Updated (Again). It’s fixed. If the toilet’s a-rockin’…..🎶

[Frank C]

18 minutes ago, Steph and Dud B said:

I noted that there was always some play between the toilet and fiberglass floor. The tech at delivery said the floors aren't always perfectly flat. I'm thinking of adding toilet shims when I reinstall to make sure that the floor supports the toilet all the way around, not just the flange.

I think the tech was just making an excuse for a poor installation of the toilet at the factory.  The flange may not have been properly seated flush to the floor, leading to  the play and cracking of the flange that you experienced.  You can easily check the flatness of the floor with a straight edge or a level.  That area of the floor where the toilet mounts is a very thick built up fiberglass laminate section, and very flat.   My toilet sits completely flush to the floor all around with good compression on the seal now, and zero play or rocking.  You shouldn’t need any shims if the new flange is properly installed.  

[Kathy Tewart]

Hull 1095 here-the flange on our toilet cracked on day 6 of using our Ollie.  Waiting for replacement part to be delivered-I wonder how many Olivers are having this problem. Is it a recent problem or ongoing.  When the cracked flange was removed it appears the bottom edge had been beveled - in order to get it in easier? A picture is below

[Frank C]

29 minutes ago, Kathy Tewart said:

Hull 1095 here-the flange on our toilet cracked on day 6 of using our Ollie.  Waiting for replacement part to be delivered-I wonder how many Olivers are having this problem. Is it a recent problem or ongoing.  When the cracked flange was removed it appears the bottom edge had been beveled - in order to get it in easier? A picture is below

As shown in your photo, I did bevel the leading edge of the 3” pipe when I installed my new metal ring flange and pipe. It makes installation easier, along with some dish soap as a lubricant, to get the pipe into the collar seal on top of the black tank.

It’s not just a recent problem.  Ours is a 2019 trailer so the original all plastic flange lasted a few years before failing completely, but I suspect it was starting to crack well before that.  Although it seems new owners are seeing it happen very quickly, most likely due to improper installation at the factory.

If you can, you should use a better flange with a metal mounting ring like the one shown in earlier posts.  There’s no way I would have gone through all the trouble of removing the toilet just to install yet another one of the cheap all plastic flanges.  The all plastic ones seem almost guaranteed to fail over time.  

[Kathy Tewart]

13 hours ago, Frank C said:

As shown in your photo, I did bevel the leading edge of the 3” pipe when I installed my new metal ring flange and pipe. It makes installation easier, along with some dish soap as a lubricant, to get the pipe into the collar seal on top of the black tank.

It’s not just a recent problem.  Ours is a 2019 trailer so the original all plastic flange lasted a few years before failing completely, but I suspect it was starting to crack well before that.  Although it seems new owners are seeing it happen very quickly, most likely due to improper installation at the factory.

If you can, you should use a better flange with a metal mounting ring like the one shown in earlier posts.  There’s no way I would have gone through all the trouble of removing the toilet just to install yet another one of the cheap all plastic flanges.  The all plastic ones seem almost guaranteed to fail over time.  

Thanks for the input, will try to find metal flange.

[Frank C]

1 hour ago, Kathy Tewart said:

Thanks for the input, will try to find metal flange.

The correct size metal ring ABS flange is available on Amazon.  You will have to glue a short length of 3" diameter black ABS pipe onto the outlet of the flange, using the proper cement for ABS plastic plumbing pipe, to extend it down into the black tank rubber collar seal.  You can measure the length of the pipe on your old broken flange to determine the length of pipe to glue to the new flange.

Here's the link to the flange and the ABS pipe.   Lowe’s also sells the proper primer/cleaner and cement for ABS plastic pipe.  

CLOSET FLANGE ABS TKO 3" by SIOUX CHIEF MfrPartNo 888-ATM

Silver-Line Plastics 3-in x 2-ft Pipe in the ABS DWV Pipe & Fittings department at Lowes.com

 

[Steph and Dud B]

I installed the new flange OTT sent as a warranty replacement. Black ABS plastic. Decided to go ahead and use it since this is warranty work and any parts changes I made would be on me. I did put a little silicone lube on the pipe to make it easier to insert. I also noticed something that may be the root of the problem: the 4 screws that secure the flange to the floor are larger in diameter than the holes in the flange, so the screw threads were biting into the flange as well as the floor. I believe at least some of the screws were bottoming out in their countersinks without pulling the flange tight to the floor. The screw felt tight, but it was only tightening against the flange itself. Before installing the replacement flange I drilled out the screw holes so the screws turned freely in their holes. The toilet seems much more solid now. We'll see how long it lasts. Next time, if out of warranty, it'll be a metal flange...