One morning while we were at the Skinnie Winnie rally,
we awoke to find the foot pedal of our two year old Thedford Style II toilet had fallen off overnight. At first, I thought this would be no problem
and tried to put it back on. However,
the tension spring that allows the handle to return to the closed position had
also come loose and was sitting on the shaft
freely. Since I was unable to reset the spring, I removed it and put the
handle back on. This allowed us to
continue to use this appliance for the rest of the rally. It required the user to manually return the
pedal to its upright and stowed position when the desired effect had been
reached. My first mistake in this drama
was to suggest that I could live with it like that.
When we returned home, I was able to determine the
reason the spring had come loose. The small plastic molded piece that was
designed to hold it in its place had broken off. Since it was not practical to replace the
whole lower plastic shroud combined with the firm decision not to live with it,
there was no choice but to get a new toilet.
After some research, we decided on the Dometic Revolution 310 which their
site claims can be installed in 15 minutes.
After downloading the manuals and
specs, it looked like it would fit in our small rig-just barely.
The old unit came out with no fuss and we got the
new unit in place easily, but it soon became clear that just barely, in this
case, what not good enough. The water inlet
fitting was much lower than the old unit and since we had a small
"step" in front of the wall, it was impossible to connect the water
fill connection. So out came the new
toilet and back to Camping World. After
some discussion, they graciously agreed to take the 310 back.
Looking at the available other options, there were
not many on hand that would meet our needs.
I told the manager what we had in the unit to start with and he thought
he might have one of those in the back, a Thedford Aqua Magic Style II. Sure enough, he produced a new toilet of the model we had just
removed. While we really did not want
another item that had failed in two years, we needed one now, as this was a major problem
for an upcoming rally in a few days. The new Thedford slid right in. So in the end- two toilets were installed and two removed.
Sometimes, we are in the right place at the right
time. We happened to be at our daughter's
house after she returned from a shopping trip with a supply of paper towels. Now for most of us, this is a non event, but
for Nico it was a great adventure and skill developing exercise.
12 comments:
Ha...no need to buy any toys for that little guy!
www.travelwithkevinandruth.com
I thought maybe it was going to be three packages of TP! ;)
Good job with the toilet.
HAHAHA...Nico is a riot!
I love the way you combined your toilet story with Nico's TP climb. Too funny. But I do hope this one works longer than 2 years. We just replaced our 10 year old toilet and the new one is just not as nice. Don't think it will last as long either.
We had to replace our toilet in the parking lot of the Visitor's Center at Anthony, Texas last year. The Camping World was just across the road and getting ready to close when we walked on. It was definitely an emergency repair.
Little ones sure don't need someone to entertain them. They entertain us. How cute!
well done with your repairs. It is satisfying to have a job well done. Maybe you could have used Nico's expertise!
I dread the day our toilet gives up the ship. It's one of those heavy, porcelain electric deals and I think it's going to be a royal pain in the you know what!
Fortunately the toilet in my RV held out long enough that I never had any trouble. When reading your attempted repair I thought, "I'd just be running to the 'outhouse' because I wouldn't have a clue where to start!
Isn't it amazing how kids can have fun with ordinary household items? Nico's look is like he just scaled Mt. Everest!
I wanted to overhaul my RV toilet as it's getting a little long in the tooth and not operating smoothly. Preventive maintenance before it leaves me high and dry.
The parts cost more than a new toilet. This may be a no brainer for me.
PS: Nice DC work you done did there! :c)
Aren't all toilet repairs an emergency?
Nice that you got the toilet replaced in time and hope this will last longer than the other one.
I don't know how many times my hubby has taken off our toilet for some kind of repair - a necessary evil! Glad you got yours repaired. I enjoyed the pictures of the toilet paper acrobatics too!
Candy
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