Dometic 310 Toilet "Rock and Roll"

[BAB]

So, I noticed on a recent 3 1/2 week trip that my toilet was rocking back and forth...not a lot, but noticeable. I thought it was where the toilet is bolted to the floor. Nope. It was rocking at the joint between the plastic base and the ceramic bowl. In looking at the Dometic info I noticed something on the order of "no user servicing of the bowl to the base." I dismounted the toilet, tipped it upside down and found four bolts that hold the base to the porcelain bowl. All four of them were loose, so I tightened them up and remounted the toilet. Problem fixed. BTW, this may be one of the outcomes of the infamous "INDIANA TOLL ROAD"....hands down the WORST four lane highway I have ever been on.

[dbj216]

Excellent example of digging in there and figuring out how it works. Then you fixed it. That's the Airstream spirit!

Thanks for posting this info in the Dometic 310. I just installed one and I now know if I have this problem, I can repair it. Maybe Dometic is sensitive to over tightening bolts in brittle ceramic.

David

[SteveSueMac]

Hmmmm. Pics??

[BAB]

Didn't think to take pics ... And not sure I'd WANT to post toilet shots!


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[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by BAB

Didn't think to take pics ... And not sure I'd WANT to post toilet shots!

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Well that makes sense :-)

I'm just not following where you found the bolts to tighten. How about a pic pointing that out? We have rock & roll toilet too - and need to replace the seat that always had a broken bolt in it :-/ (simple quality stuff, Airstream! ).

I know - first world problems :-)

[BAB]

I can describe the fix. Unbolt the toilet from the floor. Easy. Small end wrench. Shut off the water to the toilet . (Mine has a valve at the toilet...or shut off city water/make sure pump is off.). Unscrew water connection to toilet. No wrench required, it is hand tightened. (And when you reassemble, would just finger tighten or risk stripping the threads.). After toilet is free, turn it upside down. You'll see the four studs that connect the plastic base to the ceramic bowl. You need a long screwdriver to reach in and tighten them....carefully....remember that porcelain can break. BTW, you're going to get a view of what is UNDER that slide valve .... It's nasty! Once you have the base retightened, you can reassemble. Oh, this was my chance to get the seat on really tight.


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[prairieschooner]

I suggest that you check the 310 out BEFORE you mount it! if it is loose between the base and the bowl it is much easier to correct than after you install it!. If it is loose it is an easy fix just as described by BAB, good toilet but who knows who put it together and what day of the week they did it!

[rbs]

Replaced the Thetford Bravura with a Dometic 321 (low profile). The plastic Thetford weighed nothing, and the porcelain Dometic probably 20 lbs, but better looking, perfect fit and a lot more comfortable. Had to alter the water supply line and went with the "shark bite" coupling on the shutoff valve and used braided supply line to the toilet. Took an extra trip to the hardware store as the fitting on the toilet requires a faucet size coupling opposed to the regular toilet size, hadn't notice until I started putting it back together. The original Thetford's gasket on the dump valve started leaking and the bowl wouldn't hold water, and the cost to replace was 1/2 the price of a new toilet. I am getting ready to throw it in the garbage, so if anyone needs a valve assembly with the sprayer let me know and I will pull it off and send it to you. I did tighten the four screws that attach the base to the bowl before I installed, thanks for the heads up.

[dbj216]

I had trouble with my Dometic 310 toilet water inlet "pipe" too. I tried attaching a regular toilet supply hose not noticing the molded "stand off" on the inlet pipe. Only one thread engaged and I preceded to strip it. What is worse than plastic molded threads? After much "rework" I was able to connect the toilet with no leaks.

David

[dkrug]

We found this problem by accident in our 2012 International. My husband wanted to replace the plastic seat with a wooden one available. I ordered it from Camping World and we went to install it. Easy enough, but I noticed the toilet was "rocky" so we pulled the whole thing out and started over putting in the toilet. We cleaned it and reinstalled making sure it was tightened to the floor. Our next trip out we noticed a sewer odor and my husband caulked the seam between the upper and lower section of the toilet. Voila! No sewer odor, no rocky toilet and a nice sturdy seat.