Dometic Toilet WARNING

My camper has a Thetford toilet and had a cracked inlet valve from the previous owners failure to winterize. Also split the tank on the water heater and cracked every drain trap in the trailer. Of course the seller never disclosed any of that!

bentpushrod wrote:
Just learned my lesson. De-winterizing my Puma Unleashed 356 tonight, and my valve is bad. I bought this unit new in 2013, that winter I used antifreeze and compressed air, no problems last spring. Last Fall I used just compressed air, and you guessed it, it bit me in the ass. Taking off work tomorrow and making a 200 mile round trip to my nearest dealer for a new one.

Now you know why a lot of people use pink stuff instead of compressed air.

The way I look at it RV manufacturers will do everything to save a penny. Even they use the pink stuff instead of compressed air.

Jack_Diane_Freedom wrote:
I think you could say that about any water pipe or valve if it is not winterized properly. Like another poster said. Hit the flush pedal until the pink stuff comes through and let it run a bit. Easy.

Never had a problem doing it this way for years.

Happened to me. Easy fix and a good lesson. Also lost my outside shower. Again, easy fix and now I know what not to do. The way I see it, all of my screw ups just give me more experience for the future. And I'm sure I'm make more and get even more experienced.

Just learned my lesson. De-winterizing my Puma Unleashed 356 tonight, and my valve is bad. I bought this unit new in 2013, that winter I used antifreeze and compressed air, no problems last spring. Last Fall I used just compressed air, and you guessed it, it bit me in the ass. Taking off work tomorrow and making a 200 mile round trip to my nearest dealer for a new one.

Replace the water in the toilet valve with RV antifreeze - in a toilet valve, compressed air may not be enough to get all of the water out.

Yup. Don't forget the shower head or outside shower, or the fresh water inlet that needs to be bled during the winterizing process.

Actually, ANYTHING that holds water and is left out in freezing weather needs this warning.

korbe wrote:
I open the flush valve and run the pink stuff through. Seems to work so far.

X2

Thanks OP. Even if it's been brought up before, it's a good reminder. Too late for those who didn't know when they winterized this year, but something to watch for when you hook up for the first time this spring.

When we purchased our two year old TT in Jan of '13 it was winterized. I took their word for it since I didn't plan on using it for a couple of months and didn't want to winterize it again after testing for leaks. That was a mistake. Thankfully I hooked up at home to test and flush before going out to camp. Toilet leaked. Guess where?

The local RV repair shop had a valve in stock (Yes, they are $35), and I replaced it myself. Now I put a weight on the pedal to open the valve while pumping the pink stuff. No problem since.