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Old 08-14-2022, 11:32 PM   #1
09Montanaliving
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Exclamation Installing residential toilet

Hello all!
I’m new to the forum, well, I’ve looked around a lot for quite sometime but never actually joined. Finally, after being unable to find an answer to my problem I figured I’d join the family!

My wife and I are planning on living full time in our 2009 3400rl and as we prepare for it, one of the tasks is to replace the toilet with a nice full size comfortable unit. I plan on taking on the task as I have been handling the other repairs/upgrades and feel comfortable taking on projects such as these.

I took some measurements and found that I would be fine with a 12” rough in toilet. I plan on picking one up tomorrow at Lowe’s. While there, I plan on picking up the other things needed such as a wax ring, or one of those new wax-less rings that people seem to love from what I’ve read in reviews. I also plan on getting a 3/8 compression supply line.

This is where I have a questions. I have been looking online to see what kind of plumbing our trailer is running and I have found multiple people claiming different things. Some say the unit is running 3/8 pled while others say its false. Now, if it is false, I will need a different supply line. If it isn’t then were all good! I was hoping one of you out there could please confirm for me.

Also, I’m sure many of you have done this modification/upgrade and have some advice or tips. If you do, please share them as I would like to only do this job once, but do it right!

Thank you!
 
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Old 08-15-2022, 07:14 AM   #2
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Before you head to Lowes I’d wait for some more thorough responses, but I think there are a lot of problems doing this. I think the mounting is different for one. Have you considered the amount of fresh water consumed and the amount of black water created? A household toilet will use a gallon and a quarter or more for each flush. For 2 people that’s easily 15 gallons. If you’re old then you could easily be talking 20 gallons a day!
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Old 08-15-2022, 08:35 AM   #3
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Once you figure out the mounting and supply line (which should be too difficult) the bigger issue, in my mind, is your current black tank. You don't want to leave the valve open so you will likely have to empty it every day. Ideally you would go to the trouble of eliminating or bypassing the black tank all together. Probably doable but would kill your resale.
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Old 08-15-2022, 08:47 AM   #4
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Just my $.02. A residential toilet is plumbed two ways. The pex connection is the easy part. They also are plumbed for the discharge. I don’t believe you can seal the base to the black tank. Which will potentially leave you with an uninhabitable situation. I would think twice before doing this. Also, if you are planning on just leaving it sit on a site it is different than if you plan on traveling.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:04 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by Theunz View Post
Before you head to Lowes I’d wait for some more thorough responses, but I think there are a lot of problems doing this. I think the mounting is different for one. Have you considered the amount of fresh water consumed and the amount of black water created? A household toilet will use a gallon and a quarter or more for each flush. For 2 people that’s easily 15 gallons. If you’re old then you could easily be talking 20 gallons a day!
The mounting is a bit of a concern for me but from what I've looked at it should be no problem. As far as water usage, we wont be moving our trailer for a couple years and it will be hooked up to city water and the sewer permanently.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:04 AM   #6
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first of all welcome to the forums. I with Jeff on this. Anything can be done but in the end do you really want to devalue your rig and go through the process? You may as well eliminate the black tank.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:06 AM   #7
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Just my $.02. A residential toilet is plumbed two ways. The pex connection is the easy part. They also are plumbed for the discharge. I don’t believe you can seal the base to the black tank. Which will potentially leave you with an uninhabitable situation. I would think twice before doing this. Also, if you are planning on just leaving it sit on a site it is different than if you plan on traveling.
Is there a reason you dont think i can seal the base?
We plan on letting it sit on site for the forseeable future.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:16 AM   #8
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Once you figure out the mounting and supply line (which should be too difficult) the bigger issue, in my mind, is your current black tank. You don't want to leave the valve open so you will likely have to empty it every day. Ideally you would go to the trouble of eliminating or bypassing the black tank all together. Probably doable but would kill your resale.
Is there a reason i wouldnt want to leave my black tank open all the time? Sorry im quite new to all of this and its the first time ive come across this.
If it comes down to it, i wouldnt mind emptying the tank once or even twice a day. At the end of the day, we would always be hooked up to sewer/water.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:19 AM   #9
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first of all welcome to the forums. I with Jeff on this. Anything can be done but in the end do you really want to devalue your rig and go through the process? You may as well eliminate the black tank.
Thank you! Happy to have joined.

Is there a reason I would want to eliminate/bypass our black tank?

