Water seeps out of Toilet

[navyAZ1]

After flushing the small amount of water that should stay in the toilet "Doesn't" in just a few minutes it leaks down and is dry. We have opened the valve and checked for debris but can't find anything also tried cleaning what we could see of the seal with a soft brush, but it still leaks down. Any ideas?

 

[mrcomer]

navyAZ1,
Try doing a search on the forum. I recall this being an early problem with the SeaLand toilets from Dometic. I believe there was a replaceable seal that corrected the problem.

//heartlandowners.org/showthread.php?t=1391&highlight=toilet+seal

Good Luck,
Mark

 

[jbeletti]

navyAZ1,

Not a lot of help to you but attached is a file I found on Dometic's website. And below is an excerpt from that file.

Jim

You can clean a china RV toilet just as you would a household toilet, but be sure not to use caustic chemicals, such as drain openers, as they will damage the seals. SeaLand® manufactures a bowl and seal cleaner that restores shine to the bowl by removing lime build-up.

To prevent mineral deposits, periodically clean under the bowl seal. To do so, shut off the water and the ball valve open. Insert the cleaning tool into the toilet hole and close the valve, leaving the handle of the tool exposed. Hold the handle and vigorously scrub the seal all the way around. Pull out the tool, turn on the water, rinse and flush.

Seals last a long time. They do not need to be cleaned often or even on a regular schedule. “If it holds water,” Dr. Dometic advised, “then it’s working just fine.”

As part of routine maintenance, keep the seal lubricated. Simply spray the ball valve with a silicone lubricant or cooking spray (make sure the lubricant is not harmful to rubber). One quick spray will keep it lubricated and working well.

 

[SmokeyBare]

When I have found this problem... and yes it has happened a time or two.

I will get the trusty Potty Brush out, press down on the foot pedal, with the water flowing and the valve open... I start cleaning. I swish and swirl the brush about where the valve seats... yep... down inside the opening.

Often this clears what ever was allowing the water to slowly empty from the bowl. Well... it has so far....

 

[jpmorgan37]

navyAZ1;
Try the above recommendations. If that doesn't work, contact Dometic and request that they send you a new flushing ball (that;s the round part that you see that moves out of the way when you flush it). I had the problem for several months and cleaned seals, replaced seals, repositioned seals and finally got a new flushing ball and no problems of full time use in over a year.
Good Luck
John

 

[dieselengineer]

navyAZ1;
Before you replace the ball valve, try wiping the seal clean (open the valve and wiping the seal under the opening on the back side. Then lube the seal as noted in Jim's post (dometic website). I have found when the water does not stay, the issue is most likely the valve is not closed completely. To test this, open and close the valve, with the valve closed (foot off the pedal), try pushing the valve close with your hand. If it moves a little, (say about a 1/4 inch) then the valve was not closed. Leave the valve in this position, if the water stays after you pushed the valve then the seal is okay. If this is the case, lubing the seal will correct the issue. I use high dollar 303 spray lube and water stays all day / night.

 

[Karl]

I have also experienced the same problem with the porcelin Sealand toilet, which is now usually after company has used the toilet. I found out that if you let the foot pedal sort of pop closed it seals, but if closed slowly it will leak down.

I have checked the seal area and all looks good and clean. After reading I may have a problem as well. Now I need to do some more checking.


Karl

 

[phranc]

I had the early seal failure and after trying all the above mentioned fixes( ie:cleaning,spray, vaseline,snap back foot pedal) ,the final and last repair ,by the dealer was to replace the ball and seal. Toilet has worked fine for over a year....

 

[navyAZ1]

Thanks all I will give the silcone spray a try, we don't have time to take it to the dealer as we will be leaving on a 3 week trip a week from Saturday. One thing I noticed is while cleaning the seal and testing there is a bunch of "seed" looking stuff clinging to the sides of the pipe going down to the black tank and when I would take a spray bottle of water and spray around the seal in my efforts to clean this these "seed" looking things kept coming out from around the seal. It almost looks like some sort of grass seed and is a light tan in color. We are going to be close to the factory on our trip and I plan a factory tour wonder if they could fix this for me or give me the parts?

 

[jpmorgan37]

navyAZ1;

If you call Matt at Recreational Specialities and make an appointment for when you are going to be at the factory, they will take care of you in short order and do a first class job.

John

 

[Princess Kathleen]

Just wondering what your diet is!!!!! Maybe you should cut back on the oats or sesame seeds...Just joking....

We had a problem also, but we had no water to speak of in the bowl. After RVC in Elkhart, repaired it by replacing the seals...we have water! Give Mike a call at 574-970-0120 or tracyrvcsc@comcast.net

Tell them hello from the Princess

PK

 

[navyAZ1]

Well I talked with the tech at our dealer and he had the parts in stock to replace the ball and seal I offered to take the old one out and bring it to him and get the new one. Well when I took it apart nothing looked worn or damaged so I cleaned everything really good sprayed a little silicone on the seal and put it all back together and it is holding water fine so it is working for now and if I have a problem again at the beginning of our trip I call those folks and see if I can get in to see them. Thanks again all for your help.

 

[dieselengineer]

If the seal is not damaged, and the water leaking by, then the valve is not closing completely. Just keep the valve clean and well lubed. I think a lot of valves are being replaced that are in great shape. Just need a little TLC and seal lube.

 

[jpmorgan37]

DE;
The information that I got from a conversation with one of the Dometic sales people was they suspected that they had a bad batch of the flush ball valves. This was in the '05 & '06 models. Since I replaced mine, no problem. I agree, they have to be clean but if they aren't closing tightly, they won't hold water.

John

John

 

[christianson]

I installed a sprayer atachment to my flush valve so we completly rense the bowel after using can be bought at a camper supply . Would not have rv without it never had any sealing problems

 

[busted2341]

Well as I have reported before in the forum, I thought because I didn't see the problems first hand I was exempt. Well I have toilet problems too. The water, good or bad, seems to seep out the bottom of the fitting to the floor. That's right I said to the floor. I have pulled it up resealed and still after about 10 flushes it just seeps out at the floor. Any answers on this one?

 

[kakampers]

Just gotta say...LOVE YOU GUYS!

Our toilet just started leaking water out of the bowl several days ago, and from the info in this thread we were able to determine that the bowl had shifted. All we had to do was remove the bowl and reposition it over the seal...All is well again!! Thanks a bunch!!

 

[ChopperBill]

I take plenty of Metamucil to keep things flowing. Guess I am going to have to take a daily dose of mineral oil to keep things lubed up!

 

[Forrest Fetherolf]

Pledge Furniture Polish For Leaking Toilet Bowl Seal

After using my RV for about 20 weeks during the last year, the toilet flush ball seal decided to leak. The fix was simple, drained the bowl, cleaned the rubber surface with the cleaning tool included (aka tongue depressor), sprayed Pledge Furniture Polish on flush ball seal and let set for about 5 minutes, added water and flushed several times. After a few flushes we heard an extra little click as the flush ball closed completely and the water stayed in the bowl.

Do not use oil base or alcohol products.................they cause the seal to harden and damage the teflon surface.

It was so easy that the worst of the worst RV service tech's could do it and would have extreme difficulty screwing it up.

 

[kakampers]

Wouldn't bet on that Forrest...apparently you never used Best Buy Rv service techs in Ohio....