By Nanci Dixon
This tip seemed so simple, I hesitated to write about it. But since it has saved us a lot of work and quickened the toilet fill, I thought you should know about it, too.
RV toilet bowls, unlike home toilets, require a manual fill with water. Holding down a lever to get sufficient water into the bowl requires some patience and time.
On our toilet, the screws would loosen on the fill mechanism and start to leak. It was such a hassle to remove the shroud, lay down on the floor and tighten the screws every few weeks. It leaked enough that I had ordered a spare mechanism to replace it but I hesitated when the instructions read, “Remove toilet from floor.” Ummm…
We now simply keep a plastic cup in the bathroom to fill the RV’s toilet bowl with water from the sink. The sink water pressure is much higher than the toilet fill pressure was. And the best part—no more leaking!
RELATED
- How to use your RV toilet even in winter
- The best product to protect your RV toilet seals
- How to get rid of mold in and around RV toilet
- Easy step-by-step DIY RV toilet seal replacement
- How to fix and prevent clogged RV toilets
RVDT2825
I’ve heard some folks do the same but use dish water instead of faucet water as it keeps the gray tank from filling as fast and saves on the consumption of fresh water.
Me? I’d fix the toilet, life’s too short to spend trying to escape chores…LOL
We have a collapsible bucket in our shower that catches the cold water while warming up for a shower. We use this for flushing and filling the bowl. Uses less fresh water, and saves grey tank space
We have a half gallon jug of water right next to the toilet. Ready at all times for an emergency flush.
Unless the screws that you are retightening are into plastic (ugh), apply some locktite on them. Do it once and never again will they loosen.
Hi Tom: Good idea and I would add use the “blue” Loctite – the “Red” is virtually permanent.
It’s the nice thing about macerator toilets in RVs: They work much like a home toilet. Push a button and flush and refill is done.
Another advantage? No poop pyramids or clogging sewer oulets as everything going out of the bowl is ground up.
We keep a gallon jug next to the toilet. The warm-up water goes in there until it’s full, then goes down the toilet or prefills the bowl for “those” times. It usually takes about 4 shower warm-ups to fill the jug.
“…..requires some patience and time.”. You’re kidding, right? I’ve never put a stopwatch on it but I’d be very surprised if it took more than 5-6 seconds to put sufficient water in the bowl.
The shower wand reaches to the toilet so it makes for an easy rinse.
After 9 years my Thetford toilet flush lever valve started leaking, so I asked the repair shop guys to replace it, but they just tightened the screws on the valve, and the valve is so tight that it is hard to flush now, plus it still leaks. So I’ve resorted to flushing the toilet with water from the sink, using a cup. RV service isn’t reliable any more, and service guys are scarce, and don’t come out when needed.
I keep a quart jug in the shower so I can top off the bowl as needed.