SeaLand Toilet Question - Montana Owners Club

Roman4 · 02-12-2005, 01:18 PM

We are new owners of a Montana 3475RL, currently on our shakedown cruise with the new unit. It has a SeaLand brand Dometic china toilet with a foot pedal flush mechanism. I have a newby question about the operation of the toilet so as to know if I have an issue justifying a complaint to the dealer.

Following use and flush of the toilet, a small amount of water covers the valve in the bowl. That is consistent with my experience with a previous (although different style) RV toilet. With this toilet, however, the small amount of water remaining in the bowl and covering the outlet valve drains away over a period of a few hours.

I tend to think that if the water can and does drain out, odors will enter the living quarters. Can anyone tell me if the disappearance of water from the toilet bowl is normal with this toilet, or should I take it back to the dealer?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Roman 4
2005 Montana 3475RL
2005 Ford F-350 SRW PSD w/ Tow Command

Glenn and Lorraine · 02-12-2005, 01:25 PM

First of all welcome to the MOC,

The little bit of water in the bowl works the same as the trap in your stick house bowl and that is to keep the sewer gases in the tank and not in the bathroom. If it was me I would be contacting Montana first thing Monday morning.

CountryGuy · 02-12-2005, 01:26 PM

Roman 4

First, welcome to the forum

Next, congrats on the new unit, may it bring you many great memories

Next, I am not sure about this, but is it possible that the valve and accompanying gaskets are dry and a little shrunk?? Maybe after the weekend, you will find that the water in the bowl will "rehydrate" the inerds and it will stop leaking/draining??

If, it does not stop, I would be talking to my dealer on Monday morning! The water is supposed to hold, not drain away over a few hours time.

Enjoy!

Cheers,

Carol

sreigle · 02-12-2005, 01:45 PM

The water also keeps the seal from drying out. If you get a little paper stuck in the valve mechanism or the groove where it fits, that can cause a leak. You might shut off the water so you can check that out. We've occasionally had the water drain and have been fortunate that operating the flush mechanism a couple of times cleared it and stopped the leakage. Ours is not the china toilet and is a Thetford brand but I'd guess this part of them is similar. If nothing is caught in there then the seal must not be holding or it's out of place or otherwise keeping the valve slide from fully closing. Since yours is in warranty I think I'd let the dealer fix it or replace the toilet unless you can find the cause of the leakage and easily fix it.

OntMont · 02-12-2005, 02:05 PM

We have the same toilet, and it does the same thing. We have found that if we lift the pedal to fill the bowl, the water seems to stay put. That said, I don't think this is right, and we will discussing with our dealer when we get back.

stiles watson · 02-13-2005, 02:15 PM

Kinda sounds like it may need some working. Maybe the problem is in the stiffness of a new unit. Since I have Thetford, I may be wrong, but I might try a little lubrisol lubricant or WD-40 on the pivot point of the flushing mechanism, then give several repeated flushings to make sure it fully returns. That should help if there is stiffness in the lever.

That failing, I agree with all the above--dealer time. Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new Montana.

ols1932 · 02-13-2005, 02:41 PM

I take a piece of Velcro (the coarse side, not the softside), remove the backing and stick it to my index finger (you can use a rubber glove if you want to, I don't). Then I press the foot valve down and run my finger (with the velcro attached) all around under the opening. You may be surprised with what you find!.

Also, those new toilets have a tendency to be stiff when new. If you press the pedal down and then just "slide" your foot off, it never quite closes. But if you "snap" your foot off you may find that the valve closes tighter. Once broken in I think you'll find it works well. A friend of mine has the same toilet and we found that this fix works.

Roman4 · 02-16-2005, 03:37 AM

The darndest thing: The toilet has healed itself.

It is rare, in my experience, that a problem cures itself without intervention so I am cautious about declaring it a dead issue, but after two days of proper operation I am hopeful that the toilet will continue to hold water. I presume that it was a "dry seal" issue, cured by the eventual absorbtion of moisture by the seal.

Thank you for the responses; it gives me a great deal of comfort to know that we are not alone in this adventure, and that people are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with us. Thanks again.

Roman 4

sreigle · 02-16-2005, 05:10 AM

I'm glad to hear it has healed itself, Roman 4! As I mentioned above, we've had a couple of times where the water self-drained but a couple of flushes and it also healed itself. I figure we had a little tissue or something caught between the slide and the seal. Hopefully that's what happened to you, too.

Bill and Ann · 02-18-2005, 02:26 AM

We have the Sealand toilet. To flush, you push down the pedal, to put water in, you lift the pedal. When we first got our unit it wouldn't hold water in the toilet. The dealer replaced the seal as it wasn't letting it close properly. It now works perfectly. You are right. You have to let it snap closed to ensure it seals.

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