Toilet pedal leak - '06, Bambi

[rportillo]

Hi,
Can anyone identify the white valve with "black" plastic nut, in the second picture attached? I posted a picture of my toilet in the 2006 16' Bambi. The white valve is leaking very slowly from the around the black "nut" like cover. I don't know what this is and it is hard to get a good look at it, but feeling it with my hand, it seems to be some kind of release valve, perhaps? The leak is not coming out the bottom, though, but instead from around the top of the black nut. So if it is a release valve, its not releasing properly and instead leaking where it should not. I'm connected to the faucet at my house, and our water pressure is pretty strong. Although, I do have a pressure valve attached also.

After turning off the water valve next to the toilet, I thought I could screw this thing off, as it has little "indentation" for some kind of tool, perhaps, but the nut is on there too tight, or is not suppose to come off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Ralph

[AirHeadsRus]

I do not think it can be repaired so be ready to replace the assembly if it is leaking. You can remove it by taking out the 2 screws. Do this with the water lines connected to see if it is leaking on either water connections. Sometimes they do that. The valve is not really expensive as Airstream parts go.
Good luck,
Joe

[rportillo]

I successfully stopped the leak from the Dometic toilet water valve (for now). Its an SC-210. I took the water valve out, and was able to unscrew the black cap (I previous referred to it as a nut). In fact, its a cap that holds the pedal spring in place. The water leak was coming from through the threads of this black cap. I just screwed it on nice and tight and re-installed. So far so good. For the future, this inlet valve was quoted by a local dealer at ~$48. Apparently many people need to take the whole toilet off to get to it and so Dometic will sell the water inlet valve in a kit with a flange gasket.

[handn]

Hard water does these valves in quickly.
I have replaced the toilet once and the valve two times on my 2005 Safari. My most common problem is that water doesn't run into the bowl when I push down pedal slightly.
I carry a spare as valves are not always available from the local rv repair shop. You don't want to be on the road with no toilet and have to pay $$ for UPS to overnight your part.
Replacing one is not difficult, but the toilet does have to be removed.
You are lucky you could fix yours by merely tightening. I have never been as lucky Best time to buy a replacement is when yours is functioning properly.

[Gene T]

In our 05 Safari toilet (thedford) the valve sticks open when the foot pedal is depressed all the way. One has to reach into hole and release plastic piece that covers the drain. Makes me want to purchase a china toilet. Anyone else have this problem?

[Phoenix]

The sliding knife blade is metal (I think it's stainless steel); and it's spring loaded to hold it up against the rubber seal on the bottom of the bowl/flush tube. The reason the pedal sticks is that it slides past, and is pulled up against, the edge of that seal. The seal acts like a step, and it stops the knife blade from closing.

The easiest way to prevent this is to avoid fully depressing the flush pedal (which is difficult).

I have thought about dabbing a little bit of RTV on the edge of the seal, where it sticks, to build up a little ramp, so that the knife blade will just ride up over the seal. However, the surfaces would have to be cleaned so that the RTV would adhere. Also, this repair probably wouldn't be permanent and would likely fail after a few flushes.

I have also thought about beveling the edge of the rubber seal on the bottom of the flush tube; but if the seal was damaged, it might require disassembly of the toilet to replace it, which is not something I am anxious to do.

Perhaps, a rubber block under (or attached to) the bottom of the pedal could be added to limit the travel of the knife blade.

With Gene T, I await others' suggestions...

[Gene T]

Phoenix

Excellent post and thanks. Of your possible remedies, I like the block on the bottom of the pedal.

We're presently traveling in north Florida and had to stop so my wife could buy rubber gloves. So she would fix her own over zealous flushing.

Gene T

[Gene T]

Update on above

She found a nice looking oyster shell that sits nicely under the pedal. It works perfectly, at least temporally until we get home.

[liamball]

I have the same issue on my 210 - although instead of black plastic the "nut" looking thing is metal. I'm going to try your fix before ordering a new one. How did you manage to get the whole valve assembly off the toilet?

[rportillo]

Originally Posted by liamball

I have the same issue on my 210 - although instead of black plastic the "nut" looking thing is metal. I'm going to try your fix before ordering a new one. How did you manage to get the whole valve assembly off the toilet?

Hi,
I was able to remove the valve by unconnecting the hoses and unscrewing those two screws you see in the picture, with a socket wrench. There was not alot of room to work, but just enough to get it off.
Ralph