Thetford toilet performance

PeterOC · 01-23-2015, 12:48 AM

I've had my TM for about 9 months, and I'm having problems with my recirculating toilet's, well... "performance." The problem is, it doesn't seem to push the "solid waste" down very well and leaves solids in the toilet. At first, I told kids to not use too much toilet paper. I told them: first to flush the solid waste, then use the toilet paper and flush it afterward so it doesn't have to do it all at once. This doesn't seem to work either.

Is this a common problem with the Thetford recirculating toilet? My TM is a 2009. The toilet rinse seems pretty weak, but I really can't compare it. If I had to guess, I suppose it recirculates/flushes about a cup of water in about 2 seconds.

Do you think there is a problem with my unit? Or is this a pretty common problem?

s. This doesn't seem to work either

**ShrimpBurrito** · 01-23-2015, 01:25 AM

Yes, it's a common problem. If you read this thread:

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=8112

...you'll know everything you need to know about the toilet. In short, you need to remove the "vinyl skirt" that attaches to the chute inside the toilet. You don't need to disassemble the toilet to do so. You can replace it with something homemade (see thread), or replace it with nothing.

Dave

rvcycleguy · 01-23-2015, 06:13 AM

I would say yes there is a flow problem if you can only get a cup of water per 2 seconds. I've not measured my flow but could guess that I would get 2x that amount or more. As ShrimpBurrito suggests, you may have to remove the top portion to inspect the skirt. Or, you may have to really get down and check the pump and screen for any blockage. Think about how many flushes you've had since 2009? 5-6 years, and how many opportunities for TP, and other things that may get stuck in the screen. I'm sure you are aware of specific TP for an RV and how fragile the TM waste system is...

Good luck.

tentcamper · 01-23-2015, 07:52 AM

We don't have any issues and have the vinyl skirt on.

**Bill** · 01-23-2015, 08:25 AM

Check out the excellent toilet video in post #25 here. Does your toilet work like this?

Thanks again for posting this, Dave.

http://www.trailmanorowners.com/foru...ead.php?t=8045

Bill

ThePair · 01-23-2015, 08:56 AM

Our flush was initially weak, turns out there was an issue with the tubing to the upper edge of the bowl where the flush water comes out. Had it replaced under warrantee and the new one was substantially better with the flushing.

That being said, I wanted even better performance, so I removed the vinyl skirt, and ultimately rebuilt the internal mesh screen. Now, it works better than my home toilets -- never has an issue with solids going down, no matter what.

**ShrimpBurrito** · 01-23-2015, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThePair

That being said, I wanted even better performance, so I removed the vinyl skirt, and ultimately rebuilt the internal mesh screen. Now, it works better than my home toilets -- never has an issue with solids going down, no matter what.

Have you considered installing some therfords in your home? 😃

Dave

tentcamper · 01-23-2015, 10:37 AM

My toilet works great with the skirt.

My water flow: Without getting the TM out and testing it. What I remember from use is: I'm thinking it spins around the bowl a little more that 1 full turn by the time it go's in the tank. I would think it around 6-8 oz per second. When I flush to mix up the chemicals after I fill the tank. It mixes up so fast that I start to get bubbles coming up to the bowl after the second 10-20 seconds flush.

One thing we also do, which go's back to instructions from our 2nd TT with a standard RV toilet. We do a very short flush before we use the toilet to get bowl wet. It reduces the of flush amount you need to get the TP and brown marks off and out of the bowl. I think water conservation was the idea of the TT instructions, which I read it back in the late 80's. Water conservation is not the concern with the TM toilet, but we still do it out of habit.

rvcycleguy · 01-23-2015, 10:58 AM

Good point Tentcamper on flushing before and after use.

rv

**Kwantau** · 01-24-2015, 07:37 AM

What we found was that if you wet the bowl with a quick flush and then put a piece of toilet paper in the bowl and do your business, the flush after that is effortless and does not leave any unsightly streaks. Al it takes is that one or two pieces of TP.