When first-time guests board an RV, puzzled looks often appear when the house tour reaches the bathroom. Anyone seeing an RV toilet for the first time probably needs a quick lesson on how to use it. Or, you can just have them watch this video and we’ll give them the RV “Toilet Talk” for you!
This won’t cover every type of RV toilet, but many of the most popular brands (Dometic, Sealand, Thetford, etc) work on the same basic principles. We’ll also provide a brief introduction to a very Earth-friendly option: a composting toilet, which our friends Nikki & Jason Wynn use in their motorhome. To see the Wynns’ excellent video about their cool toilet, Click Here.
Hope this helps with your RV house tour the next time guests arrive!
To follow Jason & Nikki’s adventures, visit their website: GoneWithTheWynns.com
As always excellent information, you guys do a great job and have helped me a lot! Thank you,
Good to hear… and thanks so much, Larry!
[…] If you have guests on board who’ve never RVed before, you’ll want to instruct them on the finer points of RV toilet operation. You can either have “The RV Toilet Talk” with them or allow us to do it for you. […]
I want to replace my RV toilet. The one in my coach isn’t very deep and I would prefer one that’s lower from the seat. Any models etc should I look for. It seems the ones that are advertised don’t tell the inside depth.
Hi BB,
Tough question. Generally, we’ve found that the all-plastic RV toilets tend to have a shallower/smaller bowl than the ceramic ones. Porcelain bowls are almost always nicer/deeper/larger. Our current toilet is a Thetford Aria Deluxe II… it’s all porcelain and has an acceptably deep bowl that’s much more like a traditional residential toilet (although still not quite as deep). The Aria Deluxe II is an electric-flush model (not a macerator, just an electrically-operated flush valve), so it might not work for your installation if you don’t have 12V power handy near your current toilet… but they also make a more standard, pedal-flush model called the Thetford Aria Classic (see it here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lvMLqu ). It’s described as an “elongated, deep bowl for more comfort”… and we’ve always liked it. Other than the flush mechanism, it’s very much like a standard, elongated residential toilet.
Until we started looking around because of your question, we didn’t even know the Aria Classic existed… and if we were to replace our existing toilet, we’d most likely replace it with that one. The electric flush on the Deluxe II works, but it’s fairly loud when flushing and we’d prefer the relative silence of the pedal flush. Plus, the Deluxe II doesn’t have a spray wand to assist flushing, which is a bit of a nuisance. We get around it by using a Solo cup to pour water down the bowl from the extra sink we have in our toilet room. But the Aria Classic comes with a sprayer wand… another plus in its favor. ;)
Our Aria Deluxe II is 9″ deep, from the top surface of the bowl down to the top of the flush valve… and about 7” deep from the top surface of the bowl to the bottom of the bowl (before it drops down to where the flush valve sits). We assume the Aria Classic would have similar (if not identical) measurements, since it looks like the only real difference between them is the flush mechanism itself: Aria Deluxe II is a push-button, electrically-operated flush, while the Aria Classic is a standard foot pedal flush.
The Aria Classic is a fairly expensive toilet (at $650)… but looking online, Dometic offers the 320 Series (available here on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lluStw ) that is also described as having “an elongated and deep ceramic bowl”, but it’s more reasonably priced ($206). It’s a more-traditional RV-style toilet, but the bowl is ceramic, not plastic. It’s also more likely to be available at a local RV Parts store (like Camping World) where you could see one in person to determine if the bowl depth is satisfactory.
Hope this helps.
[…] The RV “Toilet Talk” […]
Thank you for the presentation. Nicely done and with clear, understandable, pleasant, speaking instructions. I especially like the reminder of flushing BEFORE turning on the exhaust fan.
You only forget to turn that fan off once! LOL
Wow I learned a whole lot of crap from you guys and Jason and Nikki. I will be buying an RV and will start fulltiming within the next two years. You guys are my best resources ever. Your vidoes have taken most of the anxiety out of it, but I hope I can count on you for questions and tips. I will be traveling with another female and we are a little bit worried about being able to handle the breaking parts…so glad you are here.
Hi Shirlene! Glad we’ve been helpful. And Nikki & Jason are awesome, aren’t they? We’re not technicians, and it can be challenging to troubleshoot things longs distance, but we’ll do the best we can!
I have a few questions about the composting toilet, I’ve watched Gone with the Wynn’s video. If there is no water how does the bowl stay clean after you #2. I get how the composting works for #2, but what about the tank that holds #1, according to their video is not connected to the blank tank so what do they do?
Hi Edelvis! These are great questions, so I’m going to forward this thread off the Jason & Nikki for their expert reply. Stay Tuned!
Hello EDELVIS,
We have 3 additional videos about our composting toilet that should launch over the next few weeks.
The general answer is: We take dump the compost into a composting bag and throw it into a dumpster. You can find more info on this post: http://www.gonewiththewynns.com/composting-toilet
Hope this helps. The honest truth is this composting toilet is very easy to use and much cleaner than you will ever expect. We love it.
Thanks for the assist Jason! Looking forward to your upcoming videos.
you mean our outgoing videos?!? ok…seriously I’ll stop…I just didn’t want to be all backed up…..for real I’ll stop now :)
You’re obviously already backed up. Two late. Two bad. These jokes stink, but we’re not gonna quit pushing them out just yet. Gotta make sure we’re totally empty first. ;-)
I look forward to the videos. you guys are so witty. Thanks for the wealth of information. I am ready to stop planning and start RV’ng. Can’t full time now, but maybe some day :)
That was great !!!!
Funniest RV Geeks video of all time….you guys had me cracking up all the way to the toilet :) Too funny.
Holly crap, that is your best video yet! It really shows off your smart a$$ humor….I wonder how many more of these puns I could come up with… I will spare you and just say GREAT video! Jason and I were cracking up!
Thank you two. Your recent release was timed perfectly, as it allowed us to eliminate the chunk of our video where we explained your commode without leaving a void. Good thing we held it for so long. It’s been a gas connecting with you. Thanks for doing us a solid. You’re the sh!t.
being subscribed to both yalls you tube sites has been a real solid.thank ya both for the info and Fun has been a real Liquid at times laughing but learning and just general having fun with yall keep it up. Thanks from Mr. Elf31
Mr. Elf,
Please know it is our utmost pleasure to entertain you with our movements.
This video was very “solid” made! #1 The content flowed very well and clean. #2 It had a lot of meat and potatoes in it. I had to take a second look at it and even invited my wife to have a look as well! This is one video that didn’t stink! Keep up the great production of content you guys.
Can I get a rim shot please! lol
John,
this comment is way too witty…please post on our website too :) HAHA. Too funny.
We’re so glad you held it in for so long, especially since we were able to help each other out with this constitution.