The Bowen Knot ⌘: Life in a 2014 Forest River Flagstaff Travel Trailer: RV Step Stairs and Dometic's 300 Series Toilet

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Life in a 2014 Forest River Flagstaff Travel Trailer: RV Step Stairs and Dometic's 300 Series Toilet

Our New RV Stairs

RV stairs are flimsy and over time can start to buckle. Plus, our FurBabies "Sasha, Zoey Bear, and Bella Boo" and the humans in our family do not like them at all. We needed sturdy and safe stairs for our family. The cost to buy a saw and speed square plus knowing that I would only use them one time and not need them again for years to come led me to hire out the job.

Safety Grit Tape

Safe Stairs for the Bowen Family

Craigslist Logo

Craigslist to the rescue. I contacted 3 local handymen and only 1 responded. He is a local builder that works part-time at Lowe's. He came out to the RV and discussed the job and took measurements. Less than week later, we have a solid sturdy pressure treated lumber stairs. All I had to do was add some skateboard type tape for a more secure stair tread and this project was accomplished. Pretty cool if I must say so myself!

Our New Stairs and Heather's "Radio"

Next issue!!!

A few days after we moved into the RV there was a serious odor coming from the bathroom. No one likes to smell pee so it was time to figure out what was going on. I dumped the black then the grey tanks. Our girl "Bessie" has a black tank flush and I hooked up a hose and made sure the black tank was cleared.

The next day, I went to the park owner and borrowed a ladder. I went up on "Bessie's" roof with a hose and put water down both the kitchen and bath vent stacks in case there was a clog in one. There was still a seriously stinky odor issue.

Time to explore the internet.

The maker of the toilet is Dometic's. I surfed the web for a few days and they I hit pay dirt. In 2013 and part of 2014, Dometic's toilet series 300 had a serious issue that the company didn't issue a recall for...But, they would replace the toilet for free if any customer complained.

Our RV is a 2014. It had seen little to almost no use by the first owner. Would Dometic's still honor the replacement? I sent off an email to find out. It took about a week of being bouncing around the office staff until I hit someone who worked in the right department and could act. Heather found the serial number and every number on the toilet and we waited for a reply.

We were told we would get a new toilet in the mail. And three days later it arrived. There was even a toilet flange rubber seal included. The same model, series 300. But redesigned. The old one was like a bowl inside another. The outer bowl was the decorative outside and the inside bowl was the toilet bowl itself. Between them was an inner rubber seal that was pressed in at the factory during assembly. It leaked allowing the space between the bowls to fill with waste water. And stink!!!

I have changed and installed plenty of toilets in a house but, never in an RV. It was actually faster and easier than a house. I had to borrow a combination wrench from another camper as my socket set could not get into the flange bolts. I was done in less than 5 minutes. The smell issue was finally resolved!

One word of caution if you have this issue, the waste water inside the toilet will cause a mess when you remove the toilet. I have a door in my bathroom so I just chucked it outside. If you don't, consider the tub to keep the mess down.

I want to give a big high five to Dometic's for standing behind the things they make. If anything breaks in the RV and they make a replacement, they have me as a customer! Thanks for being honest, and for sending me a free toilet! Your company rocks!

Our Bessie <3

And for those of you wondering. Yes, Heather has named our RV "Bessie" and we are Loving Her!

Our Beautiful View From the Bottom of Our New Stairs

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Our blog is about a lot of things. Our daily lives, our move to Ecuador, and the vacations we plan to have. Please read and follow our travels through life. We welcome comments! Making friends along the way would also be great. People have described us as being colorful and animated. Our family looks at a glass and always considers it to be half full. We have an easy going attitude. We think things should get accomplished and that in the process you can still have fun. Feel free to come along on our families journey.

The Bowen Knot - Shamrock Rating System

One Shamrock: This indicates the worst service possible. If awarded, it means we would never EVER use the service again. If it was a food establishment the food was barely editable. This means a complete fail with little to no redeeming features. We will never go there ever again.

Two Shamrocks: This is a service that we might consider using again to give it a second chance. But, the experience that we had would normally cause us to award one shamrock if not for some key redeeming features. If it was a food establishment the food was okay, but still sub-par. We didn't like the food. Serious room for improvement exists.

Three Shamrocks: Normal middle of the road service. We might have had some bad or some good but they were offset somewhat. This is service we would use again but we will look for a better provider. If it was a food establishment the food was good. We like it and will return. There might be room for things to get better but it is still a decent meal.

Four Shamrocks: Great service. This is a definitive repeat for us. We like a lot about the service and recommend it. If it was a food establishment the food was excellent. We liked it a lot. We like the place enough to return frequently. There are very few detractors.

Five Shamrocks: Outstanding service. This is service that treats us above and beyond what we think we deserve. We consider this what we would want to find all the time and what we hope all service providers would want to obtain. If it was a food establishment the food was perfect. No issues whatsoever. We loved it and would eat there everyday.