Forum Discussion

scottykrug's avatar
scottykrug
Explorer
Jul 05, 2013

Best replacement toilet?

The Aquamagic 5 that came with our camper has an annoying habit of letting out a nasty stink when it just sits. The bowl is full of water so the blade seal works fine. I researched this topic here and by google to find people with similar problems but no real solutions. It wasn't until I removed the beast that I found out a rather disturbing truth and possible connection to the stink. The area under the bowl is totally open to the smell of the tank, ie, when you flush, the contents literally flop down onto the base of the toilet and hopefully into the tank. There are many potential leak spots from which odors can come from (the actuator cable at the bottom of the toilet, the water valve at the top, or any possible cracks in the case along the way to name a few). I figured there would be a positive sealing tube to the tank not a giant open @#^$ collecting crevasse one thin piece of plastic away from stinking out your camper. Does anyone have a suggestion for a better design? Don't have a lot of room behind so one of those enormous bravura toilets won't work. I have looked online and they don't really give info regarding how their toilets work. Thank you!

Scooter

10 Replies

  • scottykrug's avatar
    scottykrug
    Explorer
    Aug 04, 2013
    Follow up (the sequel)....

    Well the seal wasn't the problem. Traced the stink from the back of the toilet as above mentioned. Probably near the cable entry. Bit the bullet and bought a new Aqua magic 2 with the rebate. Extremely happy with it and NO STINK. Much sturdier unit too.
  • thumbscrew's avatar
    thumbscrew
    Explorer
    Jul 09, 2013
    PUCampin wrote:
    I too had one of the wonderfull Aquamagic V toilets. The flush handle shaft seal dried out and leaked odors. No user replaceable parts. New toilet required. I bought a Aquamagic style II, it was the only one that would fit so close to the wall other than another aquamagic V. Much happier.


    The problem with the flush handle seal on the Aqua Magic 5 is there isn't one.
    It's just wadded with plumbers grease.
    So after X number of flushes and X number of days/years the grease just oozes out and lets little doses of stank escape also.

    We just purchased our first used TT and I was chasing the occasional mystery stank.
    I went through EVERY possible cause. The last of which was turning the toilet upside down and filling it with water. The water dripped out from around the flush handle.
    I took the handle assembly apart and that's when I saw the grease with no seal. It would have been possible to "repack" it but I didn't want the hassle.

    Its a pretty "crappy" design all the way around.
  • PUCampin's avatar
    PUCampin
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2013
    I too had one of the wonderfull Aquamagic V toilets. The flush handle shaft seal dried out and leaked odors. No user replaceable parts. New toilet required. I bought a Aquamagic style II, it was the only one that would fit so close to the wall other than another aquamagic V. Much happier.
  • scottykrug's avatar
    scottykrug
    Explorer
    Jul 08, 2013
    Follow up....

    The $5 flange seal (toilet to floor) did the trick. I really had to compress the new one to get the toilet flush with the floor and that should seal it for some time. The service guy suggested simple vaseline to help seat and seal the new o ring. I had trepidations about a petroleum product reacting with the seal, but he was adamant about it. Will see.

    Two side notes,
    The screw in seal (used it in the house when removing toilets) worked fantastic in keeping the smell out of the camper while the toilet was removed.

    Thought of getting one of those water sprayers (termed water saver by thetford)while I was behind the toilet but was reminded by the DW that we have a 6 y/o son and how much water would end up all over the bathroom once he figured out how to use it. Nuff said.
  • scottykrug's avatar
    scottykrug
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2013
    After further examination, the flange seal on the floor looks like it has seen better days. Will be running over to the rv shop tomorrow to get a new one. Would like to get a whole new biffy but it is not in the cards this year. Glad to see that the plumbing through the floor was the same dimensions as a home setup. I was able to use the same compression plug to seal the opening while the stool was off. Thank you all for the input. Conway, disassembly was a breeze and if you had the new seal in hand, smell shouldn't be an issue. I will probably smear some plumbers silicone on the new seal to guarantee a better fit. Probably will hit it with the pressure washer to get any skid marks/klingons out of the inside of the stool. Might even hang one of those little automotive Christmas trees in there too ;).
  • cbconway's avatar
    cbconway
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2013
    This is an interesting topic for us, as our 6-month old TT sometimes has a urine smell in the head, but not all the time. We only use it for peeing (seriously) and never put toilet paper in it! I've tried every known odor control, use plenty of water to flush, clean up any possible splashes and rinse the black tank religiously after dumping. Our dealer checked out the installation of the head and the black tank assembly, but found no problem. Now I'm wondering if the toilet is cracked inside or the lower seal is bad. But since we've never pooped in it, taking it apart mightn't be too bad. I hope. :R
  • CloudDriver's avatar
    CloudDriver
    Explorer
    Jul 06, 2013
    Our Minnie came with the AquaMagic 4 toilet, which is probably the older brother of the model 5. The space below the flush valve wasn't a simple pipe, but a large space that the "stuff" dropped through on it's way down to the pipe that went to the black tank. Plenty of brown stains collected on the walls of this space over time. As Old-Biscuit says, everything below the flush valve is open to the black tank, so any kind of leak results in a awful odor. Our toilet developed a very bad odor leak last year. I think something broke or cracked inside, but I wasn't about to take it apart with all that stuff inside.

    After a lot of online research and reading product reviews, I finally settled on the AquaMagic Style II. I liked this toilet because it has a simple straight drop pipe below the flush valve, the water flush system does not go through a space that is open to the black tank and the flush ball has an O-ring shaft seal - no cables going who knows where. In the link above, click on the Parts link to see an exploded view.

    We have used this toilet on our last two trips with no issues.
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Jul 05, 2013
    Standard RV toilets are 'gravity' toilets.
    Do your thing.......open toilet blade/ball and plop goes the stuff down the dump line into top of tank.

    The floor seal is there to seal off bottom of toilet from dump line/tank
    The bowl seal is there to provide a vapor barrier from dump line/tank

    Floor seal intact and bowl seal holding water.......no stink

    Suspect floor seal...either toilet is not tightened down enough, seal improperly installed or seal is deteriorated.

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