The Thetford toilet: a virtual tour and fixing it for good

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

I too agree you need the right tools for this job. Nice job, Wayne. For those that don't have Wayne's handiness, I use a pair of vise grips clamped onto a metal tent stake to pull the clips out. To push them back in, I use a long (about 18" long) and wide flat screw driver and tap them in with a hammer. I have removed the toilet probably a half dozen times, and have found this method works great.

Dave

I'm wondering if they didn't change something in the design of the toilet after '98 (those tools were used on my '98 2720). I haven't trie them on my 2004 yet.

There was only a 1/2" gap between the floor and the bottom edge of the toilet housing. The clip top (where I had to tap the clip in) is 1" off of the floor and 3 1/4" in and it had to be pushed straight in ~1.5". The clip is on a slide and as it is pushed in, the end of the slide becomes an obstacle. With that extreme angle up, I could not get to the end of the clip with a screw driver much less push it in. That's why I made that tool. I laid the tool down sideways on the floor, slid it in and turned it up 90 degrees. It touched the end of the clip perfectly. When I tapped the end of the tool, the clip slid all the way in perfectly. I even took the toilet back out and tightened the retaining nuts tighter.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Wayne - It sounds like you did not remove the bottom 2 trim pieces before removing the toilet. There is one on each side, each attached with a screw, and they meet in the middle of the toilet. You can't even see the screw on the left between the toilet and tub. When the trim is removed, there's at least 1.5" between the floor and toilet housing. The screws are a major pain to access (you need a right angle screw driver), so I have kept the trim off and no one has noticed the difference.

Dave

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Wayne - It sounds like you did not remove the bottom 2 trim pieces before removing the toilet. There is one on each side, each attached with a screw, and they meet in the middle of the toilet. You can't even see the screw on the left between the toilet and tub. When the trim is removed, there's at least 1.5" between the floor and toilet housing. The screws are a major pain to access (you need a right angle screw driver), so I have kept the trim off and no one has noticed the difference.

Dave

That must be the difference. My '98TM had no trim pieces at the bottom (see attached pic. it was the only one that I could find that showed the whole toilet). The outer body of the toilet went right down to 1/2" off the floor.

They must have mounted the toilet higher and added the trim pieces or completely redesigned the toilet after '98.

[ShrimpBurrito]

It's hard to tell from your pic, but it looks like there is a countersunk hole on the right in the bottom of the pic, which would mean the trim is in place. I can take a pic of mine with and without the trim if you'd like, but if you're standing in front of the toilet and look at the side of the front leg on your right, there should be either a screw or a hole. If it's a hole, and you are looking at a hole in the leg, then the trim is missing.

The 2 pieces of trim also meet in the middle to surround the EZ Slide valve handle shaft. If the EZ slide valve is clearly visible when looking under the toilet with your head near the floor, your trim is missing.

Dave

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

It's hard to tell from your pic, but it looks like there is a countersunk hole on the right in the bottom of the pic, which would mean the trim is in place. I can take a pic of mine with and without the trim if you'd like, but if you're standing in front of the toilet and look at the side of the front leg on your right, there should be either a screw or a hole. If it's a hole, and you are looking at a hole in the leg, then the trim is missing.

The 2 pieces of trim also meet in the middle to surround the EZ Slide valve handle shaft. If the EZ slide valve is clearly visible when looking under the toilet with your head near the floor, your trim is missing.

Dave

Well, again, that was my '98. I sold that TM a few months ago so it isn't important to me. However, if someone has an early model TM and needs that info, it may be handy.

I do remember that the slide handle stuck out and was not recessed into the toilet base. I was always concerned that someone might step on the thing.

[ShrimpBurrito]

The Thetford Electra Magic toilet design has, unfortunately, not changed at least in the last 20 years. Your new toilet should be identical to your old one.

Dave

[scrubjaysnest]

Got my baptism by fire today............ took a look at why the level indicator hangs up so I went ahead and pulled the top easy after everyone has been there. Found a secondary problem right away, the rubber seal wasn't installed right. Looked like a pretzel Oh! the level gauge was sticking because of a piece of one inch tubing; for lack of a better term I'll call it a zero stop, just left it out. Measured out two and half gallons of charge and we'll see how the weekend goes. If the "zero stop" needs to be there I'll put it back and ty-rap in place.

[T and C]

Folks,

A couple of weeks ago, Wayne told me this:

I have a 1G water container that I fill twice to charge the toilet.

If the pump is circulating the water (strongly, not just a sputter), that's all you need.

On my recent trip, I used a 1/2 gallon milk carton. After I poured 4 of these in, (2 gallons), the pump still sucked air or produced only foam. Another quart of water did the trick. So, there seems to be a little variation between Thetfords.

Tom

[ThePair]

Originally Posted by scrubjaysnest

Got my baptism by fire today............ took a look at why the level indicator hangs up so I went ahead and pulled the top easy after everyone has been there. Found a secondary problem right away, the rubber seal wasn't installed right. Looked like a pretzel Oh! the level gauge was sticking because of a piece of one inch tubing; for lack of a better term I'll call it a zero stop, just left it out. Measured out two and half gallons of charge and we'll see how the weekend goes. If the "zero stop" needs to be there I'll put it back and ty-rap in place.

I took mine out, it's not needed. Definitely stopped my gauge from zeroing out, so I had to guess on the charge. Now, it's just fine, without that part. I think it's a shipping piece, tbh.

[thewayneo]

Before I decided to purchase a TM, I read all about the recirc toilet problems, but having owned several RV's with standard foot-pedal Thetfords I figured “how bad could they be?” I bought a 2006 2619 and I was really impressed by the toilets water flushing power. But then I looked closely at the opening that liquids and solids have to drop through. On mine, there is a half-moon shaped opening about 3/4” wide from front to back and 3” long side to side! Is this a manufacturing defect on my unit? I don't think rabbit pellets could pass through that size slit! Clearly, obviously, this could never work for human solids. So we decided we could only use it for liquid. Well that was a pain we lived with for a while, but the time came when the 16-year-old really had to go. So when she was done she said she couldn't get the toilet to flush. We checked it out and sure enough, everything was piled up around that tiny little slit. We flushed and flushed, tried using the shower hose on it, and towards the end of the day finally ran the batteries down. So I got a stick.... This is really unbelievable! I hope somebody can eyeball the opening on their toilet and tell me if mine was just made incorrectly. If not, I'm inclined to take a grinding tool and make that slit about twice the original size, or throw the whole thing away. What a ridiculous design! I got home too late on Friday to call Thetford, but I'll give 'em an earfull Monday.

I should also mention that for the first time, when I got home I found 5 "mud splatters" on the floor in front of the toilet. I couldn't find anything on the lid or seat, so not clear on how they got there. After tapping the level gauge several times to get it unstuck, it only showed 1/3 full.

Wayne-o