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Old 03-19-2021, 08:14 PM   #1
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Tips for prepping toilet for travel?

So what do you do?

At home, preparing for a trip, clean and inspect everything, pack, get the fridge cooled down, check the tires, fill the fresh water tank, ensure the other tanks are empty (a little bit of water in the black tank to help avoid any pyramids). In the shower, you stick a stopper in the floor drain to keep any gray water from coming up into the floor of the shower.

But then there’s the toilet. You flush, the bowl is clean... you can quickly flush, but, there will still be a little bit of water in the bottom.

At home, you can grab a shop-vac, ensure the bowl is dry before departing. You arrive at your camp site, stay however long, but then the time comes to pack up and head home. Maybe you are at a site where you dump tanks, maybe you were boondocking, will dump the tanks later. But.... Aside from packing up everything, putting the shower plug back in, you need to secure the toilet for travel. But when you flush, even a quick flush, you end up with water back in the bowl. And, you’d prefer to not have any water in the toilet to slosh out. You don’t have the shop-vac with you while camping, that’d be too big to bring along.

So, what do you do, to ensure an empty toilet bowl that won’t slosh once you leave camp and hit the road, heading home?
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Old 03-19-2021, 08:24 PM   #2
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My experience has been that doing a normal flush leaves a bit of water in the bowl to keep the seal from drying out but does not have enough to slush out of the bowl. Flush once, don't do the skid mark water deal and you should be fine.
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Old 03-19-2021, 08:30 PM   #3
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Tips for prepping toilet for travel?

Simple. Standard gravity flush toilet, you shut off and disconnect the shore water supply hose outside or the water pump.

Then step on the toilet flush pedal, hold it down until the bowl is empty and water stops flowing in. Release the pedal. Done...it’ll be mostly dry dry and pretty much empty.

We have a wet bath in our 2007 22’ International CCD. A minor clean water spill is no issue. We always travel with the water pump turned off. Haven’t had an issue with ‘toilet slop over’ at any time...it’s a non-issue when following the departure check list.
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Old 03-19-2021, 09:26 PM   #4
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The only time we 'empty' the bowl is for Winter storage.
Lube the seal and it stays empty 'til Spring.

It has never wet the floor while underway with a 1/2cup water in it.


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Old 03-19-2021, 09:31 PM   #5
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Same as Bob, never had water slosh out. Drain in winter, Oatey silicone on the seal for winter.
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Old 03-20-2021, 07:50 AM   #6
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Noted! Thanks, all....
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Old 03-20-2021, 09:15 AM   #7
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Same as Bob & Richw46
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Old 03-20-2021, 09:22 AM   #8
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We also do nothing special for Lucy's toilet prior to getting underway. We check to make sure that the toilet water level is not too high, hook-up and pull out.

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Old 03-20-2021, 09:45 AM   #9
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We leave water in ours as we ride, 33ft classic, never a mess, told to keep it wet to protect seal. We do close the lid��
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Old 03-20-2021, 09:47 AM   #10
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One of my last steps when preparing to tow is to turn off the water pump, then flush the toilet until it stops flowing. A little water will still be present but that keeps seal wet and isn't enough to splash out. Lower toilet lid and you're good to go.
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Old 03-20-2021, 10:13 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kthies View Post
We do close the lid��
Yes, always close the lid.....
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Old 03-20-2021, 10:27 AM   #12
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Never leave toilet with no water in bowl. Travel with an inch or so. If it sloshes out quit turning corners on two wheels! When you winterize leave a cup of anti-freeze in bowl to keep seal lubricated. Hint: another reason to always leave a bit of liquid in the bowl is that if it drains out you know you have a bad seal and will soon be smelling the black tank!
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Old 03-20-2021, 11:08 AM   #13
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Originally Posted by Airdream99 View Post
Never leave toilet with no water in bowl. Travel with an inch or so. If it sloshes out quit turning corners on two wheels! When you winterize leave a cup of anti-freeze in bowl to keep seal lubricated. Hint: another reason to always leave a bit of liquid in the bowl is that if it drains out you know you have a bad seal and will soon be smelling the black tank!
It wasn't so much corners, as it was coming in and out of my driveway.... I added a 3" lift so that I could make it in and out of the driveway w/o scraping.


Whole thing that made me ask, was: I had brought it home winterized from the dealer, had just unwinterized it, then left the house to go replace the tires (had the original Marathons on it still, I put Endurances on it). Got home, backed back into its spot, and, then found a little water on the floor of the bathroom in front of the toilet. Nothing was at high speed, but, yeah, coming out of and back into the driveway was, not level, for a moment.

So, I thought I'd see what others did, etc.

I've appreciated everyone's input, tho'!
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Old 03-20-2021, 04:35 PM   #14
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Hmmmm. My 2014 Flyong Cloud has a quarter turn water shutoff in the line to the toilet that is easily accessible right next to it.

When we are practicing black tank conservation, I typically shut off the water supply and use a cup of water from the sink for flushing. Since we typically use public facilities for #2, the yellow stuff and the cup of water keeps the black tank well hydrated.

Before camping, we rented a rustic cabin where the landlord had a sign in the toilet: “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.”

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Old 03-20-2021, 11:24 PM   #15
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I leave the water in the toilet, as the water keeps the seal lubricated and the smells out. I also leave the water pump on and don't know why people turn it off.

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Old 03-20-2021, 11:37 PM   #16
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Leaving the water pump off during travel is a good way to prevent a devastating, undetected leak while in motion. Simple precautions like that are a good idea.
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Old 03-21-2021, 07:23 AM   #17
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LNBright - you said your concern started when you saw a little water on the floor in front of the toilet. Had it rained before you found the water? The reason I ask, is that I started finding a few drops of water in front of the toilet once in a while, especially after a hard rain. The problem turned out to be the exterior seal of the bathroom vent fan.
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Old 03-21-2021, 07:41 AM   #18
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Pat, as a matter of fact, that storm line blew through the night before. That's something I'll investigate. I didn't notice the water until I'd gotten home from and parked from having new tires put on, which with coming out of the driveway, installation, returning to the driveway, I was just expecting that, the closest source of water was immediately next to the drops. I can definitely check the vent, see what goes on this week. Good suggestion to watch!
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Old 03-21-2021, 09:30 AM   #19
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good to turn water pump off when traveling

Quote:
Originally Posted by new2trailer View Post
I leave the water in the toilet, as the water keeps the seal lubricated and the smells out. I also leave the water pump on and don't know why people turn it off.

Mike



Hi Mike,
I can tell you why from experience. Once before I started to turn the water pump off during travel, the kitchen sink was turned on . . . No item around to hit the handle. Must have been turned on by a bump in the road. And since I used the drain cover to prevent gray water from coming up, the sink overflowed on the floor and out the door. And at least once since, turned water pump on at destination and the water started immediately running. Saved that time with the pump being off!
Safe travels!
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Old 03-24-2021, 09:40 PM   #20
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I leave the water in the toilet, as the water keeps the seal lubricated and the smells out. I also leave the water pump on and don't know why people turn it off.

Mike
We turn off the water if there will be some major elevation change.
Like more than 3K feet.
Sometimes after a big go up or go down our water pump gets confused.
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