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Old 08-17-2013, 08:01 PM   #1
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Sealand/Dometic 2010 Toilet Saga

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
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Old 08-17-2013, 08:06 PM   #2
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I love happy endings . Thanks for the post.
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Old 08-17-2013, 09:07 PM   #3
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Very happy so far! Thanks!

Here's a picture of the original toilet's underside. I didn't notice the hairline crack in the lower part of the bowl until I looked at this picture just now. Dodged a bullet, I think!



Scott
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Old 08-17-2013, 09:42 PM   #4
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Your story reminds me again of why I hate plumbing projects.

Glad you had a good ending to it.
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Old 08-18-2013, 01:05 PM   #5
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I went to the storage area to check on the repair. Only one small leak from the feed to the vacuum breaker. I tightened the hose clamp and all is well. Everything is buttoned up. Gotta love it when unplanned modifications work so well!

Scott
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Old 08-18-2013, 01:19 PM   #6
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What was different between the two bases so that the new one couldn't be installed?
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Old 08-18-2013, 02:32 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Hilley View Post
What was different between the two bases so that the new one couldn't be installed?
The mounting collar had bolt spacing that was about 1" short. Additionally, the floor flange was such that it appeared an adapter would never allow direct mating between the outlet on the base and the inlet of the tank. With the rear bolts in place, the rear of the base would not clear the existing floor flange.. I do not know if there is an adapter available--I did look last night and could not find one that I could be certain would fit.

As it stands now, by grinding the index post on the original base, I've made the bowl fit exactly as it did on the new base. The new base index post was only there for seal orientation whereas the original base index post protruded to also index the toilet bowl. Structurally, the longer index post did nothing other than ensure the bowl was on straight. In the picture of the cracking, you can see the cutout for the longer index post. I also used the new collars as they seem to be made of a different material that allowed them to be compressed more--probably for a better fit.

The good deal with this is that now I have spare fill valve as the original and new fill valve are identical.

Scott
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Old 08-18-2013, 03:02 PM   #8
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Would any of these have worked?

RV Toilet Flanges
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Old 08-18-2013, 03:14 PM   #9
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Probably not. The problem is the circumference of the flange extending too far to the rear. I probably could have cut it, but then I would have had to deal with bolts that didn't line up at all.

It makes me wonder exactly which mounting flange would be the correct one--unfortunately, I don't think they were shown on the site you linked.

Scott
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