First Time Using Thetford in brand new trailer and its Leaking...

I read a lot of posts on here about the toilet prior to using.

We decided our toilet would be no solids, including no TP. We charged it, put in the chemicals and started using. We used for 5 days and it wasn't quite half full according the indicator.

We didn't have hook ups so I pulled the valve at the bottom of the toilet and continued shutting down the trailer and closing it up. I then noticed toilet water leaking out of the trailer......Big Problem....it appears that upon releasing the valve there must not be a good seal as the water started leaking out.

My question: Should i be able to release the valve on the toilet at the base of the toilet without it leaking? I would think this is the only way to do it since it can't be accessed when the trailer is closed.

If thats the case I'll put in a warranty claim and get it fixed. I thought I remembered reading that some owners do exactly as I was doing so they can travel to the dump station and dump quickly.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks,
Josh

Pulling the inside handle only allows the toilet to empty into the drain tube, which holds about a gallon. In no way should anything leak as a result of doing that. Some searching will give you some terrific info on how the Thetford works and what you can do to live successfully with it!

[MudDog]

Yes, you should be able to pull the white valve at the base of the toilet and fold down the trailer to drive to a dump station. A lot of the contents of the toilet should drop down into the pipe between the white valve at the base of the toilet and the black valve outside near where you connect the sewer hose. If the black valve is closed completely and the seal is good, it should hold the contents until you get the sewer hose hooked up and pull the black valve.

Where was the water leaking out? At the base of the toilet (inside)? - This would probably be a faulty toilet seal at the base of the toilet.

Or outside near the black gate-valve (you should have two outside...one for the gray tank and one for the black pipe leading to the toilet) or from the where the cap slips on to cover where the sewer hose goes? If the later, it could be a bad outside gate valve, or it wasn't closed completely...or the seal was dried out and last time it closed it didn't seal well, but working it a few times may make a better seal next time.

It was leaking at the base of the toilet after pulling the valve.

[MudDog]

Sounds like a bad donut seal or slide valve (maybe they moved the guy that was putting too much silicone on the toilets to the roof).

They'll be opportunity to work on the toilet yourself sometime in the future, I'd let the warranty take care of this one

Yep, MudDog is spot on with this one...obviously any leak is not right and an inside leak is even worse. Do a search and find Shrimp Burrito's Thetford thread. He has great pictures of what one looks when taken apart and you will better understand how it works. Besides being a pain, this is not one which will cause you too much grief to get fixed.

Originally Posted by MudDog

Sounds like a bad donut seal or slide valve (maybe they moved the guy that was putting too much silicone on the toilets to the roof).

They'll be opportunity to work on the toilet yourself sometime in the future, I'd let the warranty take care of this one

I like both your lines MudDog, both are humorous and have accurate, good information. The post is brief, sometimes less is more. I used to put too much oil and sealant on everything too. I guess I'm getting old because I don't think if a little is good ,then a lot is better any more.