Drop-in replacement for cheap AAV in trailer

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ralph

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Please see my reply later in the thread for tl;dr.

Yeah, I know, "cheap AAV" is probably redundant...

An AAV has possibly failed in my 3-year-old double-wide (along with three doorknobs, three stripped-out power outlets (no work boxes), two light switches, and two plastic faucets) and I'm looking to replace them all. Each of the five sinks has a dedicated AAV and, fortunately, the shower and bath and toilets have roof vents. I have ensured the roof vents are not clogged with a garden hose and a person listening inside the home for any gurgling or obstruction.

As you can see in the photos, the AAV model is Ayrlett 6 AB, and like all the other stuff the place came with, it appears to be the worst on the market--in fact, the Ayrlett doesn't even list the AB version any longer so I don't know exactly what the specs are and I can't even say it's 'on the market' anymore. Here's a link to the Ayrlett 6 models that ARE still acknowledged to exist on their official website.

I can't figure out how I would install a decent model, like the Oatey 39225 which seems to be what I need? The Ayrlett has female threads and you see the result in one of the pics of what the drain pipe looks like with the Ayrlett removed. There's not much clearance between the pipe and the cabinet wall for a big adapter, so I would have to hit the cabinet wall with a router to fit an adapter.

Is there ANY better drop-in replacement for the Ayrlett that won't just fail?

Is it weird that the Ayrlett is female-threaded or is an adapter usually just cemented onto the drain pipe, and in this case, it's built into the AAV itself? The top part of the AAV can be rotated in either direction by hand indefinitely.

P.S.: If anyone wants to troubleshoot, the sewage smell is coming from the sink drain nearest the septic tank, so the path of least resistance. There's no draining issues even when I pour a whole bucket of water down the drain, no gurgling, no siphoning of the trap under the sink, and no sewage gas smell in the cabinet under the sink--just sewage stink is coming from the drain itself which MOSTLY goes away for a week or two after using septic-safe Liquid Plumr. I would think if the AAV was failing and was stuck OPEN, the cabinet underneath would stink, not the drain, and if the AAV was stuck CLOSED, I would have slow draining or gurgling or siphoning, but the trap water was at the same level 24 hours after not using the sink in question. I'm told by a plumber friend who I don't want to invite over that the problem is definitely the AAV and that a problem with the septic tank, a brand new 1500 gallon which has not been pumped yet in the three years I've had it, couldn't possibly be responsible for sewer gases fouling the water of the traps and finding their way all the way up the drain. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

P.P.S.: Check out this official Ayrlett AAV video where an Ayrlett spokesperson comments three times about how awesome their AAVs are using the same account he used to upload the video.

IMG_20200707_025301.jpg

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This post is hard to follow, maybe rewrite it with more of an A to Z timeline.

I had trouble plowing through all of it.

Feel free to ignore me, but I am a writer, and I would like to help you fix your issue, but this bounces all over the place.

No offense, just a suggestion.
 
No offense taken--I've heard this a few times in recent years.

I'm just looking for an upgraded replacement of the Ayrlett 6 AB AAV. The photos show the model and the top of the drain pipe where it attaches. I'm confused as other AAVs have male threads and am not sure what I need to install a 6 DFU Oatey or Studor in its place. The rest of the info I provided is more or less trivia, in case someone wants to troubleshoot what probably isn't even an AAV issue--but I want to replace these cheap trailer AAVs regardless. They WILL eventually fail.

I'm actually a writer as well, or was. I graduated top of my class when I received my BS in technical writing, but suffered some brain damage a few years ago and have a hard time organizing my writing (and thoughts, more generally) and keeping things concise now. This is the kind of effluent that I tend to produce these days. :/
 
I can hear a high quality natural flow of words and thought, just too much filler.

Imagine that someone was going to punch you hard in the shoulder, to allow you to post every word, so every word came with a price.

Before you hit the POST button, go back and remove the hits you don’t need to take, haha.
 
PS I am famous for looooong blathering postings.
Of course, in my mind they are all pure gold, worth slogging through, haha!
 
Can you post some pictures of the pipes under some of the sinks so we can see how they're configured?
 
Sure. This is a single sink. One bathroom has two sinks, but the above-ground plumbing is the same as here and they are independent of one another, fortunately. Nothing weird under the kitchen sink where the hose from the dishwasher feeds into the usual place.

IMG_20200707_183348.jpg

The AAV is a good 6" above the top of the horizontal pipe following the trap and each AAV will serve only a single sink, so I am thinking 6 DFU is adequate?
 
Hi Ralph,
I'm not a plumber but will try to help.

That all looks like 1-1/2" PVC. It also looks like the thread on the riser is 1-1/2"MPT. If it is there's a couple of ways to do this.
I like and use the Studor brand AVV's. The thread on it is 1-1/2"MPT.
Best price I see:
https://www.amazon.com/Studor-20346.../B0039OEMT4/ref=psdc_3226897011_t3_B0069KCZO4
Easiest method.
You could buy this 1-1/2" threaded PVC coupling and use some teflon tape. It would connect the riser to the AVV.
I couldn't find it online at HD or Lowes. Maybe they have it in the store. You'd have to go in and look for it.
If you need a few of the couplings it would help with the cost due to shipping.
https://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/1-1-2-sch-40-pvc-coupling-fipt-430-015.html
If you want to find something locally, I guess you could use a galvanized coupling like this.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/1-1-2-i...e-Iron-FPT-x-FPT-Coupling-511-207HN/100187534They also stock an Oatey AVV. It looks like the thread is 1-1/2"MPT. Some of their models are 2"MPT and they won't work unless you adapt.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Oatey-S...ve-20-DFU-Branch-8-DFU-Stack-39230/205395535#
If the riser is 1-1/2"PVC you could cut it and use PVC primer and cement to attach everything. It just depends how you want to do it.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jim
 
Thank you! The Studor and an FPT to FPT coupling look like the way to go. In this case, there wouldn't be any problem using a black PE coupling like this, would there?
 
Hmm, under "Item specifics" it says polyethylene and the description says both PE and PVC. Suppose it doesn't matter. Thanks again.
 
The old AAV might be glued on, but it’s easy to glue on a threaded adapter and then a nicer AAV.
 

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