Changing to a new toilet in your Sunline (2024)

Three times in the last year, the topic of converting to a new Dometic toilet has been raised. I'll expand on this topic so others can see it in the future. This may also help some folks consider upgrading their toilet to a newer elongated bowl, higher sitting, or china/ceramic bowl toilet, regardless of brand.

I'm still trying to determine the exact timeline for when Sunline started using the Dometic Sealand ceramic bowl toilet. The wording "china bowl" started showing up as a feature in the 2003 brochures. The 2003 models may have had a time when the switch from the Teftford plastic bowl toilet to the Sealand china bowl toilet had started. I know that by October 2003, when the 2004 models were in full production, the Sealand toilet was in almost all of them.

The 2003 and 2004 Sunlines had the Sealand 110 china bowl toilet, and the 2005 to 2007 Sunlines had the Sealand 210 model toilet. Many of the older Sunlines (pre-2003) may have the Thetford brand. While this post details surrounding the Dometic Sealand brand, the same mounting needs apply to installing a new Thetford.

You can still buy "most" of the common wear parts for the 110 and 210 toilets. Although they may have been discontinued, the china bowl itself and the lower base that mounts to the floor, seem to be hard to get unless you find old stock. I have rebuilt several of the 110 and 210 toilets, and as of this year, the common parts; flush ball & shaft, water valve, vacuum breaker, and ball seal, are still being made. However, the 110 and 210, as an entire toilet, have been discontinued unless you can find one still in dealer stock.

Subvet in this post Dometic Toilet Model 210 replacement seems to be looking for an all-new toilet since their bowl has a crack/leak. Now to, what can fit in the same place is a good question. There are cabinet doors and pedal locations to consider.

Dometic now offers a 300 series line with six sets of style choices plus two colors. The 300 & 301 models have a plastic bowl. The 310, 311, and 320, 321 are offered with ceramic bowls. See here on the Domeitc site: https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoo...nd-van/toilets

Tetford now also makes a ceramic bowl toilet, so it's an option if you want that bowl style. https://www.thetford.com/products/toilets/rv-toilets/.

From our experience, the ceramic bowl helps with cleaning and reducing odor but costs more. Some folks also want a higher toilet and an elongated bowl as they often sit better. We have the higher elongated toilets in our home, and they do sit better. In our campers, the 110 and 210 round bowl is "down there," but we have been used to it.

Now, how do we get a new toilet to fit in the camper? Let’s have a look at some choices and the fitting requirements.

The floor flange size in the camper that connects to the black tank should still be the same for new toilets, as this is somewhat of an industry standard. See here for what is in the 2004 models.

See this post with more pics of a 2004 model floor flange in case you need to replace yours if it is cracked. https://www.sunlineclub.com/forums/f...elp-17689.html

The toilet floor flange gasket in your home uses a wax ring to seal the toilet to the floor flange; these "will not" work in a camper. The floor gasket application is very different. Each brand and series of camper toilets may have a different gasket explicitly made for that toilet. This floor gasket should be changed when changing or lifting the toilet for servicing. They are a foam rubber type of gasket. See here; this is for a Sealand 110 or 210 toilet.

I know this Dometic floor flange seal works with 110 and 210 Sealand toilets. It may not work on any other brands or series of Sealand toilets. Check to make sure you buy the correct one for your toilet. This gasket may or may not come with a new toilet.

The water supply connection. On most of the Sunlines using PEX piping, they used a 1/2" PEX swivel fitting to screw onto the toilet water supply valve. This swivel fitting is not part of the toilet but of the camper, and there is a cone washer gasket in this fitting that I recommend you replace when changing the toilet or any swivel fitting connection for that matter. These gaskets dry up and can leak over time, and there are no new Sunlines anymore.

The fitting and gasket looks like this. Note: Sunline often trimmed the swivel nut grip wings as the wings would hit the water valve on the 101 and 210 Sealand toilets. These pics show the trimmed wings.

The swivel fitting on the end of the toilet water supply hose.

Looking inside the end of the fitting at the old cone washer

You want to pick out the old gasket.

I buy the Flair-It brand 1/2" PEX swivel cone seal washers to replace the old ones any time I take one of these swivel fittings apart. These are sold at some RV parts places and plumbing supply places, but Amazon does have them. Home Depot, Lowes, etc., do not sell just the cone washers.

Below is what you can order from Amazon. And the prices keep changing, but what else if new…. They come in a 10-pack, and I suggest you have the 10-pack as these same cone washer seals are used on all the PEX swivel fittings in the camper.

