Thetford toilet

Urgent Request for Help . My wife & I are living full time in our 3123 TM this year. Our Thetford Toilet has developed flushing issue. The volume of water is much reduced from what it was when the TM was new. I suspect that the problem is a blocked pump intake. I need to take the toilet out to open the top of the toilet to clean out the tank. It appears that the toilet is held in place by slide clips and to get to them I will have to remove the lower trim, then pull the clips toward the front of the toilet to remove the toilet. I have to assume that a stubby screw driver is usable on shower side of the toilet to remove the trim. Is this correct? Are there special tools need to remove the toilet?

Has anyone come up with a way to keep the filter cone in place while traveling?
Has anyone had problems with false gray water tank readings on the indicator lights?
Thanks for any info.

[mcgyver210]

You do not need to remove the toilet to check the pump. My old Thetford had an internal leak from day one which caused it to not flush properly. After it developed a leak on the back top side I decided to take it apart & contact Thetford. Thetford concluded my toilet had too many issues & replaced it under warranty which was awesome!

Now all you have to do is:
1. Remove the two screws holding the Motor housing.
2. Remove the motor being careful not to loose the coupling which is very bad.
3. This will allow the Housing & Motor to be placed out of the way.
4. You will see two more screws in the same area as the Motor housing you will need to remove them also.
5. Remove the Hidden Screws under the front of the Thetfofd.
6. This allows you to remove the top & expose the inner workings.


Hope this helps

[ShrimpBurrito]

As Billy mentioned, you do not need to remove the toilet from the TM to check the pump. To do so, you just need to separate the top half of the toilet from the bottom half (the holding tank). The only thing you need to do is remove 6 screws:

- 2 on the back of the toilet holding down the block cover. Remove the cover, and then remove the 2 screws that were covered by the cover. These will be much longer than the first 2. You will also see the pump motor here, but the part you need access to is not here.

- there are 2 more screws on the front of the toilet. They screw in upside down, and are recessed in the lip of the front of the toilet, about half way down to the floor.

Once these 6 screws are removed, you can remove the top half of the toilet. There is a seal that goes around the bottom half that you will need to reseat when you reassemble. Make certain it does not get bunched up, and that you reinstall it in the same direction. It is not symmetrical -- one side bulges out a bit more, and it faces outward from the toilet.

Once the toilet is disassembled, everything should be obvious. The pump impeller is at the bottom of the black pipe.

Refer to this thread for some pics of the toilet:
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=8112

Originally Posted by sallby

Has anyone come up with a way to keep the filter cone in place while traveling?

Not that I am aware of, but I would love to find a way to eliminate the gap in between the cone and the bottom of the toilet to prevent waste from escaping from inside the cone. Of the members here, ThePair, has built a new filter cone that isolates the pump instead of the waste. There are pictures of it in the thread I referenced above.

Originally Posted by sallby

Has anyone had problems with false gray water tank readings on the indicator lights?

Yes, this is indicative of debris on the sensors. You can make a solution to dump in there to wash them off. I have never done it before, so I don't know exactly what you use -- I know there are commercial products, but I seem to recall reading here about a home remedy that was better.....something about fabric softener. Use the search engine to find more about it, or perhaps others will chime in.

Dave

[mcgyver210]

OOPS I was editing & never saved LOL I guess better late than never

Thanks Bill & Dave, Currently I am getting ready to pull the top of the toilet and clean the pump and tubing to get the toilet working again.

I like the design of thePair on the filter cone. Suggestion what about using very thin stainless plate with punched or expanded metal w/ fiberglass screen behind it for the fine material. Even plastic sheet with drilled holes for most of fluid to get to the pump maybe even slots. Something to think about.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by sallby

Thanks Bill & Dave, Currently I am getting ready to pull the top of the toilet and clean the pump and tubing to get the toilet working again.

I like the design of thePair on the filter cone. Suggestion what about using very thin stainless plate with punched or expanded metal w/ fiberglass screen behind it for the fine material. Even plastic sheet with drilled holes for most of fluid to get to the pump maybe even slots. Something to think about.

My pleasure. Those are good ideas, but no one has really experimented much, or at least told us about it, other than is what in that thread.

If I were to replace the cone with something, I would use stainless screen. That is what the existing cone is made from, and the screen part of the cone works fine. If the holes in whatever barrier you use are too large, but still small enough to filter most material, some waste will inevitably end up getting clogged in them. And task of fixing that, as you are now discovering, is something I'd rather not be doing, especially on a trip!

Dave

Originally Posted by sallby

I like the design of thePair on the filter cone.

I am tempted to just make a mesh bonnet that wraps around the pump "tower". Might even be able to get away with using nylon screen material. Just haven't decided when I will feel like doing it. Right now I am buying a house with a larger garage for the TM and TV so I am too busy. (This trailer just keeps getting more expensive by the month)

[ShrimpBurrito]

Originally Posted by M&M Hokie

I am tempted to just make a mesh bonnet that wraps around the pump "tower". Might even be able to get away with using nylon screen material. Just haven't decided when I will feel like doing it. Right now I am buying a house with a larger garage for the TM and TV so I am too busy. (This trailer just keeps getting more expensive by the month)

You can do that, but I think you have to support the bonnet in some fashion to prevent it from being sucked up next to the intake. Shouldn't be too hard.....

Congrats on the new home! Your TM must feel real lucky.....

Dave