Why Can't I Install A Residential Toilet?

[RI Expat]

In addition to all the good comments above, don't forget to take winterizing into consideration. The internal trap in a residential toilet is not easy to drain. Draining it would be very necessary as the water there will crack a toilet pretty easily. And once drained, as mentioned above, there will be no seal to stop odors from the black tank coming up into the coach.

My recommendation is to get a quality ceramic RV toilet. I appreciate the desire for comfortable experience and find that my ceramic throne does the job nicely.

[BillJinOR]

This is a good question and I don’t have a good answer. I’m sure if your stationary you can do whatever. I would think in the past 70-80 years of rving that you aren’t the first to think this and if the answer , millions of Rvers have overlooked this option. If it was no problem it would be in many rv’s today. I’m interested in why it isn’t even a option. I’m sure there is a “real” reason

[Trapper2022]

First thing we did to current rig was replace toilet. Went with better quality ceramic, tall, unit. Main thing for use was we wanted taller unit. Keep it simple for me. Straight drop to tank nothing to clog. Never in all my years has Oder from black tank been an issue.

What you propose can be done but do not think it will be trouble free. If it was the high line rv dealers would have offered long ago. Why do you think they have stayed away from them? Maybe they create more issues and a toilet leak is the most disgusting to clean up. Good luck with what ever you do.

Enjoy the journey

[okcnewbie]

Just do it. You could have had it installed before you typed #6.
Let us know how it goes for you.
Good luck.

[deandec]

We traveled for about 3 weeks while needing to replace the "hopper" cover mechanism of our MH direct drop electric toilet.

Since the hopper would not close during that time we had an open chute to the blank tank.

We were very surprised when we experienced no odors from the tank during that time.

Water conservation, however, was another matter.....

[Mark_K5LXP]

I see unit weight and fastening challenges to be a hurdle to overcome. Reinforcing the deck, fitting a suitable closet flange and connecting to tank plumbing would make this a project. In my opinion, the notion of a dire situation from the RV toilet suffering a component failure is a bit overblown. When you read of toilet problems it's usually seals that give up and that is something you could work through until you get the opportunity to rebuild it. Now, the idea of rebuilding a toilet on the road doesn't sound like a lot of fun but it's just like anything else that can fail in an RV. You deal with it and move on. It's not a heart-lung machine, it's a toilet. If you're that freaked out about being stuck without replacement parts order a set of spares and keep them on board.

All that being said I don't see this as an either/or proposition. This isn't a kidney transplant, it's a toilet. Put the household unit in and try it for a while. Put the RV toilet in storage somewhere. After a few months you'll know if you want to keep it or reinstall the old one.

Mark B,
Albuquerque, NM

[Spdracr39]

And again there is virtually no difference in the comfort of my tall Thetford Aqua Magic Style II with the high seat position and my toilets at the S&B. I don't have to redesign the wheel, I have no concerns with water usage, a lot of places stock parts, and it cost less than $200.00. It is designed to do what I am using it for and the coach is designed to use it. It really can't get any simpler than that but if you really want to use a residential go for it. There are many reasons not to but you may love it enough to make it worth it.

[aether_one]

Originally Posted by gpounder

A ceramic toilet is heavy and bolted to the floor with just 2 bolts.

A house is stationary and the bolt down is just enough to keep in place during use but now you want to put in a moving vehicle. There is no way to hold it down securely in this application.

Yet ceramic toilets are installed in 100s of models of RVs secured with only 2 bolts; but of couse they are RV toilets without the flush tank.

[imnprsd]

* 3 years ago they told me NOT to install a residential refrigerator, and boy were they wrong!

* Last year they told me NOT to install a FASS Titanium Series Fuel Pump in my ISC-350 and NOT to supply positive fuel pressure to my lift pump manifold, and boy were they wrong!

* Then I upgraded to an Ag Diesel Power Module and now my ISC-350 is putting out 420HP and I love it... and again, boy were they wrong.

Who are "they"... that's most RV owners from what I can tell. It's your nature to say "no." Am I right?

I knew there would be a bunch of naysayers when it came to talking about installing a residential toilet, but never have I heard of so many concerns that don't make sense.

That doesn't mean I have not picked up some pointers -- and I thank some of you for that.

For example:

* I think it makes sense to Velcro the tank lid to the tank so it does not rattle or fly off the toilet.

* To anchor the toilet to the floor I can place a 2x4 block of wood on the inside of the toilet side wall, so it can't be seen after I install the toilet, and then I can screw the toilet to the wood block. This will anchor the toilet to the floor so it will not move or break the flange seal. (They have rubber flange rings these days so you don't need to use bees wax. You'all know that right?)

* As for water sloshing out, the only real way to test is to take it for a ride.

...but if think of your cup of water or soda you always have at your side when driving (I have a 32 oz big gulp mug) and the water or soda does not spill out of the cup when I'm driving, so why should the toilet bowl water or tank water?

...The toilet bowl has a very large rim to block the water if it sloshes much. (TBD) And besides, not much water is left in the bottom of the p-trap after you flush -- especially if there is no additional water entering the bowl after the last flush before "hitting the road," because I will shut off the water before I travel.

...But there is another option to restrict the amount of water that enters the bowl.

...For those of you who don't know, most toilet siphon valves now come with an adjusting screw that pinches-off the hose water that fills the tank bowl. So I can meter the amount of water that goes into the bowl with each flush.

