Toilet repair. Two steps forward one step back.

[sam-HILO]

When I got up today it was pouring rain. No lawn mowing today. Sent DH over to the HiLo to see if he could fix the rock and roll toilet. He added shims and made it worse. Attempted to staple furnice grate screen. Released a part of his hand stapler was missing. Came home for lunch and a few more tools. Decided to remove the toilet and discovered several of the bolts were stripped out..enlarged hole. Plenty of screws in his screw caddy. None were right. Walked over to the hardware store. New screws worked great. No need for shims. Doesn't know if he screwed into the top of the black tank? Then he dropped his robison screw driver into the toilet hole. Don;t want to plug up the dump station at any campground. Very little black in the tank. Thought about getting some kind of magnetic reach tool. We could fill our 6gal. jugs and empty the tank out. We are parked on a raised rock driveway. Any thoughts on how to get the screw driver out? Can't fix the furnice screen as he needs to have electricity. Happy with the toilet fix.

 

[retiredcamper47]

Try a magnet on a string. The hardware store should have a magnet to do the job.

Bob

 

[JackandJanet]

Hi sam! That problem MIGHT give you a laugh as time goes by. I think I'd try a magnetic tool down the toilet bowl opening. I think it could easily jam in the waste pipe and would then be very hard to extract. It's a straight shot to the bottom of the tank through the bowl opening. If you could lift it up to where the pipe meets the tank, you might be able to grab it with some other tool that would allow you to align it with the pipe.

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

We'll be over at our lot mowing tomorrow.

I think DH has a magnet somewhere in his tool collection. Will try to solve this problem tomorrow.

 

[JackandJanet]

Maybe if you could attach it to something that's "bendable", so that it could reach around in the tank in case the screwdriver is not right under the bowl opening?

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Thanks for the replies.

Jack, you are right that this incident will be funny in the distant future. What comes to mind is that DH has a few various sizes of drain snakes. I will probably have to climb in the bathtub and lean over with the flash while DH works his magic. On second thought we have a headlight flashlight in the HiLo.I use the headlight flashlight at the campfire. That way I can read a book and have my hands free to hold the book. Thank goodness for gloves!!

 

[JackandJanet]

Yes, if your Husband wears the head lamp, he may be able to see the screwdriver in the tank if it's still under the drain hole. A snake is very flexible, but won't hold a bend, which may be necessary if the screwdriver has scuttled off to a corner of the tank. I'd use a stiff length of wire as a probe (with the magnet at the end). The magnet may even stay on the wire all by itself if the wire is steel.

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Didn'tget to work on the problem today.

The grass was so thick at our lot that the riding mower chute kept getting clogged up. Then DH let the grass just chute out the side with out the bagger. Then he was able to mow with the baggger when the grass was in a fine chopped state. In other words he had to mow the lot twice. The plan is to drop DD off at work and then go to Harbor Freight for a magnet and what ever tool he wants to buy for the screw driver extraction. Need to look at a few other things. Have plenty of 20% off coupons. DH mentioned that he has to remove the toilet again.

 

[JackandJanet]

Sam, it will probably be easier to get into the tank with the toilet off, but I think I'd try it with the toilet installed first. If your toilet is like mine, there's a slide valve that will have to be held back to open the throat, but that can be done by holding the flush handle in the open position. (May take two people).

However, with the toilet off, he will be closer to the tank and will have an unrestricted path to it.

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Operation toilet screwdriver removal is a success.

Found some round magnets with hooks. The kind you would maybe put on your ref. to hold keys. Sourced them at Harbor Freight. He attached the hook to his electrical fish tape. He found the Craftsman Robison screw driver. Cleaned off with Odoban(sams club)..disinfectant. The toilet was removed for this operation. Read a story once about a lady that dropped her denture into an RV toilet. Enough with this gross story. A story with a happy ending.

 

[RatsNest]

Sam - toilets use a special bolt to hold them down, they actually fit into the flange. It may be that your flange is broken, and someone decided to just screw the toilet down.

Depending on your model, the toilet may sit a couple inches above the floor (just tore a bathroom down in our Funlite, and there was a false floor to allow plumbing to run).

Even so, if you did screw into the top of the black tank, I wouldn’t worry about it. They’re ABS, and a screw will seal well into the plastic. Over time the screw will rust, but it will be years and years. And it still likely won’t be a problem.

 

[sam-HILO]

Thanks for the reply.

I am just glad the saga has ended and the toilet is rock solid. Onto more HiLo repairs.

 

[JackandJanet]

And I'm glad it wasn't dentures too!

- Jack

 

[sam-HILO]

Got a little information from DH.

He changed out the stripped screws in the plastic toilet flange. The seal is compressing the way it should. Happy happy wife!!

 

[RICHARD1943]

Also good to not drop the headlamp or anything else into the black water tank.

I knew someone who dropped his eyeglasses into n outhouse toiled during a hunting trip. He used chewing gum and a wire to retrieve them. I arrived later when the story got funnier with each round of whisky.