Toilet Replace and Odd Electrical Behavior

[Jim Stoltz]

Rather than continue to hijack Paul's thread, I figured I'd start my own.

Dometic 310 toilet and the "adapter kit" are on the way. The adapter kit allows me to use my existing flange, which is cemented to the tank (don't want to have to cut it out).

And this is why I hate carpet in bathrooms.

I guess the toilet had been leaking. The only soft spots are under the flange - only 2 of the 6 bolts were gripping anything. 

They screwed the flange down through the carpet and padding, so I need to put 1/4" underlayment down in order to bring the floor up to the flange anyway. There's some carpeted trim that covers the pipes in the back. I may fabricate my own and try to tile it rather than put the carpeted pieces back in.

Also, some curious electrical behavior. It started when the hot water heater blew a fuse. There was a green wire running from the HW heater to nowhere. According to the wiring diagram, it's the *ground* for the indicator light. Well the indicator light works like it should without this wire hooked up. This wire is hot and had grounded out on a copper pipe. I taped it up and replaced the fuse. But I didn't have any fuses so I took one out of a spot marked "SPARE". Despite this marking, there was a red wire attached to the lug that runs into the wall somewhere. More on that in a minute.

I was working in the bathroom and the lights started to flicker. They eventually went out. All the lights on one of the two light circuits were very, very dimly lit. They were getting a little bit of juice from somewhere. I unplugged it from the shore power and plugged it back in. All the lights came back on. But, it did the same thing this morning.

So I took the fuse out of the HW slot and touched it to the slot with the mysterious red wire. All the lights came on! Even without the fuse installed - it just needed connected briefly. Assuming that the lights would eventually go out again without this fuse, I installed it and everything seems fine. Any ideas? It's only the one light circuit that goes out.

[John "T" Nordhoff]

  Jim, in a similar situation UPS picked up the item to be returned at the same time they delivered the new one EASY NO HASSLE: Another time they scheduled for UPS to pick it up at my house, I didn't have to do anything or pay anything other then print out and attach the SHIPPING LABEL.

 HOWEVER the ONLY way that happens is for the Vendor to E Mail (I printed it out) or send you A SHIPPING LABEL it has the proper numbers and bar code etc. The shipper WILL NOT pick it up until it has that SHIPPING LABEL.

 So "I guess so" isn't quite enough, Id ask them to e mail a Shipping Label for you to print and paste to the box and schedule a pick up at your house (easy if same day they deliver new one)

 Best wishes

 John T

[Jim Stoltz]

Thanks John. I'm going to stay on top of it. I had to call 4 times before I finally got the guy. He apologized, said there was a note on his desk about it but he was busy. I figured I'd give him 24 hours and call back for a tracking number for the new one. I don't care if they get their old one back, frankly, so long as they don't bill me for a 2nd one. They don't seem organized enough to do that.

[Jim Stoltz]

I talked to "Rick" again today. He said the order went through successfully but it would be tomorrow until he had a tracking number. He also insisted that UPS will simply pick up the package. I suppose I'll just flag down the UPS guy next time I see him? (kidding - I know that won't work) I need to find somewhere to dispose of a broken toilet, I guess.

[Jim Stoltz]

I couldn't resist the urge to test fit it, even though it's broken in a few dozen pieces. I could stack it up enough to simulate how it would fit. I like the floor space it gives me over the 30-year-old "square" Thetford.

[John "T" Nordhoff]

  Silly me, when I said UPS up above and that they had to have a shipping label (which seller e mailed me and I printed it out) IT WAS REALLY FED EX that did that, so UPS may work different??? It was a Senior Moment

 John T

 

[Jim Stoltz]

I'm reasonably sure UPS works the same way. I've returned stuff before and it always requires a return label from the seller.

[Jim Stoltz]

New one arrived today. It was unscathed for the most part. There was a little bit of rub on the front edge of the lid from how they package it, but I guess I'll let it go. I need to fabricate the fresh water feed, but I expected that. Not a fan of the adapter kit, but it was a necessary evil. It would look much better sitting directly on the floor.

[Jim Stoltz]

Hopefully there's still air in the lines. I can't make this noise all the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ56kkHhc4M&feature=youtu.be

[John "T" Nordhoff]

 I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I've had mine over a year and regardless if on city water or my onboard fresh water pump, each time you depress the pedal to flush the toilet there's an initial "air" sound before it turns to water only. Those top outer water outlets must drain back each time a slight amount so each time when water pressure hits them at the bottom entrance that air comes out first before the water. I still like the china toilet, just stays cleaner and easier to clean then a plastic one, Id never go back to plastic.

 John T

[Jim Stoltz]

I guess it's not a big deal. Just a bit louder than the plastic unit. Flushes as loud as a "real" toilet, but in a more confined space. People will just have to get used to it. The benefits of the china outweigh the drawback of the noise.

The instructions said that water could trickle out of the "holes" for up to 20 minutes, which seemed odd. That doesn't seem to be happening. I puts the 1" of water they specify in it after a flush and stops.

One more thing to knock off the "to-do" list. Going camping again this weekend so I need to have it in working order. First journey with my GF and her son. Need to make a good impression :)

[John "T" Nordhoff]

  Jim, mine seems to very slowly trickle a good while (that's why air has to guzzle out when you first flush) cuz if you look back in say 20 minutes the water level in the bowl has risen above the initial flush level, but all in all its fine. One small problem I did have even when new, was now n then the water in the bowl would drain out, but all it took to fix it (I read the manual) was to work around the ball vale seal gasket in the bottom and push it down which fixes the slow leak. I still have to do it maybe once a month, it may need a new seal eventually, but Im not going to worry with it for now. NOTE I'm still tempted to buy another Thetford Electra Magic Recirculating Toilet maybe someday the ONLY REASON I WOULD is because they are big time black water holding tank savers i.e. since they recirculate (until their own 8 gallon tank is full) youre NOT dumping a full 1/2 gallon or so down into the black tank with each flush, therefore your extended dry camping times are greatly improved. Right now the two of us can dry camp and use ONLY our own toilet facilities maybe 8 to 9 days?? With a recirculating toilet like Ive owned before that could double.  HOWEVER.......1) They are expensive like $500 and 2) The odor control isn't as good ANOTHER HOWEVER we can carry 110 gallons of fresh water if/when needed and after 8 to 9 days that's about out anyway, so its time to go dump and refill regardless. The good thing though is with 200 watts of solar panels on the roof and 460 amp hours of battery storage (4 golf cart batteries) we never run out of electricity yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Gotta love Utah and Colorado and BLM and Natl Forest lands, cheap and even free dry camping............

 John T

[Jim Stoltz]

Yep I saw that in the manual where you have to tweak the seal if it won't hold water. Mine seems to be okay for now.

Mine's a weekend warrior kind of thing - I don't plan on spending more than a couple of days "dry". I'm going to a state park this weekend which is dry, but they have a dump station there. Doing a few days at the Pocono Raceway in August. Should be fine there too. Then a couple more days at the Pocono Raceway for the Warrior Dash at the end of August. It's going to be really nice to have the RV this year. I've brought the limo in prior years, which is fun, but lacks the important stuff like shower, terlet, etc.

The trip to Hershey was a good test for the tanks. My 2 kids and I, plus some random visitors used the facilities on the 4 hour trip out (should have been 2.5 hours but that's another story) and all weekend without filling it up. Once I got to the dump station (fairly level at that point) it was showing 1/2 on the gray and just above 1/4 on the black.