A couple of troubleshooting questions: Does the ball valve seal properly? Is there some resistance or extra pressure needed to make the ball valve open? Or does the lever move smoothly when flushing?
Last October while on a 9 week trip the ball valve just stop working. We were 5 weeks and now no toilet. It at least broke while we were staying in place for 3 weeks. But it was the Phoenix valley and it is still hot in October. Toilet won't flush or seal completely gives new meaning to keeping the lid closed. (Yes I drained the black tank and had Happy Camper in the tank, but it can only do so much.)
I attempted to order the parts online from a couple of RV supply houses, but everything was going to take weeks to arrive. I ended up getting the parts from Airstream of Scottsdale because they could get them in about week. When the parts arrived I spent the next morning pulling the toilet, thoroughly cleaning everything, replacing the parts, putting the toilet back in. It took me about 3 hours start to finish. Besides the deep cleaning, I had a terrible time getting enough leverage on the spring that pulls the foot lever back up. Oh and tightening the 4 bolts that hold the base to the bowl. That was just tedious work; there is not enough room to get a socket in there so it was a 1/4 turn with the spanner (open wrench). With everything back together we had a working toilet, but the ball valve would still not seal completely. Water in the bowl would slowly drain into the tank. It was good enough to get through the trip.
Fast forward to the last week of June, we take the FB23 out for one final camping trip in Texas. On Saturday night while using the toilet the plastic part snaps and the ball valve will not move. Water flows and the slow leak in the valve allows for some use. But it feels like Phoenix all over again. This time I am not messing with replacing the parts I was just going to order a new base. I did not have time to spend replacing and cleaning the old toilet; we have a 2 week trip planned. This trip cannot be delayed. So I need parts before Friday.
I found the correct base through several online RV part stores. Start the order at the first store, but before completing the transaction it come back with delivery will occur in 3-4 weeks. Yeah that's not going to work. I order from a second one only to get an email on Monday stating the base is on backorder and won't be available until August. No good there. Call up a third place that shows a base available online, I decided I wanted to verify before ordering. The third place sends me an email on Wednesday telling me that the bases are are made to order and it will be August or September before they will have one. I cancelled the 2 orders and place an Amazon order for a complete toilet it arrives on Thursday.
It takes less than 30 minutes to remove and replace the toilet. I only needed a 1/2 inch box wrench to complete the job. So much simpler and a lot less frustration. The new toilet's ball valve seals properly and the flush mechanism operates smoothly. If you answer yes to my questions above I suggest replacing the toilet rather than messing with fixing the broken pieces. I spent roughly $40 on the parts last year and $165 on the complete toilet this year. The 3 hours I saved was worth the $125.
One last thing if you have an older coach the new Thetford toilets have soft close lids. No more slamming.
|