Im not to worried about resale value. My priority is to set up our rig to feel as comfortable as possible (to us)
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:29 AM   #10
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Just a thought have you looked at the dometic toilets they have porcelain and not a cheep plastic seat.also elongated bowl.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:36 AM   #11
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Is there a reason i wouldnt want to leave my black tank open all the time? Sorry
What’s happens is you stand a change of getting the poop pyramid and then it clogs your pipe so you can’t empty tank. You toilet empty into the black tank and not directly to outside.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:37 AM   #12
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The rule of thumb for black tank usage is to never leave it open. Of course that's under normal use with an RV toilet. The danger is always having waste build up occur. When emptying a black tank you always want plenty of water in there so when you open to drain valve it empties more thoroughly.

With a standard toilet you will obviously have more water per flush so the risk of build up is likely reduced, however the principle is still the same. You're flushing into a tank, which is designed to hold and store material. Even with more water per flush the draining will be slowed by the tank. I wouldn't risk leaving the tank open even with a standard toilet. Seems like there are 3 options:

1. Leave tank valve closed and drain daily
2. Bypass tank for direct sewer attachment
3. Remove tank for direct sewer attachment

2 and 3 above will be determined by the placement of the tank and amount of space to allow for simply bypassing.

IMHO the Cons far out-way the Pros. I would advise against it. But if you're determined I also believe it's doable.
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:53 AM   #13
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Also, I think the connection of toilet to floor is more complex than you might be thinking. RV toilets don't mount to the floor the same as residential. A wax ring alone doesn't seem adequate to me. You would need to get under the toilet and replumb a residential flange to the sewer pipe. That's what gives you the bolts for anchoring the toilet to the floor and provides the correct surface for the wax ring. Again, it's doable but will require more surgery than it first seems.

Then, what about the gray tanks? IF you plumb the toilet direct to sewer would you do the same for the galley and shower systems? You would be basically converting your RV into a stationary mobile home hybrid. There's definitely a benefit to directly plumbing all systems to sewer if you plan to never move or sell the rig. But it's a bit of work.

Sorry for the continuing random thoughts...
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Old 08-15-2022, 09:59 AM   #14
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If you do this you will need to remove your black tank and install regular house plumbing. The RV toilet discharges from the front and the residential from the back. Can what you wont be done? Sure but it’s not as easy as going to Lowes and picking up a toilet and a wax ring.
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Old 08-15-2022, 10:51 AM   #15
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A couple of other considerations during travel: You would need to make sure both the bowl and tank are empty to prevent sloshing out. In a residential toilet, the trap is cast into the toilet, if it sloshes out you have a direct vent from the black tank into the coach. The porcelain tank lid could easily bounce of and it's pretty brittle and will break easily.
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Old 08-15-2022, 12:24 PM   #16
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Rather than replacing the entire toilet, why not just switch out the seat?



We also installed a Bidet:







Also, the reason for keeping the black tank drain valve closed is so you do not end up with a poop pyramid in the bottom of your tank. Solids will pile up and the liquids will drain away if you leave the valve open. After a while, there is nothing but solids and those solids will block the tank completely. Eventually, (and it doesn't take long), the entire tank is a solid blob of "solids" and it will never work again.

If you install a residential toilet, then you are best to remove the black tank.

You are looking at a lot of work. Switching the toilet seat is a lot easier and cheaper. I got my seat from Lowe's.
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Old 08-15-2022, 12:47 PM   #17
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I agree with Dutchmen. We didn't install a Bidet but we did install a nicer wood soft-close seat. Much more comfy. Also, it's possible to replace the toilet with an RV elongated toilet. There are options that can provide a closer-to-residential comfort without all of the extra work.
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Old 08-15-2022, 01:54 PM   #18
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Old 08-15-2022, 02:37 PM   #19
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A Dometic 310/320 with soft close wood lid would fit the bill for you I would think unless you just want the flush handle on the tank. What you're proposing is not only going to be more work than you think for just the toilet installation but the ramifications for flushing, black waste storage etc. become problems. If you choose to use a res toilet I would pull that black tank and run residential sewer pipe. I've seen it done; it's not pretty and certainly not mobile. It does however eliminate dumping the black tank.

Do not leave the black tank drain open and then run res sewer pipe. DS bought a nice trailer that had been full timed in set up like that and it worked for a couple of weeks - then he started calling me because his black water kept backing up. After considerable $$ and work he finally got the poo pyramid and dried debris in the sewer pipe cleaned out and the black tank functioning again...working fine keeping the drain valve closed.
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Old 08-15-2022, 07:48 PM   #20
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I'm trying to type here between laughs. Apparently, I've not reached the stage in life as some suggest to where I spend enough time in the privy to have to be concerned with comfort. Ole "done and gone" here signing off ...

No offense to the OP ... their reasoning just got me tickled a bit.
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