Wow, Sheila! You probably need to wait for Sharon to get on here and answer everything - she's the expert on this stuff. I only know a smidgeon, however I can never resist . . .

Toilet seal: do you mean the seal under the toilet base - like you have to take the whole toilet off and replace the seal there? Or do you mean the little flapper inside the toilet is letting water seep out leaving the toilet dry?

If it's the one under the base, I can't understand why you would have to replace it so often, either. However, you guys are living in your rig and it is used a whole lot more than most of ours are used. One possibility that comes to mind is the quality of the water you get when you have them fill you up there in "Q" - maybe it's very hard water with a lot of minerals that eat away at seals? Duh, Pooker, minerals in Q - what a concept!

Okay - the inside flapper seal. That's a common problem and I'm thinking you and Larry have had that one before. I know my DH used to periodically swab gunk (conditioner gel) around the edge of the opening. They say you shouldn't use Vaseline because that will eat away at the seal. I can't remember the brand names or whatever, but you can buy it in RV supply place. My DH found extra long Q tips someplace and that worked like a charm. Wish I could find those myself. Anyway, the crystal-like chemicals in urine, cleaners, the hard water I mentioned before, etc., etc., will eat away at that seal and I suppose you would have to replace it a lot more often than the rest of us.

As for cleaning the china bowl - I'm not sure I'd use pumice. I'd be afraid it would create a mud like cement in the tank. I had a china bowl in the last A we owned and usually they are a cinch to clean. I think I might try a bit of household bleach mix on a Q tip, or plain old white vinegar first.

Almost forgot the sink stink! I know exactly what you mean - it's happened a lot to me, especially when you run water. Could be the vent. Could be your holding tank is over 2/3 full (it always seems to smell bad right around that level). Try having your gray tank emptied and perhaps put something in to help with the smell when you add water to the tank. If it's a rotten egg smell it could be your hot water heater's anode needs replacing. You are right that smells should not be able to seep up through water in the trap.

Let's see what some of the more experts among us come up with.

Evie

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Evie driving Flitter, 26' Itasca Spirit with furry co-pilot, Spike

And you need me here...why? Seems to me my good traveling buddy Evie pretty well covered it! She's been rv'ing longer than me and she's a pretty smart cookie. The only thing I would disagree with would be the anode making your sink smell....all of your water would smell in that case. Sounds like maybe a vent problem. Maybe have Larry check the vents to make sure a little birdie hasn't built a nest up there or something. If they have a good cover on them, then I don't know. Although some birds can wriggle into a small space like that and then the nest drops down the vent. May have to run something down it.

The water there is probably what's causing the problem in your toilet and the seal, she's probably right about that, plus being fulltimers the toilet gets used a lot more than us part timers. And yes, there's seal conditioner that you can buy. I picked up a little pad at the hardware store that cleans porcelain like a charm and leaves very little residue. Lasts forever, too. They have a website, shawspads.com. Sorry I didn't put that in the correct form so you could click on it, but I'm on my way out the door. Later!!

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Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain. '05 Monaco Knight 34ft (Hope) '04 Jeep Liberty (JipJip) Sam the cat with Attitude Chewy the Land Shark

There are a few other thing s to suggest. Is the vent pipe 2" or more above the roof... if not an extension could be added to make it higher, since it won't vent right if it is not high enough..Also, some RV manufacturers make the vent hole down to the holding tank bigger than it needs to be--- so check and make sure all is sealed and tight around the vent pipe.

Also, the vent pipe sometimes falls down lower and is sitting IN the black or grey water holding tank, therefore not venting.

Winds can blow down the vent pipe causing odors in the RV. There is a top for that , that moves directionally with the wind to eliminate that problem. Think I sent you a photo and website of that recently via e-mail.

The P trap in nearby shower can drain dry or some showers have been known not to even have a p trap, and can suck the water from the p trap of the sink. To test this out, tape plastic over the shower drain and see where the odor is coming from then.

Also, hair and other things can lodge in the sink drain pipe between the stopper on the sink and the P trap of the sink. One can take the stopper apart and clean out that sink drain pipe. Gunky hair and trash can get really smelly, even with the P trap full of water as it should be.

The longest we've had a RV is five years...but we have never had to replace a commode seal, so makes no sense you'd be soon replacing yours for the third time. Is there some sort of "buldge"... rough place, uneven floor place that could cause the seal to not be making a good connection all the way around. I'm talking the seal on the floor now.

The flapper seal can get rough sandpapery residue on it..and doesn't allow it to seal good. Mostly caused by hard water, as the others said. We have that trouble in the workshop commode, but not in the house where we have "conditioned water"...the workshop uses our "original water" and leaves hard water residue and stains. If you used your stone to clean that hard residue off the porcelain commode. You could wet paper towels and mop up the grainy residue droppings with the paper towel...cleaning it as if there were NO drain...and therefore not letting that grit wash down into the holding tank-- you mentioned you didn't wish to do that.

Trying to make suggestions not posted thus far. Hope you find a fix....and no longer have problems!

Happy RVing!

Joella

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one odar taken care of!

Dh actually smelled it and took the drain apart and cleaned it haven't used the sink yet but it's got to be better

sheila