Thetford toilet performance

[GA Judy]

We also use a 36 oz. pitcher full of water twice to better rinse out the toilet when getting ready to pack up and leave.

[tentcamper]

We also do something like that before we close up the camper. I open the inside dump valve and then spray with the shower hose adding about 1/2 to a gallon of fresh water to the top of the tank while rinsing down the toilet.

[PeterOC]

Thanks to all (especially ShrimpBuritto). That was quite an extensive thread -- it took over an hour to read. Over 150 posts! For the quick fix, I'm going with removing the infamous "vinyl skirt."

How do you get it off? Can I simply reach in there with my hand, undo the elastic band and pull the plastic bag looking thing out? Is that the way everyone is doing it? I read a lot about rusting bolts and fabricating tools to get certain plastic clips off. I hope I don't have to get involved with that...

[davlin]

Peter,

I removed the top of my Thetford to take the skirt off. It was really pretty easy (4 screws). Many others on this forum have simply reached through the "throat" of the bowl and removed it by pulling it out. I would try this first, but if the skirt seems to be stuck, I wouldn't use excessive force; there is a chance you could crack the bowl from pulling too hard. In that case just take the top off.

You will definitely like the way the toilet flushes after removing the skirt. Just remember, the purpose of the skirt is to keep contents from splashing when the TM is moving, so you'll need to empty the toilet before towing, or put something in the toilet throat to keep the contents where they belong.

Dave

[Redtail Cruiser]

Hi Peter,

Just keep in mind that if your not happy with the "Electra-Magic", after you modify it, it is easy to replace it with a better toilet. As you probably have read in other threads, many of us have not been satisfied with the recirculating system. The "Thetford Curve", for instance, is relatively inexpensive and IMHO is a much better toilet, especially if you do a lot of long term boondocking.

Here is a tip for anyone that dismantles their Recirculating toilet. Soon after buying my used TM, I took mine apart in order to make sure it was relatively clean and functioning. I cleaned it and put it back together. This week-end my DW used it for solid waste for the first time since I had it apart. The solids would NOT go down!. The notorious vinyl skirt had been removed. I took it apart and found out that dummy me had put the screen in upside down!
So if you take yours apart make sure the small end of the screen goes down!!

[Bill]

Terry -

I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I have been there, done that. In addition to getting the screen right side up, there is a front and back to it. As I recall, the opening is a somewhat distended oval, and the small side of the oval is on the front - or do I have that backwards? At any rate, when I finally got it right, I wrote on the inside of the enclosure with Sharpie something like "Small End Forward!". No problems since.

Bill