Thetford recirculating model 80

[Davis Ezell]

my inline fuse keeps blowing, is it the pump motor???

[Bill]

Thetford suggests that you replace the 5 amp fuse with a 7.5 amp fuse.

Bill

[JimAdkins]

Hey Bill, I'm still new to TrailManors, and we are having a similar issue. We purchased ours used, and the toilet worked once, but now just blows fuses. I've looked around Thetford's website and can't find anything saying to use a 7.5 amp fuse. Do you happen to have a link to where you found this info?

Thanks! -Jim

Edit: oh, FYI, our's is just a Electa Magic 12V, and doesn't appear to be an "80." The number on the front is 35831.

[Bill]

Jim -

I'm looking for the link. In the meantime, I suggest you pull the pump and make sure that it rotates smoothly and easily, and is not bound up in some way. To pull the pump, remove the tower cover at the back of the toilet - two big Phillips screws, as I recall. The pump motor is enclosed in a black rubber hood. Pull it up and out, being careful not to lose the white nylon motor coupling. Can you rotate the shaft easily by hand? Operate the motor while it is pulled out. Does it still blow the fuse?

Thetford's internal name for the Electra Magic Model 80 is 35831.

Let us know.

Bill

[JimAdkins]

Thanks much for the reply Bill.

I pulled out the motor and pump assembly. The shaft rotates, but not very easily. I tried to disassemble it, and unscrewed 4 screws holding 2 parts of the black plastic housing together. But, the plastic housing didn't come apart easily, and I didn't want to force it. I shot a bunch of WD-40 in the openings that I could find, and tried to work it in by hand by rotating the shaft. It seemed to loosen up a bit, but still required some effort to turn with my finger.

There are also 2 nuts that seem to hold the motor on. One of them, just turned the bolt with the nut, so I couldn't remove it. Again, I didn't want to force anything, so I just screwed the nuts back on as best I could, and put it back in the toilet. I tried running it again a couple more times with new fuses, and the toilet did run for about 1 second, then the fuse would blow. I didn't see your reply until after I took it apart, so I didn't try running it outside the toilet.

Thanks for the confirmation that this is indeed an "80." I appreciate it. It looks as though we both have the same TM, a 2006 2720. So far just these toilet issues, and a couple of water leaks, but we are making progress.

[Bill]

I finally remembered where I got the advice to change out the Thetford 5-amp fuse for a 7.5-amp fuse. Quite a number of years ago, I took our TM to The Car Show, the big dealer in Colorado Springs, for a "tune-up". As part of that operation, they told me about the Thetford fuse change. Although they are no longer in business, they were the second-largest, and one of the most competent, TM dealers in the country.

Bill