Thetford won't release water in tank

[Bailey'sMom]

Originally Posted by davlin

Guys, all good comments on the "whoosh" sound, but I think what Sara (Bailey'sMom) is saying is that:

1. She has enough liquid in the toilet so that flushing it works properly.
2. When she opens the EZSlide valve and the outside black water dump valve, NOTHING comes out.

I'm waiting for Sara to come back on line and confirm, but she's already double-checked that the EZSlide and the dump valve are open.

Dave

Yep, Dave that is exactly the situation.

[fourteener]

Dave,
Thanks for your reply as it is great, and it looks like you have answered the question. I do want to tell you that I've done what you stated, and I have no leaking. I can actually open the gate at the toilet, and if I'm very careful, open the gate on the sewer outlet, and nothing will come out. Slightly rock the TM, and out will flow my black water (in a hurry). The only thing I've come up with, is it is no different than holding your thumb over the top of a straw (air lock), and once you remove it, out flows the water. I think by some lucky means I have a very tight seal on the toilet. Thanks Again

Sara have you taken the top off yet? Very curious as to what is wrong with your toilet.

We had a blow out a few weeks ago on our first day of a 3 week trip combining vacation and a funeral in Iowa. That was a saga in itself. But the tire damaged the pipe connected to the gray water tank. We were able to fix that with JB Weld water putty. The toilet seemed to wobble a bit but wasn't leaking and worked otherwise. When we got home DH took it out and found the flange was cracked. He found a stainless steel ring at Ace that fit over the old flange and screwed down. That fixed our problem and the toilet seems more stable than before.

But I am wondering what happened to yours.

[davlin]

Originally Posted by fourteener

Dave,
Thanks for your reply as it is great, and it looks like you have answered the question. I do want to tell you that I've done what you stated, and I have no leaking. I can actually open the gate at the toilet, and if I'm very careful, open the gate on the sewer outlet, and nothing will come out. Slightly rock the TM, and out will flow my black water (in a hurry). The only thing I've come up with, is it is no different than holding your thumb over the top of a straw (air lock), and once you remove it, out flows the water. I think by some lucky means I have a very tight seal on the toilet. Thanks Again

Wow! I had no idea you could create a vacuum in that system with all the possible places for air to get in.

Sara (Bailey'sMom), have you tried rocking your TM? Make sure your bucket is in the right place!

[Bailey'sMom]

Originally Posted by davlin

Wow! I had no idea you could create a vacuum in that system with all the possible places for air to get in.

Sara (Bailey'sMom), have you tried rocking your TM? Make sure your bucket is in the right place!

Hi all

I have not tried any of these yet. I will on Saturday. I tend to not get home til close to seven and between doggy wanting attention and food, I don't usually like to work on this kind of stuff during the week. I know it sounds simple, but I fear it becoming more involved than I wan to takle on a work night.

I did put the bucket underneath last night to see if it trickled in, but then we had a heavy rain so that kind of ruined that experiment. Checked it after work tonight and I thought it had actually emptied because the 14 qt bucket was half full of water and figured it couldn't be from the rain. So went inside to see if toilet would flush and there was still good flushing action. Emptied the bucket and if doesn't rain tonight I will test for leaking tomorrow.

[Bailey'sMom]

Okay, I just went out to try rocking the trailer to jiggle it loose. Didn't work.

If you get a Flush King, you can back fill your Thetford from the bottom on the outside chance you have a severe clog. This is a very useful product tl have anyhow...

[ShrimpBurrito]

It would seem with even a severe clog, you'd have significant seepage. It sounds like maybe one of the handles on the gate valves has somehow broken from the gate, so when you pull the handle, nothing is happening in the valve.

Of course, the toilet and drain pipes are a very simple setup. It would take ALOT to completely clog a 3"-4" pipe. Another possibility perhaps is that the vinyl skirt has come loose and is covering the hole, but again, I would expect some significant seepage.

Dave

[davlin]

Sara,

What does the fill gage read on the Thetford?

Dave

[Bailey'sMom]

Originally Posted by davlin

Sara,

What does the fill gage read on the Thetford?

Dave

It reads charged.

To all:

Remember that I only added about 2 gallons of water. Doubt there is any clog because it emptied fine at end of camping trip. Now at home I was simply trying to cleanse the toilet so it was nice and clean before storing for winter.

Will remove top on Saturday and report back then