Toilet Woes - New Recommended

If the spring is that difficult I would use a small circular item like a key ring or even a small washer to lengthen the spring.

Also, remind all of your guests not to pour carbonated drinks down the toilet. Carbonated water will destroy the seal.

One last thing: I just replaced my Thetford with a Dometic. Don't go to Camping World unless you just like to spend money. I bought one there and found it for almost half as much on line. Returned the CW toilet. The price difference shocked me.

joelc wrote:
Got the Dometic in yesterday and installed it today. There is a very slight leak just after the treads on the water valve cartridge. The hole is so small you can't see it, but in about 15 minutes there is a drop of water there. I tried calling Dometic support and held for over an hour. I found another number on the internet and found out that is the only number. After I called back the recording noted they were closed. I emailed tech support. So far I am not impressed with their customer attention. The product itself, seems okay....so far. I am not dumping my Thetford yet, just in case I have to reinstall it. It works great with the rubber band pulling the foot pedel back up.

In answer to previous post. Don't know what caused the ball to be rough. I do not use any abrasive cleaners, but I don't know about my wife. The toilet works great now that it is repaired. Too bad I will be getting rid of it, eventually.

I have the Thetford toilet with the blade seal which I have repaired several times over the years. 3 years ago the main seal would no longer hold water so I removed it and took it apart and noticed a lot of mineral deposits on the under side and top side out side the seal area that needed to be scraped off. It was scored just like your ball and after scrapping these deposits off I had to sand these score marks off. On my model I don't think the seal is replaceable, I could not see how to remove it, but even if I could the new seal would still not seal because of the mineral build up. Check to see if there is a brown hard build up on the ball. My toilet is 20 years old with the original seal and still holds water now that the build up was removed.

Thetford Aria is all china and is one piece. It is not cheap and has elongated bowl so it requires more room. The Aria Classic is foot pedal operated. Ours is 7 years old and had to replace the cables last year. The bad thing is all of the parts must be ordered.

We had a Dometic Aqua Magic with the flush handle on the side.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/aqua-magic-style-ii-high-profile-white/35653

Worked well until my wifes foot slipped off and it slammed up one time and broke some tabs on the flush valve in the mechanism on the toilet. Got replacement parts and when we I tried to put it back together, I ran into the same problem as the OP had. Finally gave up on getting it to actually stay together as the handle just pops on and off and we were camping and need a toilet.

Picked up this one with a lower true foot flush and it works great and is much more solid of a unit.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/aqua-magic-v-toilet-high-profile-foot-flush-parchment/26164

sonora wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
The 320 is fine, but be aware that the whole thing is a glued together assembly-the only replacement parts are ball seal, vacuum breaker and water valve.

Does the ball wear out often or is this not really a problem?

I haven't yet, though I have sold a bunch for Sealand, and some folks go through a ball seal every year on the 300 series. On the pther hand- replacing the ball is about the worst job there is on the Sealand, personally, I would replace the whole thing. Professionally, people pay me a LOT to replace the ball :)

Got the Dometic in yesterday and installed it today. There is a very slight leak just after the treads on the water valve cartridge. The hole is so small you can't see it, but in about 15 minutes there is a drop of water there. I tried calling Dometic support and held for over an hour. I found another number on the internet and found out that is the only number. After I called back the recording noted they were closed. I emailed tech support. So far I am not impressed with their customer attention. The product itself, seems okay....so far. I am not dumping my Thetford yet, just in case I have to reinstall it. It works great with the rubber band pulling the foot pedel back up.

In answer to previous post. Don't know what caused the ball to be rough. I do not use any abrasive cleaners, but I don't know about my wife. The toilet works great now that it is repaired. Too bad I will be getting rid of it, eventually.

sonora wrote:

Chris Bryant wrote:
The 320 is fine, but be aware that the whole thing is a glued together assembly-the only replacement parts are ball seal, vacuum breaker and water valve.

Does the ball wear out often or is this not really a problem?

Our ball is 13 years old and has no scratches, does not leak, and still is nice and shiny, almost like new. I would say No the ball does not wear out often unless it is scratched in some way when cleaning the toilet bowl. However, I have replaced the rubber seal, that the ball seals against, twice in those 13 years.
Barney

marty1300 wrote:
We have the 310 from dometic the tall model with sprayer and China bowl very nice, no real replaceable parts for it though

Same here and we love it.

Chris Bryant wrote:
The 320 is fine, but be aware that the whole thing is a glued together assembly-the only replacement parts are ball seal, vacuum breaker and water valve.

Does the ball wear out often or is this not really a problem?

HAD TROUBLE POSTING. READ THIS FIRST, THEN ONE ABOVE TO MAKE SENSE.

I purchased a Dometic 320. The reason aside from the recommendations in this forum, is videos showed that it was easy to repair. You don’t have to remove the toilet to just remove the ball gasket.