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oatsmoeller's avatar
oatsmoeller
Explorer
Jun 07, 2015

Leaky toilet -- more than caulk??

My 1994 PleasureWay has a small leak around the toilet -- where the base of the toilet meets the floor of the bathroom. There's caulk around about 1/3 of the toilet, it's leaking from a portion that is uncaulked.
I'm planning to just run a bead of caulk around the rest to seal it up, but I'm worried there's a bigger issue behind this problem...

The leak occurs only when we have the water pump on.
When I flip the switch to 'On' the pump runs for a few seconds, then turns off for about 5 seconds, and without turning any faucets on it starts running for 1-2 seconds.
I tried reading why the pump would stay active that often, it sounds like I could either have a leak in the water system somewhere (other than the toilet, I don't see/hear anything else), or internal to the pump.

So, I'm very nervous that I'm pumping water into some sort of space up underneath the toilet, and caulking that will really make things worse. Any ideas/suggestions/advice on this one??

Thank you in advance!!
Class B
  • oatsmoeller's avatar
    oatsmoeller
    Explorer
    Jun 09, 2015
    You guys are outstanding, thank you very much for the insight and suggestions!! I'll take a closer look tonight to see exactly where the leak is coming from and run from there.

    Ernie -- such a simple concept but I never would have thought about that. Major thanks for this life hack :)

    And PSW -- El Stinko is all I needed to hear. I'm smart enough to know this is a job I should try to assign to my wife :)

    Thanks everyone!
  • ernie1's avatar
    ernie1
    Explorer
    Jun 07, 2015
    I always caulk the front half of my rv toilet to minimize the "accidental splash" when in use. Think about it. No caulk, pee goes under the toilet and causes a forever pungent odor or until the toilet is removed and floor is cleaned. I've noticed public restrooms' toilets are caulked all the way around to seal the floor area. The ones that aren't sealed have a very rank odor emanating from it. The public shows no mercy towards public restrooms.
  • cbshoestring's avatar
    cbshoestring
    Explorer II
    Jun 07, 2015
    CTD wrote:
    Probably the caulk was an effort to add rigidity to the toilet. Most likely the reason it wasn't caulked all the way, was to allow a warning you have a seal leak. FWIW


    This is why I always leave an opening on the back of a residential toilet...don't want to trap a leak, you want a warning long before the floor rots out.... but as said previously, RV toilets are not normally caulked. Could be someone was trying to hide a problem, possible not knowing any better.

    Changing out the rubber flange gasket is a pretty easy fix for someone handy if the above fixes are not the problem...yes Rubber, not wax RV DOC agrees with me.

    However, be careful what youtube videos you watch. I was going to post one for you here....first one I looked at....they put the bolts on the toilet, then tried to rotate them onto the flange.:S
  • CTD's avatar
    CTD
    Explorer
    Jun 07, 2015
    Probably the caulk was an effort to add rigidity to the toilet. Most likely the reason it wasn't caulked all the way, was to allow a warning you have a seal leak. FWIW
  • PSW's avatar
    PSW
    Explorer
    Jun 07, 2015
    I had to replace the water valve on the toilet in my Roadtrek one time. It leaked and water ran down the back of the john and puddled on the floor. I think it cost me $12-15 for a new valve and took only a short time to install. RV plumbing on a toilet is more simple IMO than a house toilet. No water reserve tank to cause problems. Water just swishes in and out with the flush valve.

    Good advice on not caulking by Old Biscuit. The seal is inexpensive and pretty easy to install, but not a pleasant job. El stinko to put it in terms a guy from Austin will understand.

    Paul
  • GizmosMom's avatar
    GizmosMom
    Explorer
    Jun 07, 2015
    Our's was leaking and the part was no longer made so we had to replace. Now I can't remember what the part was!
  • Old-Biscuit's avatar
    Old-Biscuit
    Explorer III
    Jun 07, 2015
    First off..........rv toilets shouldn't have any bead of caulking around base.
    Toilet uses a foam floor flange gasket to seal. Caulking unnecessary and would just crack due to movement of RV. Replace toilet floor flange foam gasket and clean old caulking off.

    Leak also could be from toilet water valve and/or vacuum breaker.
    Lay couple sheets of TP on floor under water valve...check for wetness.
    May need new assembly

    Water pump cycling w/o any demand means there is a leak.

    Disconnect pump suction line.......plug it. No more pump cycling then pump internal check valve elaking allowing backflow thru pump.
    You can istall an in-line check valve ($10) in pump suction to stop that.

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