Mystery toilet splashes

If the Hardy Boys ever went RVing, perhaps one of their books would've been entitled, "The Mystery of the Splashing Toilet." We've noted with interest that several RVers have reported that on arriving after a day of travel, they've found puddles or splashes on their bathroom floor. Sure enough, they associate it with water splashing out of their commodes.

For those who've never experienced such a syndrome, and who aren't armchair detectives, you might simply pass it off as a flight of RVer fancy. How could the little bit of water left over in the terlit bowl ever jump out of there and onto the floor? But if you're the poor sap who gets to mop up the floor at the end of the day, it's more than a bit annoying.

So what could cause this odd splashing? Obviously, the first question is, "How much water are they leaving in the bowl?" The answer to the question is typically, "Just enough to cover the bowl valve." Which is right, after all, if you don't keep some water in the bowl, you know what will make its not-so-stealthy way back up into the bathroom – holding tank stink!

What kind of roads are you traveling? East-coasting RVers say they've seen potholes big enough to swallow small cars. Hit one of those, and your false teeth are apt to wind up in Cincinnati, never mind a bit of toilet water in the bathroom.

What kind of toilet rim do you have? We never would have thought to ask. But, as die-hard "plastic throne" owners, we've always had a big rim around the inside of our toilet bowl. But it seems those in the high-class China bowl crowd may actually have a "rimless" toilet, which could, theoretically, encourage the displacement of toilet water when jumping mud puddles with the motorhome.

So what's to be done to ensure toilet room swabbing is eliminated from your setup-camp routines? Getting the water out of the bowl yourself is one way. Turn off the water pump, step on the bowl evacuation pedal, and empty the bowl completely. Then come back again in a few minutes and check again – some RV toilets are sneaky and will fill up when you have your back turned. It's suspected by some that when the Olympia Brewery went out of business a few years ago that the resident "Artesians" took up dwelling in passing RVs.

Of course, no water in the bowl equals phantom odors, right? Not necessarily. When Borge Madsen invented the plastic zipper back before 1951, he probably never would have dreamed that his invention could reduce marital strife. Why? Because if you fill a small ziplock bag with water, zip it shut, and drop it down over the toilet bow valve, you'll keep those nasty-spirited Artesians at bay, thus saving a great deal of proboscis problems.

If we get a good answer as to why toilets splash out when traveling, we'll be sure to share it with you. 

You can use your winterized RV toilet -- here's how

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Just because you winterized your RV doesn't mean you can't use it. Plenty of RVers get the sudden "hitch itch" in the middle of a cold winter, and to escape 'cabin fever' head out on the road with the RV to see how things look when Jack Frost is running the show. But just how, some wonder, can you use the biffy? Hang on pard'ner, there's no need to cross your legs in discomfort until you hit a rest area!

Really, the biggest problem for RV plumbing in cold weather is when there's water in the water lines. A bit of liquid in the holding tanks isn't generally a problem. So while you might not want to put water in your fresh tank and use your water pump, you can still use the toilet. But then there's that rather delicate issue – how on earth can you keep your RV bathroom from stinking to high heaven if you can't flush the toilet?

Ah, here's where winter alternative thinking comes in. While it's a bit more costly than using water, savvy winter RVers know they can flush their RV toilets – and keep things from icing up in the 'down under' area of the black water holding tank – by using RV antifreeze to flush with. Yes sir, use 'the pink stuff' to clear those unwanted leftovers from the toilet bowl.

Here's a hint to help keep down costs. You don't necessarily have to grab a gallon jug of antifreeze and just 'glug, glug, glug' dump a bunch down the hatch. If your unwanted wastes drop out of sight when you step on the toilet evacuation pedal, then all that remains is probably a light coating of liquid in the bowl. If you fill up a plastic spray bottle with antifreeze, just hold the bowl flapper open and spray a generous jet or two of antifreeze around the bowl to eliminate any unwanted leftovers. This will keep your expenses down, and unwanted odors, too.

Some RVers have suggested it might be less expensive to use cheap windshield washer fluid. There's a bit of controversy over that offer – some say it works great, while others have complained that when they used the stuff, it damaged their dump valves. The counter-argument is, "If it doesn't damaged the rubber in your windshield washer system, why would it damage the rubber seals in your dump valves?" Your wise RV sages can only say, "Duh, we don't know." But we do know that the cost of a gallon of RV antifreeze isn't that much more expensive than windshield washer fluid, so why chance it?

So grab your antifreeze and your road maps, winter roads are calling!