New Toilet In an old Coach

[Acuda4me]

I just scored ($50) a near-new Aqua Magic Galaxy Toilet and a quick inspection of the old flange reveals the posts sticking up from the flange are at 3 and 9 O'clock and then new toilet's flange bolt holes are basically at 1 and 7 O'clock.


Does the flange screw in and can it be rotated enough to make the difference? The flange also looks like it might have other threaded holes at different positions if I can get the crust cleaned out. (Ick!) The RV is a 1970 Dodge Commander, and the date stamped on the old toilet (March 20, 1970) leads me to believe it was original equipment. Anyone have advice with plumbing this ancient? Or do I have a new item to sell on Craigslist? :-(

[ClydesdaleKevin]

I can't promise that this is the case, but since your coach is a 1970, then your toilet flange PROBABLY threads into the holding tank.  If you take a board and put in between the closet bolts, you should be able to rotate it to 3 and 9 o'clock.

If it doesn't move no matter how hard you try, its probably glued in.  Dometic makes an adapter to change bolt orientation...also raises the toilet about 3/4 of an inch...for about 50 bucks.

Kev

[Acuda4me]

Okay, how do I go about finding this Dometic adaptor? After some cleaning and pounding, it appears to be a plastic flange with a home-toilet-style bolts under the groove mount with a choice of 3 O'clock and 9 O'clock (original install) or 12 and 6 O'clock. My new Craigslist score toilet wants 5 O'clock front and 11 O'clock rear. Beating on it in eith direction just results in the tool sinking into whatever the flange is made of.

[tiinytina]

no clue if this will work or not
http://www.vintagetrailersupply.com/Sealand_Toilet_Adapter_p/vts-355.htm

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Okay...try this.  First, make sure all the screws holding the flange to the floor are removed...sounds simple, and I don't mean to be insulting if you already removed them, but if they are covered in dirt and gunk ,they are easy to miss.  Almost all flanges get screwed into the tank, or glued into the tank...and then screwed to the floor.  Make sure you check for screws and remove them.

Once the screws are removed, make sure your closet bolts are still sticking up from the flange, and put a short board or other leverage tool between the bolts, and pressing against the bolts, try turning the flange in either direction.

If it turns out its glued in, you still have another option!  You can buy a cheap metal flange repair kit...looks like two half moon metal pieces with holes drilled in them.  Figure out where exactly you want your closet bolts, mark them on the flange, and use a cutting tool to cut out a notch in the flange.  Now lay the metal repair thingy over the notch and mark on the flange where the holes to secure it are, and drill 2 holes to secure the metal thingy, but not clear through into the floor.  Now, insert a closet bolt in the bottom of each metal flange repair thingy, and force them under the flange and into the notches you cut out.  You may have to countersink  a little with an oversize drill bit for the flange bolt heads to get them to fit.  Once the bolts are in place and sticking up where you want them, reenforced by the half moon metal thingies, screw the thingies down through the holes you drilled...I recommend stainless bolts for anything to do with the toilet.

You might have to unscrew the flange floor screws to get enough clearance to force the metal thingies under it, and some screws might not go back in because of the metal thingies, so just screw in the rest of the screws that you can.

You are now ready to attach the toilet!  Make sure you use a new flange gasket.

I've done this very same above procedure to repair a broken flange which I thought was glued in (turns out it was screwed in and came loose with a vibrating cutting tool when I was going to cut it out of the way when I replaced the standard toilet with a composting toilet).  If it works for a broken flange, it will surely work for a flange modification!  My repair held for over a year of full time usage, with no leaks, even when the black tank got full enough to back up into the bowl, which can happen often when you fulltime it!

Kev

[Acuda4me]

Okay, I'll look closer for rusty/crusty screws holding the flange into floor. Thanks.