Continuing problems with Thetford toilet

Originally Posted by nonichris

OMG; our toilet looks nothing like that...no water at all except in the very back...no circling of water at all..no real pressure...thank you so very much..no wonder the tp doesn't go down in ours..nothing there to push it down!!! The video looks like what we thought it should look like....

Same here only blue water from the very back..When things do not go right...I mean down I just hold the switch in and water backs up and I guess creates pressure and bowl is flushed. Now I know better I may open her up and see if I can fix anything.

Thanks

Another interesting possibility. Chris talked again yesterday with Kim, who is in charge of quality control for Thetford, and he asked Chris to look at the label on the pump and find out if it is 12V or 24V. Now that the pumps are outsourced, sometimes mistakes are made. Then he is supposed to check the voltage and amperage going to the pump to see if it is high enough to run the pump properly. We are so grateful that Kim is willing to take the time with Chris to help solve the problem...we have had to postpone the repair of the toilet, but now will be able to hopefully figure it out. Kim did say they might end up sending us a new toilet...that was reassuring. It is so nice to know there are still good people out there who actually care about their clients...

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by nonichris

Another interesting possibility. Chris talked again yesterday with Kim, who is in charge of quality control for Thetford, and he asked Chris to look at the label on the pump and find out if it is 12V or 24V. Now that the pumps are outsourced, sometimes mistakes are made. Then he is supposed to check the voltage and amperage going to the pump to see if it is high enough to run the pump properly. We are so grateful that Kim is willing to take the time with Chris to help solve the problem...we have had to postpone the repair of the toilet, but now will be able to hopefully figure it out. Kim did say they might end up sending us a new toilet...that was reassuring. It is so nice to know there are still good people out there who actually care about their clients...

It may be just a bad circuit. I agree with Kriss that it may be a voltage problem. Check the voltage to the pump while the pump is running.

You may show 12.5V at the switch while the pump is not running but as soon as you turn it on, the voltage may drop to 10V. This could be caused by a connector that is not crimped properly or even a defective wire that got over-stretched and most of the tiny little wire got broken inside the insulation. I have seen that before. It will drive a person nuts trying to find it. The reading at the switch would be 12.5V when no draw is applied because that tiny strand of wire will carry the 12V when there is no draw. However, when a draw is applied, the wire can no longer carry that much voltage.

It could also be a bad ground. The key is finding out what the voltage is, at the pump, with the pump running.

Checking the amperage on DC is a little more difficult and requires a special tool. However, checking the voltage while the pump is running will tell you that same story. It shouldn't drop more than a few 10ths of a volt.

When Chris checked the voltage it went from 13+ when the pump was off to almost 0 when the pump was running...Kim is now talking to the electrical engineer at Thetford and will call back very soon...seems as though we have found the source of the problem...now how to fix in some sort of manageable way...why not hire an electrician rather than go back to the dealer or another RV place for service? How difficult would it be for us to trace the wiring back to the battery or where ever the problem is? Having some sort of schematic would help..we have a call in to Ed also at TM...Our 12/24V system in Costa Rica is completely exposed, so tracing is way easier, especially since we installed it ourselves. It is ugly, but it works.

[Bill]

Aha! Good troubleshooting! However, the problem is almost certainly not in the Thetford, so talking to their people might not get you far. It is somewhere in the TM wiring, between the toilet and the fuse in the converter box.

As I recall (my TM is closed up in the garage at the moment), there is a round black cord that brings power to the Thetford pump motor. One end of that cord is (obviously) in the Thetford - the other end runs under the bathroom sink, through the wall, and under the kitchen sink. Under the kitchen sink, it is spliced onto another cord or wire that runs under the floor to the converter. Can you find that splice, open it up if it is taped, and make the same voltage measurement there? My guess is that this splice is bad, and if so, it is easily fixed.

Let us know how you progress.

Bill

[Wavery]

Originally Posted by nonichris

When Chris checked the voltage it went from 13+ when the pump was off to almost 0 when the pump was running...Kim is now talking to the electrical engineer at Thetford and will call back very soon...seems as though we have found the source of the problem...now how to fix in some sort of manageable way...why not hire an electrician rather than go back to the dealer or another RV place for service? How difficult would it be for us to trace the wiring back to the battery or where ever the problem is? Having some sort of schematic would help..we have a call in to Ed also at TM...Our 12/24V system in Costa Rica is completely exposed, so tracing is way easier, especially since we installed it ourselves. It is ugly, but it works.

The 1st thing that I would do is run a temporary ground wire from a known, good ground point to the pump. That will tell you if the problem is in the ground or hot wire. If it's the ground, it would just be a matter of finding where the pump is grounded and possibly just tightening a fastener.

The the problem still exists with a good ground, you'll know that it is a problem in the hot lead. If your electrical tester has the pointed probes on it, Attach one side to your known good ground wire, then test the voltage (under load) at different connectors. Just work your way from the toilet back, until you find the problem.

I think that TM should send someone to you after all the hassle you have gone through and their "Technical expert" proving himself unreliable.

Has anyone that purchased a new TM, or Thetford toilet noticed a thick plastic "film" sheet inside the bowl covering/blocking the opening that allows waste to flow into the holding tank? I recently bought a used TM and found almost half the opening covered by this type film. I removed the film and the toilet worked much better.

[ShrimpBurrito]

That little film, aka the "vinyl skirt", is the major impediment to free flowing waste, but I think it also serves the important function of preventing waste from going in the wrong direction, like up. If you never travel with a full toilet, no problem.

What's been your experience?

Dave

Wow, I didn't realize the film was there to serve that purpose. On our first trip we had problems with tissue not flushing, etc. Found it was being held back by the film. Therefore, I removed it. As stated previously, the results of flushing improved tremendously. However, I have not yet traveled with a full load as to speak, thus don't know if waste will try to reverse travel flow back up into the bowl. I sure hope not!! Maybe this will be a real incentive to stay at campgrounds with dumping stations. Ha! Guess I'll call Thetford Monday to get their input. Thanks for the reply. We really appreciate this forum and have just paid our fee to become members. Roy

[commodor47]

Originally Posted by Chief-e9

. . .Guess I'll call Thetford Monday to get their input. Thanks for the reply. We really appreciate this forum and have just paid our fee to become members. Roy

Roy,

When you call Thetford (1-800-543-1219) the part you are looking for is the Electra Magic Model 80 RV vinyl skirt, part number 33274. The part sells for $19.95 plus shipping.

Dick