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joelc's avatar
joelc
Explorer III
Dec 08, 2016

Toilet Woes - New Recommended

I have a Thetford model 42049. It is a porcelain toilet at least on top. The bottom piece is all plastic. Recently the "ball seal" started leaking. I noticed the seal was dry and the "ball" scored. So, I ordered a new kit. When I got the kit I did notice the directions were written very poorly. Anyway, I took the toilet apart and installed the seal. In order to get to the seal one must remove the foot pedal. There is a very tight spring there, and all went well until I tried to get the coil spring back on. As much as I tried I could not. I ended up messing up the inside chambers on the inside of the plastic pedal. I reinstalled the toilet and it works minus the spring. We have to raise the pedal manually. I have had it with this toilet, and am not about to order another pedal which I will surely mess up too.

My question! What is a good replacement toilet that will last and is easy to service. This one is 2012.
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    In answer to your problem. Try giving the indented plastic portion of your valve a whack with the end of a screw driver. It might not be seated properly. I had to take mine out and it leaked when I put it back. Does not leak any more. Just be sure the water is off and you have it aligned properly.
    The clicking noise might be the spring. I am purchasing a toilet because of a 50 cent spring that I cannot torque back to its mounting location. The directions I had said to relieve the spring with a needle nose pliers. The video that I viewed showed the handle coming off without disturbing the spring. I could have gotten to the ball with just the handle removed.
    By the way when I put the toilet floor seal on I put it on upside down. Directions showed one way, the internet showed the other. Flat side toward the floor. The directions also were not clear enough for the reinstall of the ball gasket, that also went in wrong and leaked.
    The toilet now works fine and I have a large rubber band wrapped around the toilet seat with the other end around the foot pedal. Foot pedal works great.
  • We have a Thetford Aqua Magic II and had to replace the valve. Need to fix anything? It's all there somewhere on the internet... Watched a Thetford vid that showed a nice looking young lady show how to simply tug on the pedal to get it off. No explanation how to re-install it tho. Putting it back on isn't easy and you need to get your eyeballs close the the rear of it to make sure all the parts are lined up before giving it a whack to go back on. Took me numerous attempts to do it. The instructions that came with valve kit were useless on how to put the pedal back on.

    So I installed the new valve and foam gasket. BUT now, not only does it make a loud clicking noise when the pedal is pressed all the way down, the valve leaks a lot of water all over the floor when you press the pedal. Now I get to pull the toilet out again and see what's wrong. Pffft. :M

    Maybe the solution for a defective Thetford toilet really is to just get a whole new Dometic one. Lemme know how the new biffy works out.
  • I had a very stiff return spring on my Thetford Aquamagic. The spring actually broke. I replaced it with a softer spring from the hardware store. Everything works just as before but is quieter when closing.
  • We have the 310 from dometic the tall model with sprayer and China bowl very nice, no real replaceable parts for it though
  • If I had access to my trailer id go out and look to see which toilets are in there. There are by far the nicest I have ever used in a rv. All porcelain and very solid. Way nicer then what I have in my motorhome.
  • joelc's avatar
    joelc
    Explorer III
    I think that is all that can be replaced on the one I have. I was browsing and noticed that Thetford has many sub-brands. Has anyone had to service a 320? If so after how many years, and are you a full-timer as I am.
  • 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.

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