Toilet doesn't hold water

[olebull]

Hey everyone, I have a 2018 Coachmen Catalina, recently started to experience an issue with the toilet. It appears that the seal on the valve may be passing. Bowl goes empty on it's own in a few hours. I used seal conditioner made for water systems with no luck. Not sure if the toilet would have to be removed in order to replace it or not. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks.

[Rich5117]

This happens. What model toilet do you have? Unfortunately it is not a favorite thing to do, but when ours starts losing water I turn the water off, glove up and clean the underside of the rubber seal really well. Know this will get some feedback but I use petroleum jelly on the seal once it's clean. Also make sure you clean the plastic ball really well. That normally takes care of the problem, have found that a dried piece of toilet paper is usually the culprit.

We did have the valve come loose down inside the toilet, the valve still worked but was letting the water drain. This was also an easy repair it just needed put back on the plastic holder.

[Bama Rambler]

I do the same thing Rich does. I also use Vaseline on the seal. It's worked for lots of years, so why mess with a good thing.

[houstonstroker]

Sometimes these will leak do to mineral deposits on the seal. Empty the bowl and pour in some CLR. This will eat the deposits as it seeps through. If that doesn't work might be time for a new seal.

[SeaDog]

I have also done the hand cleaning of the gasket and used petroleum jelly to condition the seal. Good luck

[AbdRahim]

I use the thick plumbers grease. Also, sometimes pouring hot water into the bowl helps.

[kenandterry]

Are we all talking about the design of the Dometic toilets, and their seal and ball design not sealing?
I previously had a Thetford fibreglass toilet with a different design that never had a sealing problem.
My wife wanted the porcelain design for better/easier cleaning so we now have the Dometic model 310 with this leaking problem. (We don’t have the room for the elongated model 320, but I believe it has the exact same seal and ball design.)

[A32Deuce]

I just put hot water in the,bowl and let it sit when that happens to ours. Very rarely do I have to do it twice after the first try.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by Rich5117

This happens. What model toilet do you have? Unfortunately it is not a favorite thing to do, but when ours starts losing water I turn the water off, glove up and clean the underside of the rubber seal really well. Know this will get some feedback but I use petroleum jelly on the seal once it's clean. Also make sure you clean the plastic ball really well. That normally takes care of the problem, have found that a dried piece of toilet paper is usually the culprit.

We did have the valve come loose down inside the toilet, the valve still worked but was letting the water drain. This was also an easy repair it just needed put back on the plastic holder.

Originally Posted by Bama Rambler

I do the same thing Rich does. I also use Vaseline on the seal. It's worked for lots of years, so why mess with a good thing.

Originally Posted by SeaDog

I have also done the hand cleaning of the gasket and used petroleum jelly to condition the seal. Good luck

Count me in on doing this as well.
Turn off the water supply, open the toilet valve and reach in from the bowl. Nothing to take apart. You can also replace the ball seal this way as well if necessary.

[EdJunior]

And if it's the Dometic (300, 310, 320), here is the replacement seal for it. I changed mine, and no leaking anymore.

https://www.amazon.com/Dometic-Sanit...0429442&sr=8-7

[dbledan]

Heh. That happened to me a few times.

I figured out DW was pushing the seal down with the toilet brush. I made HER glove up and go in after it. A little vaseline as others said and I have never had a problem since [emoji16]

[olebull]

Thanks everyone for the replies, many good ideas to try.

[Thurman]

FWIW: 38 years of industrial maintenance with lots of hydraulic experience taught me to never use vaseline/petroleum jelly on rubber seals of any kind. EPDM or Buna-N seals vaseline will not harm them. They make special lubricants for rubber seals which can be found at some auto parts stores. Plumbers silicone lube would be the best to use for the average homeowner/RV application. It's found at almost all home improvement stores and is cheap.

[derek6669]

you might also want to make sure the large gear clamp holding the pedestal to the toilet bowl hasn't loosen up and therefore causing the slow leak.

[Hi Rider]

Try pouting an inch or so of mineral water into the toilet and let it sit for awhile.

[DouglasReid]

That rubber ring just pops in and out.

It is MUCH easier to clean by simply removing it.

This allows you to clean the area of the toilet where it mounts and seals on the toilet as well.

[cavie]

the Domedic 310 can be easy or a real PITA. cost about $15.00 to fix. Model # will be under the seat.

[Cathcartww]

Whenever ours does that, we let it sit overnight or so with this stuff in the bowl - works like a charm. https://www.amazon.com/Thetford-Toil.../dp/B002NSU0ZW

[NXR]

Being new to RV toilets, what is the problem if it fails to hold water? It just falls through the hole when you flush anyway.

Not a troll question; I really do not know. We have both a Dometic 310 and a Tecma macerator. We only use the Tecma for #2 to reduce tank build-up issues.

Ray

[jshaw1]

We had the same problem on our Dometic 300 model. Went on-line and there is a good U-tube video that might help. It appears that the flapper ball can come loose and be offset to one side of the toilet thus letting the water drain.

Sure enough, that is what happened to us. with pair of water proof gloves and the water turned off. it took less than 30 sec to repair. I would look at your gasket in the bowl closely to see if it is sitting uneven.

We have been on the road this year for 40 days, 50 days in 2019, 60 days in 2018, and 40 days in 2017. Wish I had found this sooner. It was my own fault as I was using a PVC flusher to rinse out the toilet for winterizing.

Crusader 35 ft with 2008 3/4 ton HD Silverado