Black Around The Toilet

[Juice7893]

Walked into the camper to get something and had a look around. Found this around the toilet. If I remember right there was a wire running from behind toilet back under the camper between the shower and toilet. Was not plugged into power. Only power that was hooked was battery with battery switch turned off behind battery box. Was this something electrical or is something else going on? I’ve posted screenshots from a video I took of it. I don’t know if there is a way of uploading the entire video for a better look.

 

[JohnGB]

Hi,

It is hard to tell from this picture, but the black soot indicates an electrical overload event or an electrical dead short occurred, leaving a trail of soot from burnt wire insulation.

It also looks like there may be a bare copper wire with the insulation burnt off. We need closer pictures to confirm this and the wire coming from the wall. Please post some closer pictures so we can confirm this. Also, burnt electrical wire often leaves a unique smell. I am not sure you are trained in that smell, but it smells like burnt plastic or rubber.

Is this on your 2004 T1950 you talked about in some of your previous posts?

If it is, a Romex 120 VAC cable runs in a covered compartment (pipe and wire chase) behind the toilet, feeding the water heater's electric element.

See these pics. I am referring to the cable from a 2004 T1950 being restored. The water heater is removed, but you can see the white Romex cable.

Here is the cable that runs behind the toilet but is covered with a wood panel cover; it was not exposed to the toilet area when it was made originally. The cable goes under the shower basin, then across the back wall, again all covered in wood panels, and stops at the water heater.

If you are showing a burnt-up Romex cable, the bigger question is how it became exposed in the open next to the toilet flush pedal?

Did someone, a prior owner etc, re-route that cable?

Here is what Sunline installed originally. A view looking down from above.

You can see the boxed-in pipe and electrical wire chase behind the toilet. No wires were exposed; only the toilet fresh water fill hose and the bowl sprayer were.

With the toilet removed, only the water fill hose is exposed.

If you are showing a Romex cable burnt up, let us know. I can point you to more damage in other places.

I hope this helps.

John

 

[Juice7893]

Just to make sure it’s not a fungus issue is there any easy way to check under the shower or anywhere in the area for something leaking?

 

[JohnGB]

Just to make sure it’s not a fungus issue is there any easy way to check under the shower or anywhere in the area for something leaking?

Hi,

To your question, is there an easy way to check under the shower? Yes, there is. Due to the shower drain location in your year T1950 (maybe all years), the drain is on the left side rear corner of the camper and left rear camper wall. There is no reasonable access to the drain trap from inside the camper.

However, Sunline did create an access panel to service the shower drain trap under the camper. If you crawl under the bottom of the camper on the left rear corner and look up, you will see an access panel with a few screws in it.

This shower pipe trap access hole is in this picture from when I rebuilt my 2004 T-1950. See the square hole in the floor of the left rear corner. The metal trailer frame also goes across that hole. The access cover is on the inside of the steel camper frame. Look up under the camper in this area, and you will see a few screws in the black plastic membrane that have a removable cover.

When you remove the cover and look up, you will see the shower drain pipe trap. The back wall is off in this picture but shows the bottom of the shower basin and the vinyl floor tile under the shower.

If you have a small mirror and a flashlight, you can try to get a view across the bottom floor of the shower.

Heads up, you may find this area wet from a rear corner molding leak on the siding corner joint or a roof leak on the left rear corner, where water travels down the left rear corner and stops when it reaches the black plastic membrane where it cannot get out.

That answers your question on how to inspect under the shower.

I'll add more in the next reply.

 

[JohnGB]

Just to make sure it’s not a fungus issue is there any easy way to check under the shower or anywhere in the area for something leaking?

Checking the shower drain trap area for moisture is a good idea. However, moisture under the shower basin is trapped from seeping above the floor and up the side of the toilet. The small wall at the bottom of the shower door creates a partition, so flowing water from under the shower basin would not likely head to the toilet area from under the shower. Water can wick through the OSB flooring and spread under that wall partition, but the floor should be soft if this wicking action occurs. Water on the bath floor after a shower can happen when someone steps out or the door screen has shrunk, allowing water to splash under it while showering.

Black mold will grow on a wet surface; it takes 14 days to grow, but only if it is damp that long and there is some type of food source to live on, which, for mold, does not take much. But mold also has specific characteristics. It is not dusty like soot from something burnt. The shoe footprint suggests that the shoe picked up whatever was there. Mold, I would "think," would be more smeared as it is more damp. However, one continuously learns new things, and yours may be a new learning. From what you have shown us, this is still unknown.

If you can use a flashlight or natural light in the camper to illuminate that area, please take closer pictures of the pedal side of the toilet and the wall behind the toilet showing the black residue and the wiring. If burnt wires do not exist, we can rule them out and start with what else can cause this.

We cannot see enough detail to help you tell me what to pursue or how it got there. Please send us more pictures so we can better assist you.

John

 

[Sunline Fan]

I'll be curious what you find with this. The way the black soot wore away from your shoe footprint makes me think it is smoke residue and not fungus or natural.

Usually when a water leak occurs from something like the toilet or shower, the wood beneath absorbs the water after it runs along the flooring to the nearest hole in the floor. The water stays trapped in the wood (what didn't run down into the underbelly), and then the flooring will mold or discolor from the moisture underneath. It looks like you have some sort of replacement flooring here, not standard vinyl, so it may not discolor, but it still should have different characteristics from a water leak.