Yes, today the RV toilet chose to fail. It didn’t really blow up and it didn’t really fail completely, it just decided it wasn’t going to flush any more. The little flapper thing was frozen in place making it impossible to rid the bowl of whatever was deposited in it. That’s a problem. So, I got my tools and dismantled it. I’m pretty good a taking things apart and I can usually get them back together with very few parts left over. In this case, there really aren’t a lot of parts. To totally dismantle this thing required that I remove only six 1/2″ nuts, and 4 screws. Amazing, right? So, if you ever need your toilet dismantled, I’m your guy.

Now I know how it works and what it needs to return to service.

This is the sit-upon part that didn’t need a lot of cleaning and nothing on it was broken. I placed it out of the way in the hallway to the bedroom.

All I had to do was discover an RV parts store that had what was on the short list for repair. Considering that this effort began in the afternoon, we went to Camping World, without calling first, to see if they had the necessary items. They had a couple but not the flapper thing. But the guy behind the counter wrote the part number on a sticky note so I could go check other places.

Next up was Sandy’s RV, about 10 miles away. As we sailed west on I-10 Diane saw an advertisement for La Mesa RV at exit 263, the next exit. So, we went there. It was handy and we were running out of time.

We exited and headed towards La Mesa but there was an RV dealer just before La Mesa, and it was on the proper side of the road (the right side) so we stopped. It was a fancy place and didn’t have a parts department. All they sold was RVs in the $500K range. They fixed them when they broke, but they don’t sell parts to folks like me. La Mesa RV was about 1/4 mile further.

Diane found a shady spot to park, and I was directed to Robert Creech in the parts department. I gave him my sticky note explaining what was going on and he found the part. It was a miracle. He instantly became my best friend. I asked if he knew there was an air force base in Nevada named for him and he said, yes. It’s where drone pilots are trained.

Back home in the Bone Yard, I took the newly acquired part and spent about an hour trying to make it work with our toilet. Sadly, I discovered, the part Camping World suggested was for a toilet that uses a lever on the side to flush. Ours has a pedal on the front. It was 1545 when I decided I was trying to fit a round hole in a square peg, and we went back to see Robert.

After explaining my predicament, he searched but didn’t find the part, but he could have one by Monday. Figuring that was the best choice I had, I walked back to the car with my head hanging a little low so Diane would know I failed.

On the way back to the Bone Yard we discussed the logistics of not having a working toilet for the next few days and settled on an agreement that provided us relief of bodily liquids at night using the hastily reinstalled toilet and using the shower/toilet facilities 100 yards or so from us to dispose of solid waste as needed. That took planning.

Now, all we have to do is make it to Monday when the correct part is delivered to Robert. Until then, I can practice dismantling and remantling the offending toilet until I can put it back together blindfolded. We all know that won’t happen but tearing it apart and putting it back together solidifies the steps necessary to ensure it works when the final bolt is tightened.

The biggest benefit of having to dismantle the toilet was that it gave me an opportunity to clean all the toilet surfaces, inside and out. The RV is 17 years old, and that toilet has been used a lot, so most of the interior working surfaces were coated with crispy black residue. I made it all go away while Diane was out shopping for stuff. It was better that she wasn’t here because I’m sure she would have been a bit upset had she seen that I didn’t use the rubber gloves she found for me. I didn’t use them because they were heavy duty and what I needed were the skinny kind that worked like an extra layer of skin. I washed myself thoroughly every so often to ward off the possibility of some deadly disease. I figured that if I could get it cleaned up and put back together without throwing up, I was OK.

I’ll let you know how it goes.