Easy RV Toilet Repair & Maintenance
Repairing your RV toilet if often a simple cleaning
Do you have problems with your RV toilet? I hope we have an answer for you. Problems with toilets in RVs are often very easy to fix and can even be prevented if you know the cause of common problems.
Your toilet bowl should hold water. Between uses you should have an inch or so of water in the bottom of the toilet. The normal flushing leaves about that much there.
If your bowl doesn't hold water, the most common problem is getting toilet paper or other "stuff" caught in the blade as it closes. You flush and let go of the lever too soon and the blade may push toilet paper into the groove the blade closes into. If you put fresh water in the toilet and it runs out fairly quickly, this is often the problem.
One problem with water running out of the toilet is that there is a gap where air can come back up into the toilet and give you a foul smell in your bathroom. As you drive along or wind blows over the vent pipe on the top of your RV, you can get air blowing down the pipe causing pressure in the tank. If you toilet seal leaks, some of this air gets pushed up into your motorhome. This air was in your sewer tank and the air coming into your RV has picked up sewer smells.
The solution to preventing this problem is to be sure everything is out of the bowl before you let go of the flush lever. If dry toilet paper is high up in the bowl, add more water into the bow to get it wet and floating before flushing.
There is a special tool you can buy to clean the groove. This is not a job for the squeamish member of your RV team. It requires putting on a pair of rubber gloves and inserting the tool in the blade groove and "digging" out the offending particles so the blade can once more close completely.
As your toilet gets older the gaskets that hold the water in to bowl will age and they will get a calcium like deposit on them. This deposit is very hard to get off. You need to remove the toilet and replace the gaskets. At the same time you should replace the floor gasket the toilet sits down against. See the article on the left about, "RV Toilet Replacement" for how the toilet is removed. Again, wear rubber gloves to prevent contact with debris in the toilet crevices.
Depending on your budget and your desire to work with parts of a sewage system, you may or may not want to tackle gasket replacement. Some of you may just as soon replace the whole toilet. It is a few dollars for gaskets and $150 up for a new toilet. Your RV shop may or may not replace toilet gaskets. They will replace a toilet for you. This work is an easy do it yourself project, but not the most pleasant to think about.
When I removed and worked on our toilet it wasn't a gross mess, but it was still a slightly dirty job.
Because your toilet water connection is a screw on connection, it would pay to reach behind your toilet and twist the connection nut to be sure it is tight. Feel the area and be sure there isn't any water leakage. This is fresh water and should not be a health hazard, but wash your hands after this check.
If the flush mechanism seems stiff, spray it with a silicone spay lubricant. Also spray the blade and the gasket with silicone lubricant. Use ONLY silicone lubricant spray to prevent damage to rubber and plastic parts.
If replacement is your choice, click this link to see some RV
Toilets
For a higher end ceramic toilet that is more like you home toilet check out the link below. You can even replace the toilet seat since many home style toilet seats will fit this one.
SeaLand® Traveler 500 Plus™ Toilet - White