Amazon link https://www.amazon.com/Flair-16435-P...IO8/ref=sr_1_1

These are sold directly from Flair-It on their website, but the freight can be high for their small weight unless you are buying other Flair-It fittings to make the freight more reasonable. See here for more on this if wanted. https://www.flairit.com/

Note: Sunline used translucent (milky white), red, and blue color PEX piping in the freshwater system after converting from the older grey piping that was polybutylene or PB piping. The sizes and fittings between the PEX and PB are not the same, they need adapters to go between the two piping types.

If your older camper has grey fresh water piping and gray fittings, that can be polybutylene or PB piping, not PEX. The above cone washer seals may not work with your older piping. If you need help sorting this out for PB piping, ask, and we will try to help. Please post pictures of what your swivel fittings look like so we can better assist you.

We are also dealing with the complex problem of getting a new Dometic toilet to fit in your Sunline. What makes this complex is the need for Dometic to provide the right dimensions in an easy-to-find location. I’ll add more pictures to help explain this better, as it took a great deal of digging to find the necessary information. There are three areas (there may be more pending your floor plan) to ensure a new toilet will fit in your campers or be made to fit.

1.Floor to top of toilet seat height. Bath cabinets are often next to the toilet. Each Sunline floor plan may have a slightly different cabinet next to the toilet; some have swinging cabinet doors, and some do not. Swinging door interference can be a problem to overcome.

2.The distance from the wall behind the toilet to the center of the floor flange in the black tank. Again, some floor plans have the toilet square to the wall, while in others, it is at an angle. Any new toilet needs to be checked to fit and not hit the wall behind it.

3.Foot pedal location: There is also a concern about which side the foot pedal is. Which was an option years ago; you could get right-hand or left-hand foot pedals. That option is no longer in the Dometic brand. A change in foot pedal location may be fine on some floor plans but not on others. The water supply will hook up to the pedal side on most toilets, and the hose might need to be adjusted in length if you are switching pedal sides.

4.A fourth item can be an option, but the same top three items must fit. The camper owner wants a higher-sitting toilet than the old one. This may happen because they must buy a new toilet as certain parts are no longer available, or they may like/want the higher-sitting ones.

Here are some pictures of a few specific floor plans to help show the areas of concern. I’ll start with our 2004 T310SR with a Sealand 110 low-profile toilet. The 210 would fit and look similar but has a few other-looking changes, like the foot pedal shape is a different change, and there is a plastic cover to make the lower part of the toilet base look better.

2004 T310SR. The toilet is square to the back wall; the foot pedal is on the right side when sitting down, and a cabinet swings over the top of the toilet seat. The foot pedal, switching sides to the left, could be harder to flush since it is so close to the cabinet on this floor plan.

The distance from the back wall to the center of the floor flange is 11 ½”.

The clearance distance from the back wall to the back cover of the vacuum breaker valve on the back of the toilet is, 1 1/8” to 1 3/16”

The floor to the top of the seat is 16 5/8” on a changed aftermarket seat and was 17 3/16” on the original Dometic seat.

The bottom of the cabinet door to the floor is 18 ½”.

I have not converted this camper to a new toilet, but it gives us a baseline on the Sealand 110 and 210 toilets.

To see some other floor plans, see these.

2006 T264SR with a 210 toilet. There are no cabinet door swings to worry about; the pivot-out hamper does not hit the toilet. The foot pedal on the right side but could work on either side if a new toilet dictated it. The clearance at the back of the toilet needs to be looked at closely. Sunline often used the 11” to 11 1/2” set back to the black tank.

Here is a 2004 T2475 with a 110 toilet. There are no cabinet door swings to worry about; the pivot-out hamper does not hit the toilet. The foot pedal on the right side could work on either side if a new toilet dictated it. The clearance at the back of the toilet needs to be looked at closely. Sunline often used 11” to 11 ½” set back to the black tank. The drawer above the toilet needs to be looked at, but it is high up from the toilet seat, so it should not be an issue.

Next is a 2007 T2499 with a 210 toilet. This floor plan has the toilet on an angle. The angle mounting location changes the back wall clearance, and it may not be such an issue, but it needs to be checked. The foot pedal on the right side could work on either side if a new toilet dictated it. Switching the pedal to the left may limit the space slightly while standing at the sink, which is something to think through. The cabinet door swing over the top of the toilet can be an issue with a higher toilet.

To make this reply load quicker with all the pic’s, I will stop here and add more in the next reply.