Maybe not your typical post on this subject, but.... here it goes.
We have a Thetford toilet (Model 42070) in our Montana and for some time now it's been loosing water. I picked up the gasket and seal kit from my local RV dealership parts shop a few months ago and intended to install the new flapper seal. But, we've been on the road so much, I was a little skeptical about doing this job, maybe run into problems (like reconnecting the water and having leaks), or just getting into something over my head and needing a good parts store. While camping in unfamiliar locations, this is a bit risky for me. So, we decided to just live with the bowl loosing water until we finally returned home.
Well, we finally returned home (yesterday) and first this this morning on my list of update repairs and minor adjustments with the camper was to fix that leaking valve in the bowl of the toilet.
I used this YouTube video as my guide. So, the video was a tremendous help and it was spot on. I'm glad he pointed out the size of each tool neeced. That saved a lot of guess work.
Anyway, I got the toilet apart in the 2 pieces, the base and the bowl.
The first thing that struck me about this specific toilet is the fact it is NOT all porcelain. The actual bowl is, but the base is not. It's plastic, or PVC, or something like that. So, the entire toilet is NOT porcelain like in your home. Well, I suppose that's OK, the thing works. That's all that matters.
Now, the next thing I noticed was all the crud that adhered to the base in the neck that dumps into the black tank.
I took each half of the toilet and set it up in the yard (at home) and proceeded to clean everything before re-installing. Lots of Dawn, Crud Cleaner, and "The Works", and my garden hose with a sprayer. I should have used my pressure washer!
Anyway, the outside cleaned up real nice, but the neck of the base, that black crud on there ... it did not come off. I ended up using a wire brush, and even THAT would not remove all the black crud that seemed to bond with the plastic or PVC or whatever that is. I did the best I could as much as my patients and tolerance allowed and finally said, that's as good as I'm going to get it. Maybe half of it came off, Some white started showing through, but that stuff is just pain tough.
So I was able to get everything back together and the bowl is now holding water! Yahoo! I probably just saved myself a hundred dollars in labor charges if I would have taken to an RV repair shop!
Now, trying deal with the neck of that base made me wonder.... if just the neck is this coated and the stuff is that hardened, what's REALLY going on inside the black tank!
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