2020 Classic 33FB Toilet Failure

[rlyoung1952]

My wife and myself were on a 17 day camping trip and on day three we go to the bathroom to find our toilet is flooding the bathroom floor with water. I am hoping it is clean water but no water is in the bowl. Ran outside to shut off city water. There does not appear to be a shut off on the 33'. Called Airstream to see if they could squeeze me in to replace the toilet. They said they would get back to me soon. It has been 4 days and still no calls. I do have a appointment in July but now I had to cancel 4 trips because if I turn the water on it leaks. It is a good thing I am not full timing it yet. It is discouraging that you pay so much for the airstream name and their service and quality is so poor. When I take my trailer in July for warranty work, this will be the 4th time in a little over a year. I think that is a little excessive.

I can't believe it would have taken them more that a couple of hours to replace the toilet. I would still come back in July for the remaining warranty work.

[AirstreamInc]

Originally Posted by rlyoung1952

My wife and myself were on a 17 day camping trip and on day three we go to the bathroom to find our toilet is flooding the bathroom floor with water. I am hoping it is clean water but no water is in the bowl. Ran outside to shut off city water. There does not appear to be a shut off on the 33'. Called Airstream to see if they could squeeze me in to replace the toilet. They said they would get back to me soon. It has been 4 days and still no calls. I do have a appointment in July but now I had to cancel 4 trips because if I turn the water on it leaks. It is a good thing I am not full timing it yet. It is discouraging that you pay so much for the airstream name and their service and quality is so poor. When I take my trailer in July for warranty work, this will be the 4th time in a little over a year. I think that is a little excessive.

I can't believe it would have taken them more that a couple of hours to replace the toilet. I would still come back in July for the remaining warranty work.

Hi rlyoung1952,*

We're very sorry to learn about the issue you are having. Can you please send a private message with your email, phone number and VIN so that we can look into this and have someone contact you?

Thank you.

[moosetags]

The toilet water issue you are describing sounds like a water connection to the toilet bowl has has become separated or a water supply line has ruptured. The toilet itself is most likely fine.

I would take it to any RV repair facility that can look at it right away. Either that or call a mobile RV repair guy that can come to you. You can probably get this repair done for a reasonable cost.

Yes, I realize that this is a warranty item that Airstream should fix for free. Just get it fixed and see if Airstream will reimburse you. Even if they won't, you are way ahead because you have continued use of your Airstream.

Many times in these situations, people "cut off their nose to spite their face". The use of your Airstream is worth a lot more than the cost of a minor repair.

Brian

[Cyclist]

We've had two leaks around the toilet since we've had the trailer new. The first, when we were full timing, came in the first six months and was a connection in the water line that had loosened. This was an easy fix by me, just hand tighten. The second came last year and this was a leak in the seal around the foot pedal/flap in the bowl. This latter was a real pain as any water in the bowl would leak out. The dealer replaced the entire toilet with a new one.

If you can't get an appointment with Airstream in a reasonable time, I would take the trailer to a dealer for the repair. When we were full timing, we had good warranty service from several dealers around North America.

[panamerican]

Dumb question, but have you taken a look behind the toilet where the Pex meets the toilet? Might just be a loose connection that can be easily tightened? If the toilet itself has failed internally, that's a whole nuther story in terms of bringing it to any old RV repair place.

[rlyoung1952]

Originally Posted by panamerican

Dumb question, but have you taken a look behind the toilet where the Pex meets the toilet? Might just be a loose connection that can be easily tightened? If the toilet itself has failed internally, that's a whole nuther story in terms of bringing it to any old RV repair place.

Pen does not connect behind, but inside toilet.

[rlyoung1952]

Originally Posted by moosetags

The toilet water issue you are describing sounds like a water connection to the toilet bowl has has become separated or a water supply line has ruptured. The toilet itself is most likely fine.

I would take it to any RV repair facility that can look at it right away. Either that or call a mobile RV repair guy that can come to you. You can probably get this repair done for a reasonable cost.

Yes, I realize that this is a warranty item that Airstream should fix for free. Just get it fixed and see if Airstream will reimburse you. Even if they won't, you are way ahead because you have continued use of your Airstream.

Many times in these situations, people "cut off their nose to spite their face". The use of your Airstream is worth a lot more than the cost of a minor repair.

Brian

I had talked with airstream service prior to this when I had minor leaks using the water pump. Because of the toilet I have they told me it would need to be replaced. I looked online to see the cost of the toilet and they go for $2200. When you look at the parts book for the classic on the 30’ the toilet has over 10 parts you can buy for it. On mine, one, the whole toilet.

