We just aquired a 1978 ailver streak that we will be using on a lake lot in Austin texas and want to add a standard porcelain toilet. Any suggestions or instructions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, James

By Craig on Friday, November 01, 2002 - 12:12 am:

I seem to remember reading you must keep liquid in the holding tank or solids will build up directly under the toilet. So, I guess if you were thinking of using it like a house toilet, directly into the drainpipe system, it might not work well. Apparently you have to leave the holding tank drain valve closed and just open it occasionally to let it drain.

I hope someone who really knows will post an answer; I'd like to use a standard toilet in my '77 also. James, if you learn anything about this, please post it here. I'll do the same.

By Jay Rose on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 06:32 pm:

I've owned two Silver Streaks that had both been converted to house toilets. The floor flange location from the S.S. factory is 12 inches, just as in a house, so it's a simple bolt-in conversion. I live full time in my current Silver Streak and it has a porcelin toilet. So far, not tank build up. My first impression was that it wouldn't work, but now I believe that the flush action sends enough water down each time. The only drawback is that the porcelin toilet takes up more room because of the tank.

By Al Grayson on Sunday, October 05, 2003 - 05:58 am:

The porcelain house toilet dumps so much more water per flush that it may work OK.
The advice to leave the dump valve closed until the tank is full, then dump, is important when using an RV toilet that puts only a pint down instead of 1.6 gallons like the new water saver house toilets. Plus, as most who have been using water saver 1.6 gallon toilets know, any time you are flushing solids you have to flush twice (or 3 times!) so with that much water going down thru the black water tank it just might not clog up.

We RVers use so much water dumping and washing our tanks that there probably isn't much saving, if any, of water compared to a house toilet.

The floor flange in my '79 is turned 1/4 turn to accommodate the Thetford toilet. When I replaced the cracked, leaking Thetford with a different toilet I had to drill new holes for the hold down bolts and slot them out to the edge of the flange, as the flange is not removable without serious work. I think it's solvent-welded ("glued") to the tank, so I sure didn't want to mess that up!
Al

By Mark A. York on Sunday, January 23, 2005 - 06:40 pm:

I put a Bravura Thetford in my 77 Supreme Saturn and it was fine until left for a month. When I came back after a couple of days I notice the floor is damp in front of the toilet under the linoleum, but I can't see it leaking from anything. We had driving rains here in LA while I was gone and there was space around the Suburban water heater cover. I took that off and saw no leaking from the unit so I vulkem sealed it. I may have to pull the toilet off and look at the gasket. Did it just dry out in a month that included a flood?

By Mark A. York on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 - 03:08 pm:

Looks like a seam on the outside panel is the culprit. That and the cowling of the water heater inside the cover. It has to be siliconed in there and sealed around the outside.

By Al Grayson on Monday, October 09, 2006 - 10:00 pm:

I really am impressed with the new toilet/WC. It has no flush seal. The bottom of the bowl has a cup that holds a puddle of water that provides the seal. When I press the flush lever, the cup swings aside, dumping the contents of the bowl. The flushing opens the flush water valve, washing the bowl down. Then the cup swings back into place and catches a fresh puddle of water.
If the water valve leaks the bowl won't overflow unless the black water tank fills completely up. Excess water poured into the bowl overflows the cup and runs into the tank.

My old Thetford was cracked all over. I didn't like losing its padded cover but it was really beyond repair.

The only thing I don't like about the new toilet is that its lid cracked. When I fix it I think I'll fasten an upholstered piece of thin plywood to the lid. Then I'll have my padded lid back and it'll be reinforced.