More Thetford Good & Bad

[mcgyver210]

Ok our Thetford now has a few issues now.

Before I go into all of the issues & ask my question I wanted to give Thetford a Thumbs up for their handling of our issues. After talking to customer service about the issues with our Thetford Electra Magic. Long story short Thetford said they would replace the whole Electra Magic because ours had too many issues. Due to arrive on Monday.

THANKS THETFORD!!!!



It all started with our last trip the Thetford started leaking when pumping. I took it apart which wasn't that hard. found it had a few issues. Also found it to be fairly clean for being used as a full time restroom for 3 people.


1. The Slide-EZ-Valve wasn't sealing good because the gasket was folding over. I fixed this by carefully sliding the valve shut with the gasket held in place. Then I used some spray oil & let it soak in for a few days.

I also purchased a gasket rebuild for the valve although may not need for a while now.

2. The Pump housing had one Bolt very loose & the other 3 were also a little loose. This was easily fixed with a wrench & Screw Driver.

3. There was a condensation build up in the level gage. Dried out on its on but would expect it to return again.

4. Biggest issue & seems to have been the main cause of the leak. The plastic elbow seems to have not been cemented properly so it worked loose causing a major leak.

Now this is the one I need help with. I suppose I can re-glue it again with something like PVC Cement or is there a different glue to be used on this type of plastic? Is this plastic used for the bowl actually PVC or something else?

[ShrimpBurrito]

Billy - I'm not sure what kind of plastic that is. It might be PVC, but if it's polyethylene, you won't be able to glue it.

But my bigger question is, if the new toilet is to arrive tomorrow, why do you care about the old one?

Dave

[mcgyver210]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Billy - I'm not sure what kind of plastic that is. It might be PVC, but if it's polyethylene, you won't be able to glue it.

But my bigger question is, if the new toilet is to arrive tomorrow, why do you care about the old one?

Dave

It does look like some sort of glue due to residue. I was able to chip the glue away also. Due to this I am thinking it isn't welded.

As for why I want to fix, I figure if I fix it I will still have it as an extra which could come in handy someday.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Well, if it's PVC, then the choice is easy. It probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try. If it sticks, you found a solution. But my guess is that it is not PVC; if it were, it wouldn't have come apart. PVC cement is not actually an adhesive -- it's a solvent. It's softens the 2 pieces, and when they "dry", they become one piece. If you glue a PVC pipe into a fitting and try to pull it out after it sets, the pipe will break before it comes out.

If it's not PVC, my guess is it's polyethylene. That is what the rest of the toilet is made of. If that's the case, this is the only thing I've seen that even has a shot at working:

http://www.stealth316.com/2-dp8005.htm

...but 1) it's expensive (like $80 or so for a tube); and 2) it's effectiveness isn't 100%. Even the the Thetford engineer I talked with several months ago said it was "ok".

That seam could be plastic welded together, probably pretty easily. Might be worth a shot to take it to an auto body shop to see if they could simply weld it together. Might cost you $20, since there is no polishing or sanding that would need to be done.

Dave

[mcgyver210]

Originally Posted by ShrimpBurrito

Well, if it's PVC, then the choice is easy. It probably wouldn't hurt to give it a try. If it sticks, you found a solution. But my guess is that it is not PVC; if it were, it wouldn't have come apart. PVC cement is not actually an adhesive -- it's a solvent. It's softens the 2 pieces, and when they "dry", they become one piece. If you glue a PVC pipe into a fitting and try to pull it out after it sets, the pipe will break before it comes out.

If it's not PVC, my guess is it's polyethylene. That is what the rest of the toilet is made of. If that's the case, this is the only thing I've seen that even has a shot at working:

http://www.stealth316.com/2-dp8005.htm

...but 1) it's expensive (like $80 or so for a tube); and 2) it's effectiveness isn't 100%. Even the the Thetford engineer I talked with several months ago said it was "ok".

That seam could be plastic welded together, probably pretty easily. Might be worth a shot to take it to an auto body shop to see if they could simply weld it together. Might cost you $20, since there is no polishing or sanding that would need to be done.

Dave

David actually the reason I asked is because I do know that PVC is not really glued but it is really more like chemical welding.

What I noticed is there wasn't really a good seal what ever is used to attach the elbow to the bowl. I also noticed the elbow is keyed to only fit one way & none of the plastic is cracked or broken.

Also if you look at the pics you may noticed there is what looks like a chemical bond with the two pieces.

I guess I need to call Thetford again & see if they will tell me what it is made of. They really was very helpful.

Again my main reason for trying to fix is I hate to give up since it isn't really broken & could be used as a backup in the future.

Thanks for the advice though David you are always helpful.