something like this: Roof Vent Cover

[okmunky]

Guys!!! I need to find where I can tap into it from INSIDE the RV so I can run a water line thru it to the roof. Geez! You act like I’m blonde.

The refrigerator vent is sealed. My only other option is to run the water line over the side and connect to the outdoor shower.

[FatChance]

Have you looked to see if you can access the vent stack where I'd goes into the tank in the basement? If so, you can exit the vent there and find a water source pretty close.

By the way, I would use the gray tank vent over the black tank vent for multiple reasons.