Here's an update on the “Replace Thetford (recirc) with Sealand 711 M28C” project. It turns out that the Dometic/Sealand website has inaccurate dimensions for the toilet tank. I reported it—they say they'll correct it. Now that I have accurate measurements, I find that the stock “floor drain style” tank can be used.
This unit comes in two pieces, the 9-gallon tank on the bottom and the FINE CHINA CERAMIC bowl. The tank is standard molded poly but the bowl, seat, and lid are “class A” quality. It looks like a toilet you would see in a $30,000+ RV. WOW! I'm impressed!
I weighed the Thetford w/3 gallons charge at 48 lbs, and the Sealand at 40 lbs. This is not meant to say one is better than the other!
The tank fits PERFECTLY between the shower tub and the vanity. The tank is slightly “pyramid” shaped so it's wider at the bottom than the top. Left to right at the floor, there's about 1/4” between the tank and the quarter round baseboard trim. At the top of the tank there's about 1” clear on each side. Front to back, the tank is 17”, three less than the Thetford so big feet get a little extra room, if that matters.
Here's what I've done so far:
Removed Thetford. Before removing the floor flange I cut the 3” drain pipe with a Multimaster oscillating cutter, then cut the grey water pipe. I want to reuse the assembly with two slide valves (I'm cheap!). The bottom of the tank is threaded female for 3” ABS pipe, very simple. It looks like with one 3” coupling, two 1-1/2” couplings and a short piece of 1-1/2” ABS, that part of the job will be easy. The existing hole thru the TM floor will need to be wallowed out by about 2”.
The only other part of the job will be running some PEX for flush water. This toilet uses fresh water from your tank to flush, so that could be a consideration for some. I've seen schemes to use the grey water tank for flush water, but not for me.
As a caution, some folks have PM'd me that they find this toilet available at various retailers. So far, all of these look identical but did not have a 3” floor drain. They all had a 1-1/2” side discharge that won't work for us. To my knowledge, the correct toilet is only available from Scamp Trailers ($365+) or ARDEMCO (around $500+). My inclination would be to order from Scamp.
Since I don't do any camping til October, this project is second in line to working on and riding my Moto Guzzi. I hope somebody else might jump in and do this pretty easy swap (or you can come put mine in!). As I get time, I'll work on it and report more. I'd be more than happy to talk to anybody with questions by phone.
ps—I don't mean this to spark a debate on which toilet is better! (please)
Here's the Sealand, you can click on "specs" for more info:
http://www.dometic.com/enie/Internat...ctdataid=96282
mo later
wayne
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