[guskmg]

On water leaking out the bowl: take a 8" piece of coat hanger wire and bend one end 90 degrees and on the other end bend a handle. Turn off the water, open the flush valve and run the coat hanger around the valve seat several times. Pull it out and clean off as necessary. Toilet paper gets trapped in the groove a prevents the valve from seating. However, the best overall policy is don't flush any paper.
guskmg

[s1000pre]

Sounds like you have a bad fresh water connection. Get a Plummer to come tighten or replace a cracked fitting.

[DeltaRon]

Originally Posted by guskmg

On water leaking out the bowl: take a 8" piece of coat hanger wire and bend one end 90 degrees and on the other end bend a handle. Turn off the water, open the flush valve and run the coat hanger around the valve seat several times. Pull it out and clean off as necessary. Toilet paper gets trapped in the groove a prevents the valve from seating. However, the best overall policy is don't flush any paper.
guskmg

WHOA! Don’t do what guskmg is suggesting; you’ll screw up the maserator pump big time. I don’t think he understands that the toilet in the Classic 33 is not a conventional RV toilet that dumps straight into the tank. The Classic 33s have a maserator pump.

[rlyoung1952]

I tried removing the toilet to see if I could see what is wrong. I only got the back of the toilet up about 1/2 inch and encountered resistance. I decided not to go through the removal. I would need to get the back up enough and something hold it there so I could get under it to remove water inlet, power and waste water hose. There is not a lot of room to attempt this myself. I am hoping in July when my appointment in JC they will let me watch the removal so I can see how it is done.

[Peter417]

Originally Posted by rlyoung1952

My wife and myself were on a 17 day camping trip and on day three we go to the bathroom to find our toilet is flooding the bathroom floor with water. I am hoping it is clean water but no water is in the bowl. Ran outside to shut off city water. There does not appear to be a shut off on the 33'. Called Airstream to see if they could squeeze me in to replace the toilet. They said they would get back to me soon. It has been 4 days and still no calls. I do have a appointment in July but now I had to cancel 4 trips because if I turn the water on it leaks. It is a good thing I am not full timing it yet. It is discouraging that you pay so much for the airstream name and their service and quality is so poor. When I take my trailer in July for warranty work, this will be the 4th time in a little over a year. I think that is a little excessive.

I can't believe it would have taken them more that a couple of hours to replace the toilet. I would still come back in July for the remaining warranty work.

Bugs happen and they are very much a part of a handmade trailer. You will get through them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5KmSRWp-8I

[JohnandDonna]

Originally Posted by rlyoung1952

I had talked with airstream service prior to this when I had minor leaks using the water pump. Because of the toilet I have they told me it would need to be replaced. I looked online to see the cost of the toilet and they go for $2200. When you look at the parts book for the classic on the 30’ the toilet has over 10 parts you can buy for it. On mine, one, the whole toilet.

I can not believe the cost they quoted you for a new toilet. We had the toilet in our 2020 International 30RB replaced after its first year. While it worked fine, the small round bowl is not very hygienic for a male. The dealer put in a brand new elongated bowl toilet for $350 and it works great. Something just does not sound right with your situation.

[Wazbro]

Originally Posted by JohnandDonna

I can not believe the cost they quoted you for a new toilet. We had the toilet in our 2020 International 30RB replaced after its first year. While it worked fine, the small round bowl is not very hygienic for a male. The dealer put in a brand new elongated bowl toilet for $350 and it works great. Something just does not sound right with your situation.

Yours is a conventional RV toilet, his is a macerator toilet. Not the same thing. Kinda like comparing an AS to a SOB.

[dmassey321]

Originally Posted by AirstreamInc

Hi rlyoung1952,*



We're very sorry to learn about the issue you are having. Can you please send a private message with your email, phone number and VIN so that we can look into this and have someone contact you?



Thank you.

Bingo...the ubiquitous and quite useless troll message from AS. If only this message would result in someone from AS actually jumping into action to honestly care about their customer...one can dream. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

[WestieHouse]

Originally Posted by Peter417

Bugs happen and they are very much a part of a handmade trailer. You will get through them.

True, we will all “get through” everything that comes our way. That statement offers nothing to solve the problem.

Like many others on this Forum, I’ve experienced numerous serious quality issues on my 2 new Airstreams, some which have caused physical injury, others constituted safety risks, and some disrupted important trips.

Those who make excuses for Airstream/Thor like: “they are hand made”, or “what do you expect from something that tools down the road” always amaze me. Many types of expensive machines (and other items, like watches) are hand made and many types of vehicles ride down the road.without the legendary problems of new, very expensive Airstreams. Time to stop excusing poor quality workmanship and design flaws.

It’s not my intention to offend anyone. But I have spent many hours and significant money picking up Airstream’s slack.

Buying a used Airstream that has been owned and cared for by an owner who has taken responsibility for resolving all the problems frequently encountered on a new Airstream is worth serious consideration.

[As I “Preview Post” I see the ad as part of the quoted post. Something I’ve not seen before on this Forum.]