Two weeks ago while attending the IRCHA Jamboree (the worlds largest single discipline RC event--helicopters--got a full hookup, too!) at the Academy of Model Aeronautics in Muncie, IN, my wife and I noticed a small fresh water leak coming from the bowl/mount joint. I tightened the band, no joy. So, we had no choice but put paper towels around the base of the toilet--no biggie, it was a very, very small leak.
I researched toilet leaks such as ours here on irv2.com and discovered the most common cause was the seals. When we arrived home from IRCHA, I ordered the seals. I was in no big hurry because I was on-call the next weekend. Last Tuesday, the seals arrived; I was all set!
This morning, I headed out to the storage lot, seals in hand. Oh, no! After taking off the bowl, I noticed the mating surface of the bowl was cracked through. In fact, I could remove a large chunk of the mating surface!
Immediately, I rushed home, researched Dometic 2010 toilets and discovered the bowls aren't a commonly stocked part. Okay, right? Just get a new toilet... can't be that hard. I researched compatible toilets--focusing on the stand to tank mount and discovered several models that should be plug and play. We rushed out to General RV in Wixom, MI where we purchased a Sealand/Dometic 110 (the other manufactures didn't have china bowls and I thought the plastic was a bit flimsy).
After that we decided to take a leisurely trip to Camping World in Belleville then get dinner. At dinner I discovered I couldn't eat as many wings as I used to--probably a good thing.
After dinner, I decided to drop my wife off and head out to the motor home and replace the toilet. Once inside, I found the temperature was 95 degrees inside. Not good. But if I was replacing the toilet, I didn't want to run anything or open any windows so I could avoid the stank (if present) from the black tank.
I pulled the original base unit and started installing the new base unit only to find it was never going to fit. NEVER, ever. So, I reinstalled the original base and decided to use the bowl from the new toilet assembly.
That thought was good in principle except the index mark on the original base had no female counterpart or slot on the new toilet. Examining the seal index nub on the new toilets base, I found it was slightly recessed when the seal was installed.
Out comes the dremel. I ground down the seal index post on the original base unit until I had the same kind of seal fit. Success!! The toilet bowl fit!
So after hooking up the plumbing, I turned on the water pump (I left some water in the tank just for this purpose), flushed it some, sat on the throne, and no leaks. By then I was drenched in perspiration, so I turned on the generator and ran the AC to cool off while waiting for leaks to happen. I put toilet paper all around the toilet and waited. An hour later, it was getting dark and the storage area closes at 10PM so it was time to go. Still no leaks.
Helluva a day. A twenty minute job morphed into a time consuming sweaty project. But, I did learn a lot, so all is not lost!
Just thought I'd share this. Bottom line, it was fun! I'll go back tomorrow to check for leaks again.
Scott
Linear Mode