...This way I probably will not have to turn off the water when I drive, and I bet I can cut down the minimum flush water to only 4-5 pints.

...So now we are getting close to the same amount of water a RV toilet uses.

Note: I rechecked my tank sizes and I have 89 gallons of fresh water (not 100) But I do have a 52 G-black tank and 48G-gray water tank.

So that only leave the question, why aren't more people installing residential toilets?

Answers:

* Because everyone says you can't, and in the old days everyone was right. This mostly has to do with the most common type of residential toilets that are too large (too deep) and stick out from the wall too much.

* But now I think you can install a residential toilet in an RV, because now you can get a full size toilet that is only 24-24.5" deep -- and that's the same size as my Dometic "Concerto" toilet I know have.

...However, I do think the residential tank will make the small toilet closet seam smaller, but that's just dead space above the toilet now, and I'm sure I will not notice after I install the toilet.

Last, but not least, the weight of the 1-piece toilet is heavier, but not by much. And because our diesels have an air-ride suspension, I don't expect any complications from that. And as for the floor, the Winnebago floor will handle it. It's really thick.

Note: I'm not advocating gas RVs to install a residential toilet. There weight and floor strength maybe more of a factor.

Have I left anything out?

Oh yeah, the newer toilets have 4" flappers for a stronger flush. This uses less water to flush, and the newer p-trap design is not that "big-S-curve" like in the old days.

So you wait. I bet you will start to see these cheaper and more desirable residential toilets showing up in new RV pretty soon!

The question is, will that Sublime II toilet you can get a HD work well in an RV, and the only way to know for sure is to try it!

Mark_K5LXP is right: "It's just a toilet." And yes, there is no real emergency I can't handle on the road... even if I can't buy parts for that Concerto very easily.

...But this is also true: On every trip I take, I have a least 2-3 black water events on the road. I think this maybe more than average, because I like to drive so much, but black water smell is not pleasant. You have to admit that!

This ain't the Army you know! ...So why are you-all clinging to so many "old school" beliefs is beyond me? ...and most are just not true.

I wrote this thread so you can start thinking about how nice it would be to have a residential toilet in your RV.

==> NO MORE BLACK WATER SMELL, a higher seat than anything you can find in plastic, no more wand flushing, no more pedals, and you get a more modern look for $250.

==> IT'S A TOILET! Yes, and that's why I want the best. I use it 2-3x/day. So that alone sounds like money well spent!

When I pull my RV out of storage in April/May this will be one of the projects I consider starting.

And until someone writes-in and says they installed a residential toilet, don't you think you should keep your mind open?

[Jbmsr]

Originally Posted by imnprsd

The electric (12V) Concerto "China Bowl" toilet is really nice, but I suspect it will need maintenance one day and that's hard to come by.

You can sometimes find parts and fix it yourself, but sometimes this toilet still will not work right, because you think you identified the right part to repair and then you find out you were wrong... and the parts are expensive.

So... Why Can't I Install A Residential Toilet? (See Sublime II dimensions below.)

You can buy this Sublime residential toilet at Home Depot for $250 and it's a one-piece toilet that is only 24" deep (from the wall) vs. my Concerto RV toilet which also 24" from the wall. And this Sublime II toilet has a 0.8gal flush option so that's not bad. Maybe not as good as the Concerto, but I never seem to fill up my back water tank before I need to dump... so why should I care about the 0.8 gal/flush?

Does anyone know how much water does my Concerto use with the water I spray out of the wand?

Sublime II made by Swiss-Madison. (I never heard of them, but no matter. They are getting good reviews!)

The Sublime II calls for a 12" cut out vs. the Concert floor cutout which calls for 11-5/8" from the wall. Of course, I do NOT know what my RV floor cutout will be until I pull the toilet. Can anyone tell me?

I'm thinking I can always install an "offset flange" if I need to, but again it would be nice if anyone else has installed a residential toilet and can tell me what surprises I might find.

I do plan on adding an on/off valve and I will need to pick up some plumbing parts to make the necessary hose connection/reduction, but I suspect this is all manageable?

As for the increase in water flow, I am not concerned about that since I'm never filling my black water tank before I run out of water "on the road" or when I am boondocking; and when I am in my summer RV camp spot I have electricity and a dump tube.

...So why aren't more RV owners putting residential toilets in their RV? Is that because, up until recently, all residential toilets were 26-28" deep and that would mean they would take up too much room in the small toilet closet?

This toilet has the same depth or will be 24.5" from the wall when done, and I can live with that easy. And when I am driving, all have to do is flush and turn the water off so it does not fill the bowl. Either that or I can adjust the fill so the tank only 1/4 of the way up in the bowl or I can add a baffle to stop the water from sloshing out. Maybe just covering with seran-wrap will work will? TBD


https://www.homedepot.com/p/Swiss-Ma...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

They are not rated to go that fast.

Jessr

[cavie]

There are many RV china bowl full high RV toilets on the market. Forget about Gal per flush. You can pee and flush with a cup of water with an RV toilet. Don't know why your trying to reinvent the wheel. IF you put one in, good luck winterizing it. RV toilet parts are as easy to find as Walmart's.

[Arizona]

You can, and you should.
Let us know the results.
Travel on

[miketo]

Put in the toilet of your choice and let us know how it goes. We'll all learn from your experience.

[Old Scout]

...this is way more than I ever wanted to know about toilets--RV or residential. "Nothing more to see here, lets move on!" [smile]