Major Toilet Problem Caused by TM, Not Thetford

[Virginia Deacon]

Finally, I was able to determine the root cause of the Thetford recirculating toilet not draining properly! See my other Plumbing posts for some symptoms and my previous thoughts on this problem.

Since removing the toilet and ordering a new gasket from Thetford, I decided to go back into the TM and replace what I thought was a wax seal used to seat the toilet at the factory, just like permanent toilets at home.

In fact, I took the gasket and sealing material to our local RV dealer and service center. Once the parts man showed me what a new gasket should look like, it didn't take either of us long to figure out what the problem was. It turned out that the "seal" was - in fact - nearly a half tube of silicone that the factory applied around the toilet seal, when installing the toilet during manufacturing. See attached photos. The photo of the existing gasket with silicone around the sides and top of the gasket shows a factory application of silicone that was over six inches across and an inch deep - on top of the original gasket. One of the photos shows that a piece of this application broke off the top of the gasket, when I pulled the silicone off the top and out of the gasket.

The comparison between a new gasket and my existing gasket shows how - when the toilet was seated in place at the factory - a large glob of the silicone filled the black water drain pipe hole, leaving a 1-inch by 1.25-inch rectangular hole where there was supposed to be a 3-inch diameter circular hole. THAT explains why I have had trouble with the toilet draining when I opened the toilet drain valve. With the drain opening being less than 25% of what it is supposed to be, solids accumulated and plugged up the top of the black water pipe. The fact that I have removed the old, silicon-covered gasket and am in the process of installing a new gasket means there should be no such problems in the future - that's the GOOD news.

The BAD news is that those of you who have the same problems with toilet draining are going to have to remove the toilet in order to see if the factory created the same problem in your TrailManor. I repeat - the problem is not a Thetford problem, it is a TrailManor installation problem. And, there is no other way I can think of to see if there's a glob of silicone plugging up the black water plumbing in your TrailManor than to pull up the toilet. Another bear of a problem is that, if there is silicon holding the toilet in place, it is VERY difficult to pull that toilet up. But, at least I've warned you and can encourage you that it CAN be done. Once the toilet has been removed, it should be evident whether the drain hole is wide open or significantly plugged with silicon, as mine was.

I am very thankful that I "bit the bullet" and decided to pull the toilet and see if I could find out why it wasn't draining properly. Now, I can rest easy and enjoy our camping, without wondering whether the toilet is going to work properly. That's why I encourage you to do the same.

Footnote: Our 2006 TrailManor 2720SL was manufactured in September of 2005, and we love it!

Happy Camping!